On the one hand, independent watchmakers like Peter Speake-Marin, Thomas Prescher, Roger Smith and their compatriots are living in the right time, with the communication possibilities made available by the Internet, Facebook, Twitter and other social media. These small brands can reach people all around the world and have a greater impact than ever before.
On the other hand, however, they face an uphill battle against the bigger brands. Major brands have big marketing budgets that make it possible for them to be in front of customers like you with every issue of every magazine, while the small brands don’t have the funds to do this. They have to rely on the great work they are doing to get them noticed by journalists, bloggers, collectors and finally customers.
We need independent brands like never before, as the big brands and groups get bigger and continue to dominate the little guy. It’s the brave retailer who will continue to support independent brands – it would certainly be easier to just sell bestsellers from big brands and not have to work so hard.
Selling independent brands mean much more work for the retailer. Most customers don’t walk through the door knowing much about any of the independents, so it’s about educating the customer about the brands, about what makes them special and what sets them apart from the mass market brands.
Some retailers truly love the independent brands and, as a result, do a great job marketing and selling them. Retailers who don’t have the passion often don’t do so well with these niche brands, preferring to take the path of least resistance.
When speaking of marketing, many true watchmakers disdain marketing, seeing it as somehow beneath them. They criticize the brands that are fantastic marketers, while the reality is that smaller brands, in order to be successful, have to be better marketers because they can’t just spend money. They have to be innovative and creative and find new ways to start people talking.
As a watch journalist, I consider myself a champion of these smaller brands, because I see them as a prime source of innovation and energy in what can be a staid industry. Don’t get me wrong, I admire the bigger brands for what they have been able to do, but the major brands are hard pressed to do revolutionary things, as they have so many customers who expect them to present a certain type of product, which limits how crazy they can get.
Though the independents have gotten significantly less crazy than they were a few years ago, which is probably just as well, they still have an uphill battle to get the word out about their products and to entice great retailers to give them a fighting chance.
Help spread the word, will you?
