Happy Holidays!

As the year draws to an end I'd like to take a moment to thank all of you for your continued participation and support with this little blog!

I look forward to continuing the conversation in 2017, and for now wish you a safe, healthy, and memorable holiday season.

Be well -

Henki

The Social Contract of Social Media

This post has been on the shelf for nearly a year, but it seems time to air it out.

For most of us who write about watches in the digital arena, we don't do it for money.  True enough, our blogs might have advertising - such as this one, but by and large that is where it begins and ends.

Blogs, and blogs that have evolved into online magazines started out life as an alternative to magazines that more often than not were constrained by the need to drive advertising revenue.  It opened up a whole new world where people would tune in with the hopes of getting some viewpoints and opinions that were not fueled and channeled directly through the marketing arm of Richemont, LVMH or the SWATCH Group.  And perhaps more importantly, it did not cost the reader anything.  It was free to read, and you didn't have to drive to a book store or news stand.

But then another interesting thing started to happen -
The number of people checking out these alternative watch sites began to far outstrip the number of magazine readers.  And suddenly real analytics were possible!  And even more suddenly what had been a vehicle to promote a decidedly niche product to a clearly more niche market became a mechanism to subvert the role of independent writer and pump favorable content directly in front of this now much larger audience via an electronic delivery system.  In other words, payola arrived.

For those of you not familiar, here is a definition from our friends at Urban Dictionary -

payola

Bribery made to a dj in exchange for promotion of an album or single. Derived from the words 'pay' (give money to) and 'victrola' (a record player).You'd need to offer some serious payola to get your song played.

And that opened up a whole new paradigm.  Wonder how an online magazine or blog with multiple writers can afford to provide for so many people, with no visible ads?  Ever wonder why a brand that has never seen the light of day on that blog suddenly makes multiple appearances?  

And then things took an even darker turn.  The way things are supposed to work for a brand is:

1.  You draft a press release regarding a new brand or product

2.  You spend time and/or money putting together a list of blogs, magazines, etc.

3.  You send it out and, for the most part, the blogs will run it.

Now a quick peek behind the curtain - 

The way that it should work is that the blogger will review what they receive, and if it interests them and they feel it will interest their readers, they will run it.  In some instances, if there are personal or professional differences/ conflicts, etc., with the brand,  then the blogger might not run the release.  In addition, if the blogger has managed to alienate the brand through their writing, then it is entirely possible that the brand's pr/marketing team will pull a Donald Trump and refuse to communicate with them or send them press updates.  This is to be expected and I would say, fair enough.

Now it seems that with the owners of several of the blogs, "horological interest" is measured in terms of payment.  And to be clear by payment I do not mean advertising agreements, a watch received in barter for advertising or marketing or even simple good will.   I mean just what I am saying - payment required and received in exchange for coverage.

So what has now become standard for some of these outlets is that a rate sheet is sent to the brand manager or pr representative, not unlike a take out food menu:  

• To do a review  of your watch will cost you X.
• To announce your new brand will cost you Y.
• To REALLY pump your watch or brand will cost you Z.

Simply put, a fair amount of what you read in some of the bigger blogs and online magazines has been bought and paid for.

Now again, in fairness, if a brand supports a blog or online magazine with advertising, it is not unreasonable to expect coverage - in fact I believe that there is an implied social contract between the blog and the brand that requires a certain amount of coverage. 

Moreover, many bloggers do contract work for brands.  But that is a very separate matter that precludes "air time" on their blog or online magazine beyond the normal coverage.

But, and it's a big but, when a blog or online magazine requires payment in exchange for any sort of coverage, well then it is no longer what can even remotely be thought of as fair and impartial.  

Because there is another contract that is more than merely implied.  It is the social contract with the writer and the reader.

Summer reruns - Jean-Claude Biver

Ah, summer - or more specifically the summer break for the watch industry.  As news is sometimes a bit thin at times like this, I thought it might be a good time to run some "reruns" from last year -

So for those of you who weren't tuning in back then - A few minutes with Jean-Claude Biver

Courtesy of Hublot

Every so often, there are individuals who come along and change everything.  Some are revolutionaries - creating something completely different.  Some are visionaries - seeing something in a way that no one has before.  And sometimes in a very few instances, a person comes along who is both - and it turns out he's a pretty nice guy, too!  Jean-Claude Biver was kind enough to spare me a few minutes this past week.

JH - What was your first watch?  Was it a gift?  Is there a story behind it?

JCB - It was an Omega Constellation from 1958 offered by my grandfather for my first communion. In our countries in Europe it was a kind of tradition in the catholic families that the grandfather offers a watch to his grand child for the day he goes to church for his first communion.

JH - Why watches – being that your family originally came from Luxembourg, and that you were a business school graduate – why not banking, pharmaceuticals – or given your gift for languages and people skills even politics?

