Jaeger-LeCoultre

nikolaj
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Co-branding

Thanks for the nice pictures Nicolas - Tempting and inspiring as always!

It stikes me that this JLC/Aston Martin co-branding is IMHO the most successful of the increasing number of co-branded watches. Without giving it much thought, I would state the following reasons for the success:

Balanced brand match in terms of market segment. I would be difficult to imagine any of the watch brands dicussed on this site teaming up with a main stream car brand but the opposite could (has?) happened [calling for help on examples]. The AM watches are easily disinctive from the remaining range of JLC (as opposed to just stamping a car manufactures logo on the dial of an existing model) The discreteness or even absence of AM logo on the watches. This could be a tricky part of initial negotiations between the two brands, I imagine, as it will require a lot more marketing efforts in order to create association. But really, no-one wants to pay a small fortune for an advertisement watch. I must say that JLC/AM has successfully managed this task (at least they have washed my brain )
1. Some design inspiration from AM in the watch design. I at least find some inspiration in dial design and colors and others have mentioned a resemblance between the red visible movement parts of the AMVOX II and brake calibers of the AM cars, without being too obvious - such as bezel designed as filling cap or strap in tyre-thread design (YIKES!)

I think that many other co-branding exercises have failed on points 2&3 above (at the risk of stirring emotions, GP/Ferrari comes to mind).

I would think that one argument for teaming up two niche products such as high-end watches and super-cars is to extend the possibilities of advertising your products (JLC can place an ad in a car magazine and get much more attention than if the AM connection had not been there - and vice-versa). On the other hand, I am wondering how much extra sale is created for such a partnership? I noticed a Purist asking here if it would be "too much" to have both the watch and the car. In this particular case, I can only think of "too much luck and good fortune" - but I do see his point, which is another fine balance to be observed in co-branding.

I find this topic quite interesting and would love it if others would comment and/or add to the list and arguments...

Kind regards

Nikolaj

PS: In slight contradiction to point 1 in the above list, I actually found it very charming to see the Jaeger logo on the speedometer of my friends mothers oooold FIAT 127 when I borrowed it with a fresh license in hand and my first real watch (Memovox) on my wrist. I know this was not co-branding - just a nice memory