BUSINESS MONTRES + FORUMAMONTRES (free access – english version)
“At Baselworld, the horrible way watch brands communicate just to buy bloggers”

Baselworld 2017 - Never once did we see so many bloggers not just running around the aisles but also accredited to attend press conferences and given access to CEOs. They’re treated like royalty, and if American by chance, more like Godfathers. The most irrelevant watch blogger now gets full honors and red carpet treatment.

Completely overwhelmed by the web, many brands are all over the blog sphere. Unable to be selective, and unwilling to even understand who does what where and when, you now see rooms full of these self-anointed “big shot” bloggers grabbing press releases, USB keys, and marketing schwag like there’s no tomorrow. And brands are more than happy to throw all these goodies at them. It’s quite a spectacle, really. It truly shows how brands have completely lost the ability to discern between legitimate watch journalists, and click-baiting horology jerkoffs. Truth be told, all those blogs who never criticize anything, cut and paste from each other, and spend their time re-hashing corporate press releases are such mirror images of the brands’ own communication that their websites even look like the brands they “cover”. And nothing gets in the way of their cozy relationships with brands’ PR and Marketing people. No matter what nonsense the brands put out. Endless interview series, left and right flattery, oohs and ahhs, is all you hear from these pretty horloboys. They’re always polite and respectful of course. Not that they lack critical ability, but they certainly never put it to use. And that’s something brands truly appreciate and are ready to pay for more and more over time.

The costs? Consider a limited series of watches donated for readers of a given blog or site. The giveaway occurs during a VIP night at a brand’s own flagship store during Baselworld. Being that nothing in life is really free, who do you think ends up paying for those generous gifts? The brand’s customers of course! Oris isn’t the only brand playing this game. A Marketing Director who shall remain anonymous once told me: “These stupid freebies are costing us more and more. We gift them whatever they ask for to help them build up their site and credibility. Next thing you know, they nickel and dime us for every little mention or favor.” Their return on investment quickly materializes, as bloggers soon begin heaping praise on the brands that were the most generous to them. And then they’ll go advocate for friendly brands on public forums. It looks genuine. That’s how brands now buy positive online PR, having realized that investing in community managers is a waste of time and money.

Bloggers have become the industry’s new Divas and industry leaders nurture them. Their activities are part of the brands’ marcom budgets. And that’s how press events now see genuine seasoned journalists totally diluted by a bunch of snotty-nosed high-school kids eager to show off and be seen.

Has Marketing reached such rock bottom these days that it’s not even able to distinguish between the real deal and a flash in the digital pan? These bloggers who hang out flashing their little gifts around, touting their privileges, and bragging about all sorts of brand “favors” are here at Baselworld eating time away from real buyers. They behave like ants on a piece of sugar trying to suck each crystal dry. I’m not talking about “established” bloggers here - those who really brought innovation, new perspectives, and real value to the aficionados. I’m talking about the “press release firehose” bloggers. Those who rant against mediocre watch press content. This phenomena has reached alarming levels. Brand managers who won’t give into this uncontrollable pressure and established trade bloggers can only sit back and watch with nausea.

The SIHH attempted to limit “web people” invitations in 2017, but opened its doors to a fee-paying public to compensate, aligning itself a little more with Baselworld. Witnessing these two shows, and with a little perspective, you realize the center of attention is no longer watches themselves, but rather those who came there to look at them! Press Day has completely lost all sense of meaning. Nothing happens there besides the usual crowded presentations where questions - relevant or not - no longer have a place. It’s impossible to have any sort of appointment worthy of that name. It’s just blogger after blogger, one handshake and a glass of water after the other, repeating the same old stuff to everyone who comes along. Next thing you know, passion turns into boredom. Expected discussions never happen, feedback will all be the same, all the pictures will end up looking the same, and all these bloggers’ claims of exclusivity will melt into ether.

The way this is going, the watch industry might end up creating shows exclusively for bloggers. They’ll be able to compare notes amongst themselves. In the end, the customer is the only one Baselworld forgot. The customer who’ll pay full price for his watch. The customer who pays for the salaries and the investors’ profits. A shareholder at Baselworld would be livid if she realize the amount of money brands splash on these bloggers. And rightly so, as these amounts are surely much higher than the return on her investment. Talk about expenses.

Dear Shareholders, if you’d like to get a free watch from the brand you own, it’s real easy: just start a blog! (Forumamontres, 30 mars 2017 pour la version française – remerciements à Jérôme Pineau pour sa très aimable traduction)

PERSONAL COMMENTS FROM BUSINESSMONTRES

I just checked: I first posted on Forumamontres exactly ten years ago. Back then, not a single watch brand executive would ever have risked going online. And I remember having influenced Jean-Claude Biver to go check these out and engage with readers. He became an idol in doing so. So, I didn’t publish this for opportunistic purposes. In passing, let me remind our young generations that Business Montres has been around since 2004 and is probably one of the most venerable watch media outlets both off and online.

How can you not agree with Zen when he highlights how bloggers damage watch brands? How about the wasting of resources this entails when these “commando” bloggers charge anywhere from 2,000 to 10,000 euros for anything they do - like those pitiful online pics, you know, the Russian whores and the yellow Lamborghini! On Instagram and elsewhere. Business Montres has already stigmatized these turkeys so there’s no real need to rehash this and remind everyone that all these millions of followers are bought and paid for in chunks of 10,000 for a few dollars. And “Likes” generated by bots (20% of Twitter accounts are fakes). What’s really disappointing is that the money used to support these bloggers’ lifestyles eat into brands’ budgets and next thing you know, they’re laying off by the hundreds in Switzerland and elsewhere. That’s the real scandal.

Let’s not forget either [Zen only broaches the subject] that CEOs - and especially their SEO experts - are stupid enough to help a good amount of blogs grow, generate revenue, and prosper until they get in a position to call the shots with the brands, imposing themselves as essential but very costly necessities. No one has yet been able to explain why the industry is selling less and less watches while putting more and more trust in these bloggers with alleged results and alleged audiences. There has to be a correlation, right? One even wonders if there isn’t some sort of formula according to which the more screwed up a brand gets, the more it reaches out to these loser medias run by rapacious con artists.

We won’t double down on our advice to luxury brands yet again to get the heck out of social media channels if they don’t belong there. You’re just losing your uniqueness doing it, so stop encrusting yourselves in there simply by intellectual conformism. Even though digital space is clearly where many large public brands will inevitably end up. Our opinion on these social channels has evolved over time and is quite nuanced and very selective. But it’s quite prescriptive when it comes to brands losing their honor in there, especially as their digital operations are run by a bunch of young kids with no watch culture whatsoever. Their only claim to fame being part of the “new generation” [young kids who have nothing but quantitative KPIs to show management - number of followers, engagement, etc. - while management eats those up completely disregarding quality and ignoring ROI.

Anyway, big thanks to Zen for having pointed out the elephant in the room about those who would much rather worship watch money than watches themselves. We’re witnessing the first destructive effects of the crisis on the Baselworld bottom line. The effect on these digital predators will be swift: they’ll be ejected about as fast as they came swarming in. Interestingly, we have to admit that there’s never been as much web traffic and buzz around Baselworld and watches as in 2017. But never have so few watches been sold either [minus a few exceptions] at the stands or in the stores. We’ll let the industry leaders - those left with a few brain cells between the ears - ponder this one. But it would be high time that everyone wake up and start rethinking and rebuilding this whole watch communication thing.