First and foremost, congratulations to Girard-Perregaux in their appointment of Mike Margolis as the new President of Tradema of America - i.e. Girard-Perregaux and Jean Richard here in the US. This is more than just an industry appointment - the type that we read so often about. No, this is much more important - and what I am about to write here will, undoubtedly, ensure that I will never be offered a position like this!
So many Swiss and German "luxury" brands never even consider hiring an American to actually RUN the US or North American subsidiary. Sometimes a "head of sales", that type of thing, but almost never are the "keys" handed over along with the authority to run it. Far too often we see the press release - someone from Europe coming over to tell us, here in the US not only what we should want, but how we should want it. Invariably, this leads to miscommunication - at best, and misunderstanding with the US side, as well as the local retail partners and ultimately the customers themselves. To be clear, this is not a blanket statement, but it is often the case that someone is "platooned" over here (the US), often times to "learn about the market", etc., instead of identifying a qualified, experienced person HERE who could handle the job not just on an interim basis, but for the long term. So instead of someone who knows the market, the retail partners, and the press/media - someone comes in with perhaps a good knowledge of HQ back home, but no real base line understanding beyond a balance sheet as to what really makes the market here.
I think about it this way - offer a European Nutella, or peanut butter and it is likely that they will choose Nutella. Having said that, here in the US (for the most part) we will opt for peanut butter. So why do the big luxury brands keep trying to force feed us Nutella?
I applaud Girard-Perregaux for seeing beyond the obvious, and for really looking for someone with the experience and background to actually not only "do" the job, but to really carry them to far greater heights here in the US. Mr. Margolis has more than proven himself with Hublot, and I only hope that other Swiss and German companies will follow this trend.
So many Swiss and German "luxury" brands never even consider hiring an American to actually RUN the US or North American subsidiary. Sometimes a "head of sales", that type of thing, but almost never are the "keys" handed over along with the authority to run it. Far too often we see the press release - someone from Europe coming over to tell us, here in the US not only what we should want, but how we should want it. Invariably, this leads to miscommunication - at best, and misunderstanding with the US side, as well as the local retail partners and ultimately the customers themselves. To be clear, this is not a blanket statement, but it is often the case that someone is "platooned" over here (the US), often times to "learn about the market", etc., instead of identifying a qualified, experienced person HERE who could handle the job not just on an interim basis, but for the long term. So instead of someone who knows the market, the retail partners, and the press/media - someone comes in with perhaps a good knowledge of HQ back home, but no real base line understanding beyond a balance sheet as to what really makes the market here.
I think about it this way - offer a European Nutella, or peanut butter and it is likely that they will choose Nutella. Having said that, here in the US (for the most part) we will opt for peanut butter. So why do the big luxury brands keep trying to force feed us Nutella?
I applaud Girard-Perregaux for seeing beyond the obvious, and for really looking for someone with the experience and background to actually not only "do" the job, but to really carry them to far greater heights here in the US. Mr. Margolis has more than proven himself with Hublot, and I only hope that other Swiss and German companies will follow this trend.
Thank you for the kind words James. I greatly appreciate your thoughts.
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