JCB - I was always fascinated by watches. A mechanical watch takes me back to the steam machine that I played with when I was a young boy. Now watches are my toys. There is nothing better than to work in something that you are passionate about. You never get the feeling that it is work! And that makes life much easier, much more pleasant and more comfortable.

JH – If you weren’t doing what you are doing now, what other job could you see yourself doing?

JCB - My job is my passion, and I cannot imagine for one-second not having my passion as my work. So if I was not working with watches, it could be cheese or wine. I am already making about 5'000 kilograms of cheese at my farm and we are known for making one of the better  - if not the best cheeses in Switzerland.

Courtesy of Hublot

JH - In light of all of your success, I have to ask – have you ever had a watch launch that did not go “exactly as planned”?

JCB - Many things didn't work out exactly as we had thought they would, but you always learn through defeats or mistakes. Each failure, each mistake has to be identified, recognized and quickly corrected. You will then realize that the mistake and failure helped you to climb the steps that are leading to success.

JH - For many of us, it seems that you are a bit of an horological alchemist – what you touch seems to turn to gold.  Your track record with Blancpain, Omega and Hublot seems to be the work of at least five top watch executives, not just one!  This is clearly more than luck.  So at the “Jean Claude Biver school of Watch Executive Excellence” – what would three best practices be?

JCB - First of all it is HARD WORK, HARD WORK, HARD WORK!  In addition you need creativity, vision and a lot of help from your people, your suppliers and your customers. And last but not least you need to be spared bad luck. 

Courtesy of Hublot

JH - Okay, on a different note, like you, I am also an avid cyclist – so steel or carbon fiber?  

JCB - Carbon, because I have to save some weight were I can do it easily (easier for me to buy an ultra light bike than to loose a few kg....).  So for me it is carbon because I love high technology, and I also love new materials.  And finally I believe that a bike is more than a bike. It is also a high tech machine, and I love high tech machines.

JH - Any thoughts of sponsoring a football club or a cycling team?

JCB - We are already the Official Timekeeper of the next Euro 2012, the next World Cup in Brazil in 2014 and Official Timekeeper of the legendary team of Manchester United. 

Courtesy of Hublot

Therefore we see no need and no sense to extend our activities in Football. We do not consider entering cycling as we cannot be active in every sport.

JH - Of all of the famous folks from the world of sports, entertainment and business – who made the greatest impression upon you?

JCB - In sport as an individual Andy Schleck, because I realize what it means climbing 3 or 5 summits and riding the Tour de France.  As a businessman certainly Steve Jobs for his creative genious and as a team the Spanish Football Team. They play the most modern and sophisticated football today.

JH - You more than anyone – with perhaps the exception of Mr. Hayek Sr. resurrected the Swiss watch industry.  What made you set your sites on Blancpain in the first place?  There were, to be sure, several other options out there – why Blancpain? 

JCB - There were a few reasons.  Blancpain was the oldest watch brand in the world and we could buy it for less than $20,000.   Blancpain had gone out of business some 20 years before we bought the name. I believed that it was right to use the oldest watch brand in the world to give rebirth to traditional watchmaking.

JH - Who else out there is making watches that excite you?

JCB - I love Patek Philippe and I am not only a great admirer but also a avid collector of their pieces. It is a collection that I have assembled mainly for my children. Most of the pieces of this collection are "museum pieces" and of course I never wear them, but look at them with my children at home

JH - In the private world of Swiss watchmaking, you have a reputation as one of the friendliest and outgoing people around.  This seems somewhat contradictory in the watch business.  Has this always been your way of doing business?

JCB - I have three commands in both my private life and of course my business life -

1. Respect

2. Sharing

3. Forgiving.

When you live and respect these three commands, you are guided by love. Because love means respect, love means sharing and love means forgiving.

JH - Was there ever a moment back in the early days at Blancpain where you might have regretted your decision?  Did you ever wake up in the early hours of the morning with your stomach “talking to you”?

JCB - No, I don't remember having had any regrets, except for a certain time, the regret of having sold my brand. But if you ask me today what I would wish for me second life, I would want exactly the same as my actual life, 100% the same.

JH - So for your third act, and I ask this with all respect - why Hublot of all companies?  As a football metaphor you could have signed with the watch making equivalent of Juventus, Real Madrid or Manchester United!  Hublot was certainly under the radar of most of the watch press.

JCB - I wanted to start again in a "start up".  Anyone who has ever worked through the excitement, creativity, reactivity, vitality, dynamism, and emotion you get in a "start up" company will understand why before the end of my career I wanted to have this "start up" feeling again

Courtesy of Hublot

JH - Your fashion style has changed a bit over the past few years – lately your suit jackets almost have the same drape of a lab coat – or dare I say it, a watch maker's…as the son of a fashion designer I can’t help asking – any connection or significance?

JCB - No, it is probably the result of my age, which helps me in being more simple and modest. That's the beauty of age – you become wiser.