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Magnus (Moderator)
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Thursday 02 July 2009 4:19:30 pm
Financial Times interviews Blancpain's President, Marc A. Hayek!
Dear All:
In the recent 'Watches & Jewelery' supplement to the FT, Blancpain's President, Marc A. Hayek was interviewed, and revealed some fascinating insights into his leadership, his tremendous success and the future strategy of the brand. The interview also gave indirect hints as the the objective behind the new L-Evolution Collection.
Here is the Interview:
Marc Hayek: Mystery man behind a Calvinist classic
By Haig Simonian
Published: June 12 2009 16:04
Among Switzerland’s Hayeks, Marc is the mystery man. His grandfather, Nicolas, is revered as saviour of the mechanical watch industry.
His uncle Nick is chief executive of Swatch Group. And his mother Nayla has sat on the board since 1995 while, most recently, taking charge of a new watchmaking venture with Tiffany.
Marc, born in 1971, has always been the enigma. Brought up largely by his grandparents, many thought he was adopted, not knowing of his mother’s youthful pregnancy and the agreement of his father, soon divorced, that their son should bear the Hayek family name.
He joined Swatch Group after leaving university in 1992, spending four years in public relations and marketing.
But in 1996, he felt the time had come to experiment on his own, opening a successful restaurant in Zurich. “I had to see what I could do for myself. I wanted to build something up,” he says.
It was with some regret five years later that he accepted an invitation from Jean-Claude Biver to take over as marketing head of Blancpain, one of Switzerland’s most famous watch brands.
Established in 1735, the company had flourished, but, like many others, struggled with the arrival of quartz. Bought by Mr Biver and a partner for a song in 1981 and significantly revived, it was sold to a predecessor of Swatch Group 11 years later.
Under Mr Biver, who later went on to revive Hublot, and his partner Jacques Piguet, Blancpain regained much of its former prestige.
While Mr Biver concentrated on sales and marketing, Mr Piguet looked after manufacturing, linking Blancpain’s component and movement operations with those of Frédéric Piguet, a bigger specialist that is now also part of Swatch Group.
But it was under Mr Hayek that growth really took off. Output has quadrupled to beween 12,000 and 13,000 units a year, turnover has climbed by about the same amount, while profits have surged about 30-fold. True to industry tradition, Mr Hayek declines to disclose Blancpain’s earnings. But analysts reckon the company made about SFr30m ($28m) in 2008, its record year.
Blancpain’s watches are produced in a neighbouring Valleé du Joux village to Breguet, Swatch Group’s other prestige brand. At a former farmhouse, 60 to 70 specialists work in small, friendly teams, concentrating intently on activities such as tourbillons and fine engraving. Underlining its position at the very top of the market, Blancpain is the second-biggest maker of tourbillon watches after Breguet, notes Mr Hayek.
Components come from Frédéric Piguet, the Swatch Group’s maker of movements for upmarket watches. Although the company also produces for other group brands and a limited number of third parties, Blancpain is by far its biggest customer.
But how has Mr Hayek managed to distinguish Blancpain from Breguet, its bigger and even more prestigious neighbour?
The two brands focus on classic men’s watches and are in roughly the same price bracket, although Blancpain’s tend to be a little cheaper because of the brand’s strength in sports watches, generally made from steel rather than gold.
“Breguet tends to be more French- influenced, while Blancpain is more Calvinist, more classic, even more understated,” he says. “They’re a bit like our elder brother.”
Sibling rivalry is not helped by the fact that Breguet is run energetically by none other than Nicolas, Mr Hayek’s grandfather.
“We have quite a lot of independence in terms of brand strategy, positioning and product development. Naturally, we co-ordinate a bit with Breguet. But the idea in Swatch Group is really to have an entrepreneur running each brand. Breguet is our benchmark. It’s very tough!”
One way in which Blancpain is distinguishing itself is by focusing on its tradition for performance watches. The Fifty Fathoms range was born after a commission from the French Navy in 1953 to develop a high-performance diver’s watch and has remained emblematic of the company ever since.
The series was refreshed three years ago, with bigger, chunkier and heavier watches based on a new movement, appealing to current tastes for watches with more of a presence. The change went down well, and the range now accounts for about one-third of Blancpain sales, with plenty of back orders – welcome in these troubled times.
Mr Hayek, himself a keen diver and sportsman, has turned to motor racing for his second way to broaden Blancpain’s appeal. “I wanted something that would suit our new line. We are growing, we needed something sporty, dynamic and touching a larger public,” he says.
The group has teamed up with Lamborghini, the Italian sports car maker, to sponsor a new single marque race series, the Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo.
Six weekend challenges will be held on racetracks across Europe this year, with Mr Hayek one of the drivers behind the wheel. Appropriately, his own sleek black Lamborghini Gallardo sits outside the office.
But, arguably even more important for Swatch Group than the revival of Blancpain or Mr Hayek’s success on the track is another crucial fact.
As the only third-generation member of the family, and with no others likely, Mr Hayek reveals his wife is expecting their first child in September.
Soon, it seems, another Hayek will be emerging to continue the family watchmaking dynasty.
The interview can also be found on FT's website:
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/b3529b2...b7e-00144feabdc0.html?nclick_check=1
Well done, Marc!
Best,
Magnus
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