A Bold Marketing Move, or a Search for a Short-term Solution?

 It would seem that David Beckham has changed jerseys again, moving on from Breitling and now flying the banner for Tudor. 

Courtesy of Tudor

Now in and of itself, big whoop!  Brands have ambassadors, they pay them princely sums to wear and be photographed wearing their watches, and the world continues to go 'round.

Courtesy of Tudor

But this is, in fact, something a bit different.  Apart from their "bromance" with Hodinkee, Tudor has not exactly been out pressing the flesh and pouring coffee in an effort to gain big-name celebrity partners.  And in all honesty, they didn't need to.  There were plenty of bushy-bearded, ironic beer brand drinking, heritage fashion wearing guys (and gals) to buy their watches and spread the message from Williamsburg to the Mission District.  But your typical hipster can only buy so many watches beyond the $2,500 price point.  They need to save some cash for Pabst Blue Ribbon and American Spirit smokes ; )

And in fairness, Tudor actually was quite wise to partner as they did when they reentered North America a few years back.  But life moves forward, and the last two editions of BaselWorld have not had the same urgency or excitement as years previous.  

Having said all of those things, the one thing that Tudor did not do in the past (at least, let's say the past 10 years) was invest money in celebrity ambassador partnerships, to the best of my knowledge, not since they backed a young golf prodigy named Tiger Woods.  IMPORTANT - I may, in fact, be wrong about this and will not feel the least bit hurt if someone out there is familiar with a celebrity partner that Tudor has had more recently.  

What I'm getting at here is that when you've gone so long a certain way, and then suddenly decide to shift gears?  Generally speaking it's not something you do because you feel that everything is okay.  The old adage - if it ain't broke, don't fix it - has pretty much governed much of what Tudor and their parent brand Rolex have always done.  So the fact that Tudor has David Beckham now as a paid "friend" of the brand is not such big news.  The fact that they have ANY paid "chums" is.

Oh, and they've also signed on with the New Zealand All Blacks -

Courtesy of Tudor

So we shall wait, and we shall see.  Hopefully this will be the extent of it and we won't be receiving press releases about partnering with baseball, football, American Idol, X-Games and Mixed Martial Arts fighters.

Things, by their very nature, can and must change.  And whether or not this new strategy is the right way forward for Tudor?  Only time will tell.  Let's hope it is strategic, and not a wholesale shift in marketing philosophy.

Don't Crack Under Pressure - Manchester United

Well, given the less-than-stellar performance of the Red Devils over the past few years post Sir Alex Ferguson, I'm afraid that Man U has already cracked.  But this is a new season, so hopefully things might turn around.

Courtesy of Tag Heuer

Partnerships are exciting and fun, and by all accounts Tag Heuer is looking to get into the consciousness of every football fan in the world through sheer force of will and Swiss Francs spent on partnerships and ambassador deals.

Well, it's their money and they can spend it as they see fit.  And I know I am an idealist, but here's hoping Tag Heuer will take, I don't know, maybe 1/1000th of what they spend on cozying up the the professional elite and spend it on a grass roots soccer program in a third world country that does not require millions of pounds in fees, tens of thousands in print and digital advertising, and champagne receptions.  And I know I'm naive, but wouldn't it be nice if they just did it?  Because really, it's the opportunity for young players that is exciting, and these kids (unlike United's first team this past season) don't crack under pressure.  So Tag - pitch some money to some people who actually need it. You can still throw millions around on vanity projects, but the goodwill you will gain will live on long after "the Special One" has moved on to his next managerial role ; )