Logan's Run - The WatchTown Edition

I will be very honest. I visit Monochrome, Fratello, Watch Pro, and yes even Hodinkee pretty much every day. And while it used to be to follow what my friends and colleagues in the Fourth and Fifth Estates of Watch Town were up to, lately more and more it's to read the tea leaves. And it has been interesting to see the shift of content and volume coming from Hodinkee. But more interesting is what appears to be a game of musical chairs.

Shamelessly borrowed from the world-wide infoweb

There is no denying that there was a steady departure of long-time (at least by blog/webzine standards) writers over the past year or so.  Cara Barrett, Jack Forster, Jon Bues, Cole Pennington, Jason Heaton, and Logan Baker. But the departures continued with Nick Marino also disappearing from the masthead. Of the new/newer crew Sarah Miller and Nora Taylor no longer appear on the masthead. Style Editor Malaika Crawford is now (at least insofar as the masthead goes) the only female writer.

In fairness, change is inevitable. But from a mighty staff of dozens, only 5 or 6 writers (editors) currently grace the masthead as of this post.

In the blog formerly known as Tempus Fugit, I commented more than regularly on what has grown into cartel of media outlets. I still stand by that assessment. More often than not, I will read about a new release in one of the big outlets and receive the "B Team" press release later that day from the brand. But here's hoping that the watch media cartel made up of those big dogs will give way to more of a meritocracy. There is a lot of good writing on watches out there, hopefully brands with marketing and advertising budgets will start to support it, even if the title does not begin with an H, like that other shameless cartel member, Henki Time ; )

The Transfer Window Opens -

At Hodinkee.

News arrived at Tempus Fugit HQ that a new CEO has taken the helm at Hodinkee. Jeffery Fowler is taking over from Toby Bateman who took over from Hodinkee's founder, Benjamin Clymer in December of 2020.  Reporting from WatchPro can be found here -

https://www.watchpro.com/hodinkee-appoints-former-farfetch-america-president-as-ceo/

We wish Mr. Fowler the best of success in his new role.

AFLUENDOR! It's Phygital!

Yea, put your dictionaries away, it's not exactly a word found in everyday parlance.

I have to be honest, I was pretty conflicted by this concept. I like to think that there is room for new ideas, and anyone with the sand to plant their flag in defiance of accepted convention is to be applauded. 

I was forwarded this (below) article by a colleague in the Fourth Estate from Watch Pro, and after reading Ariel Adam's delightfully myopic (and dare I say it) sorta' hypocritical view on watch brands paying influencers for coverage, I then came upon this -

Watch Pro - Afluendor

Now that you've read that report, I thought it might be worthwhile to unpack it.

Let's start with the name - Afluendor.  And what in the Wide World of Sports does that mean?  Per BA111OD:

A phygital concept based on a customer-centric vision, which is no longer "final". We consider our clients as Ambassadors, inFLUENCER and venDOR: AFLUENDOR

Yikes!

Okay, so let's unpack the unpack -
Phygital - I'm not saying I'm the smartest guy in the world, but I am also pretty sure that I am not the dumbest. Having said that, I had to double-check with my good friend in Switzerland who has his finger on the pulse of the start-up world and he confirmed my suspicion - Phygital essentially is combining Physical with Digital - Get it grandpa?

Sooooo -
It sounds as if BA111OD is staying true to its DNA by being disruptive with resolutely modern aplomb!
Editor's Note - yes, that is sarcasm.

In fairness, it is a nice enough looking watch, and it is certainly competitively priced. For those of you ready to embrace your inner AFLUENDOR,
you can check it out on your own here, and make your own determinations -

BA111OD

Now if it stopped there, i.e. this is our watch, then fair enough. Watch Town is littered with less-than-great copywriting that frequently wilts in translation. But I have to say that things took a turn for me.  Because apart from truly baffling naming conventions, the process for buying a BA111OD encourages you to not merely be a customer, but to be an ambassador!  And hey, while you're at it?  Could you maybe help them sell a few of these?  And the WIIFM (What's in it for me)?  You'll earn tokens!

Courtesy of L.A. Metro

Say what?

Essentially, you buy a watch.  
And then?  
You become part of the exclusive community! 
I'm sorry, but they might have overplayed their usage of the word exclusive. The only thing exclusionary seems to be your willingness to part with 380 Swiss francs to get one of their watches.  

And in the words of that other great commentator on the watch industry Ron Popeil -
"But wait, there's more!"

Shamelessly borrowed from the world-wide infoweb

By purchasing your watch, you receive 4 tokens and then you, Mr or Ms Ambassador then grant that token to someone that (I assume) you deem worthy of joining this growing exclusive community.  And once you successfully "invite" 4 people to buy a watch, then you get a second one for free.  A second watch, not a token ; )

So let's review that sequence.  You buy a watch, you get 4 tokens that you then pass on to 4 people, so that they can purchase a watch of their own, and get 4 tokens that they can grant to 4 different people that they feel are worthy of joining this continually growing exclusive community, who can then purchase a watch of their own, and get 4 tokens that they can grant to 4 different people that they feel are worthy of ...

I think you get the idea, it's not unlike those ads I remember in the back of comic books extolling the virtues of "not selling" to friends to win valuable prizes -

I appreciate that life is not static, and that it moves forward.  I also respect anyone willing to put themselves out there and launch a new venture, and for the record, if the AFLUENDOR concept proves to be the future, I will sit in a corner wearing a funny hat.