Watches Will Never Go Out of Style, According to a Business Game
It's about creating experiences, supporting causes that young people care about, creating engagement with the brand and maintaining a long-term relationship. But there was much more, including a visit to 'Les Brenets' to see watch production, creating a unisex collection (OUVERT) in line with Millennials' emerging interests in travel, eco-sustainability and a dedicated extension line to reinforce Baume & Mercier's current motto 'Life is about moments' among young people. Not to mention the idea of opening mono-brand stores in Asia where an increase in luxury watches is forecasted and creating launch events for new products in light of increased engagement among young people, including through social networks.
This is a summary of the guidelines of the group project written by Alice Cecchi, Eleonora Fusi, Diana Galanti, Giulia Isaja, Riccardo Milanesi and Emanuela Piccoli, winners of the contest that was part of the course "Competitive Strategy in Creative Industries" and organized in collaboration with Baume & Mercier. Over 200 students from the 12 and 13 class groups from the Università Bocconi's Bachelor of Science in Economia e management per arte participated, divided into 14 teams. The winners were chosen due to "their clear presentation and analysis. In particular, their work used surveys, focused group interviews and interesting ideas from results of qualitative interviews. The use of strategic theory frameworks for understanding BM's strengths and opportunities, as well as the global and thorough project on the target of Millennials were also excellent."
Baume & Mercier CEO Alain Zimmermann asked students to identify a strategy to approach and engage the Millennial generation – born between 1980 and 2000 – in Baume & Mercier. The students "grappled with a real situation and had to make strategic decisions and present them to the CEO regarding a famous case for its history. Objectives of the case included approaching young people," explains Luana Carcano, the Course Director. At the end of the 1-month contest, which also made up 25% of the course grade, the company chose the 6-7 best projects, then the CEO Zimmermann personally named the winners. The prize was a one-day visit to the company's headquarters in Geneva and a watch for each member of the team.
"The day in Geneva was very interesting," says Eleonora Fusi. "We visited all the offices and departments, including the creative department, which is usually off-limits. We were shown the preparatory phase of creating watches, from designs to the actual construction." Because it's located in one branch, the company is also a model of efficiency and organization, as the student explains: "All processes are accelerated, there is constant debate and teamwork is facilitated." An important part of the day was the formal awards ceremony, "with all the formalities and lots of compliments from Zimmermann." The contest, says Luana Carcano, "was so successful that all parties agreed to replicate it next year."