like.... I have absolutely no idea. Seriously, I have no idea what to make of this one.
It is clear that a very, very bad case of Millennialitis is running unchecked at Tudor HQ (courtesy of the Urban Dictionary):
Desperation…. It's the world’s worst cologne
Not to worry, I suspect a "big time watch blog/online magazine" in New York will be all over this.
In the interest of transparency - I am a fan of Lady Gaga and her message. But I am also a believer in understanding your demographic. And as much as I like and support Lady Gaga and her music, this PR move by Tudor seems to be not entirely well thought out.
There is a reason why Rolex partners with who they do in terms of ambassadors and partners. And there is a reason why Rolex continues to set the standard for how this is done.
Now if the idea is that Rolex is for your old man, and Tudor is for your edgy cousin? Well okay, fair enough.
But at the price point that Tudor is selling watches? I honestly don't think that they have fully grasped where the disposable income of the millennial demographic is really going. I made the same comment when TAG Heuer pooped their Wranglers over partnering with DJs. This is short attention span territory. Lady Gaga is influential - and I have no doubt that someone at Tudor HQ is thinking "INFLUENCER"! But if an influencer were enough to fuel watch sales on their own, then a certain brand who fawns at the feet of their Instagram-influencer buddy would be in every store, selling through crazy volumes, and the truth is that all signs show that they are not. It is not to say that said influencer didn't help. But in that instance we were talking about a brand new watch company with no past, no track record... nothing to to speak of. And frankly? That is not Tudor.
So another quote from another old fart -
Stick to the fundamentals. That's how IBM and Hilton were built. Good things, sometimes, take time.
Lou Manheim (as played by Hal Holbrook) in Wall Street.
 |
| Courtesy of Tudor |
The belief of sales, marketing, and advertising professionals that the Millennial demographic represents a completely unique group of consumers and as such, entirely new
approaches must be adopted. Even if the product you are trying to sell
is intended for a completely different demographic, such as Depends
Adult diapers.
"I tried to explain to the Creative Director that the hipster didn't represent our customer demographic, but she's got a bad case of millennialitis."
I mean, I wasn't going to buy a Tudor Black Bay, but now that I know that Lady Gaga is a brand ambassador...
Give me strength.
There is a reason, a very good reason, why the kids sit at a card table at Thanksgiving and aren't allowed to sit with the grown ups. And in a strange way, I want to thank Tudor for reminding us about this.
I appreciate that watch sales, right now, SUCK. I get it. But I will quote a movie near and dear to Generation X - Singles, as shared by Debbie Hunt (played by Sheila Kelley):
Desperation…. It's the world’s worst cologne
In the interest of transparency - I am a fan of Lady Gaga and her message. But I am also a believer in understanding your demographic. And as much as I like and support Lady Gaga and her music, this PR move by Tudor seems to be not entirely well thought out.
There is a reason why Rolex partners with who they do in terms of ambassadors and partners. And there is a reason why Rolex continues to set the standard for how this is done.
Now if the idea is that Rolex is for your old man, and Tudor is for your edgy cousin? Well okay, fair enough.
But at the price point that Tudor is selling watches? I honestly don't think that they have fully grasped where the disposable income of the millennial demographic is really going. I made the same comment when TAG Heuer pooped their Wranglers over partnering with DJs. This is short attention span territory. Lady Gaga is influential - and I have no doubt that someone at Tudor HQ is thinking "INFLUENCER"! But if an influencer were enough to fuel watch sales on their own, then a certain brand who fawns at the feet of their Instagram-influencer buddy would be in every store, selling through crazy volumes, and the truth is that all signs show that they are not. It is not to say that said influencer didn't help. But in that instance we were talking about a brand new watch company with no past, no track record... nothing to to speak of. And frankly? That is not Tudor.
So another quote from another old fart -
Stick to the fundamentals. That's how IBM and Hilton were built. Good things, sometimes, take time.
Lou Manheim (as played by Hal Holbrook) in Wall Street.
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