Follow On Question - Buying other Brands Due to Shortage

[The Argonaut]

Hi TRF,

A poster asked whether many on TRF had decided to buy another brand because of the difficulty in getting a SS piece. A good question which made me think.

https://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=684825

Following on from this, do you think that besides those on this forum--which is likely not representative of the watch buying world--Rolex will be forced to alter their sales strategy if more and more would be-buyers buy into another brand because of the scarcity of their watches? After all, word will eventually get out to non-watch buyers that Rolex are the Birkin handbag of watches (and not the PP 5711 as per today's FT article) which cannot be obtained easily

Before jumping in and advising, "hell no, Rolex are king and wont suffer," there could be blowback to Rolex over time if everyday buyers cannot buy even a simple SS piece, like a DJ41 or Explorer. After all, watch brands ordinarily sell to two types of customers: (a) the regulars/collectors, who right now are amongst the few who can get SS pieces (and this includes Grey's who must be amongst the best customers). These individuals have an AD relationship, and serve it regularly; and (b) the occasional buyer, who want's to celebrate something, doesn't have an AD relationship, and isn't interested in developing one. They might be a one-off buyer, or pick up additional watches infrequently.

I suppose another way of asking this question is: can a company that sells one million watches a year subsist on (a) regular/collector customers only? PP, FP Journe and ALS can and do to some degree, but even they need new blood. Is Rolex different enough from the herd such that they don't need to adapt in the face of new customers who will buy another brand, or can they rely on (a) customers only?

For my part, I can see Rolex having to adjust, unless of course their strategy is to become an elite brand only, and Tudor can serve those at (b) only? If so, this raises the further question, can Rolex become an elite brand a la PP, VC, PP, ALS, FPJ, etc, when they make a million mass produced products a year? I'd say not, but if there's one thing the company does, it's buck the trends. If anyone could do it, only Rolex could.

Thoughts?

Best,
TA

[oldman2005]

Rolex marketing strategy moves up the market simply with DJ/TT/PM and it's working out great for Rolex - Rolex is at the top at 20%. And Omega is doing a great also capturing the left over SS sport market - Omega is at the 2nd place at 9.2%.