Quote:
Originally Posted by lorsban
I think I said it before, but I'll say it again, I like both brands. But, I respect Breitling more and I find it easier to identify with their products more than with Rolex.
I see it this way: Mass marketing -> Mass recognition -> Mass distribution -> Loss of identity
No matter what the roots of the brand are, what market niche it was intended for, once you mass market it to a broad spectrum of people, a sizable percentage from that broad spectrum will want that same product/brand, whether or not it actually suits their needs or their budget, which eventually leads to a percentage actually ending up with a product from that brand and each individual in this group, by virtue of wearing it around, markets it to others, thereby perpetuating distribution.
Once this happens, and people identify a particular product with a brand, the brand is pressured into producing something that suits a broad spectrum of people, making it as palatable to as many people as possible, thereby turning a very specific functioning product into a "vanilla" product. Something for anyone and everyone, which can also mean it's for nobody in particular.
That's why when I buy a Rolex, I don't identify with it like "this is for me." Rather, it feels like "I've arrived" like I've reached a final destination that everyone wants to get to. Like we're all in some artificial race to the finish line where we have a Rolex, a high-end car, this type of house, this type of job, income, family, wife etc...In other words, it has that superficial "vibe" or feeling of being "assimilated" that I can't quite shake off or stomach.
Unlike with Breitling where the style is so distinct that I know for a fact that not a lot of people will want one. That, in itself, makes it novel, unique, and since I'm attracted by it, it somehow validates my individuality, my own uniqueness. And that to me, is priceless.
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This is an interesting opinion, but I am afraid that I will also have to disagree with you on several points.
Rolex intelligently has never mass marketed its products, although one might argue that they have dramatically expanded their distribution footprint over the past 50 years.
Their product designs were refined to drive very specific appeal to very specific market segments (divers, pilots, doctors, racing enthusiasts, Presidentsetc).
Over the years, their product team came up with noteworthy and publicity-worthy product demonstrations and partnerships ( 'the swim', 'the dive', COMEX, Daytona) that became the envy of product marketers worldwide. At the time, and even in retrospect, these marketing stunts did not make national or international headlines. But they
were noticed by a select few to whom it mattered.
What has made their marketing so brilliant indeed is that it is NOT mass marketed, but rather that it is targeted to select discriminating individuals and opinion leaders who have made the brand respected and desireable among those who who can afford it, and the envy of those who can not.
That Paul Newman, Eisenhower, or a Pope made these their personal selections was the beginnning of today's big money in celebrity endorsements. Do you think anyone now cares that Tiger Woods was paid a huge sum of money to wear his brand in public to the exclusion of all others or to use his image to promote that brand?
If there was ever a brand that is certainly not ubiquitous, it is Rolex.
That you now see people from all walks of life who wear a Rolex, is not a result of mass marketing, but results from word of mouth and among people want to feel good about themselves. And so, with the fruits of their hard earned labor, they have chosen to buy a highly respected brand and wear it proudly.
If anything, your plumber and your gardener and the owner of your pool cleaning company paid a far higher percentage of their incomes to buy Rolex, than Paul Newman did back in the day.
So I am happy when I see an
authentic Rolex or a Breitling on anyone's wrist, regardless of their walk of life, and feel a sense of comaraderie and cheer with them for their choice to celebrate their accomplishment.
As my grandfather told me when I was a young boy, "Man makes the money, but money does not make the man. Likewise neither applaud or begrudge a man his success, or his failures."