#195 Rolex

http://dennyhatch.blogspot.com/2023/09/195-rolex_19.html

 

 #195 Blog Post - Tuesday, 19 September 2023

 Posted by Denny Hatch

 

The Ultimate Challenge for a Copywriter:
Inventing a Reason to Buy a $41,990 Rolex.

(NOTE: At the end of this blog post you're invited attend the Phillips Auction of Paul Newman's $17.8 Million Rolex on YouTube. It's a hoot!)

Personal Backgrounder: For many years I have owned two serviceable/disposable wristwatches. Both are Casio F-91W models that cost me around $14.00 each. They are light, thin and unobtrusive. They keep accurate time, have plastic rubber-like wrist bands and are easy to set and reset. They have a tiny alarm that (very) quietly beeps twice on the hour. Why two watches? When a long-lived battery dies or I lose one of these cheap Casios, I have a spare. Whereupon I immediately buy a replacement, so I always have a back-up. 

• Do I hanker to have a Rolex? Uh-uh. All I want is the time of day, date and time. My cheap-o $14 Casio F-91W is more accurate than any five-figure Rolex. No kidding.

                  From Their Respective Websites
              Rolex:   Accuracy:  +/- 2-1/2 seconds per day.
              Casio:   Accuracy: +/-  15-20 second per month.

 

BTW: What Determines Wristwatch Prices?  "Complications!"
"Watches are complicated. No, seriously, some watches are literally complicated. To the unversed: this is a little horological joke. In the watch world, the term “complication” refers to any function other than basic timekeeping. An alarm, a second time zone, or even just a date, are all complications."
—Jennifer Algoo, Visuals Director, Harper’s BAZAAR

 

What Triggered This Unusual Blog Post: Tennis, Carlos & Rolex.
A couple of years ago, Peggy and I stumbled on the tennis wizardry of Carlos Alcaraz, the young (then age 18, now 20) Spanish phenom. We have closely followed him ever since; we seldom miss a match. Carlitos (as his devoted fans call him) is the master of high drama, accuracy and trickery. He has two drop-dead specialties that stun his opponents and fans:

• His feather-soft dink or drop shot that suddenly ends a fierce long rally.

• The amazing "tweener," where he chases down a lob over his head to the far end of the court and blindly hits the ball backward between his legs with a pinpoint accurate return lob followed by a wild whoop of the crowd and the announcers. (You can see a YouTube Alcaraz "tweener" at the end of this blog post.)

 

Above all — winning or losing — is the joy, explosive energy and infectious delight Alcaraz exhibits every moment he is on the court. He loves his opponents. He loves the crowd and the crowds adore him. This past July he won the 2023 Wimbledon Grand Slam and is currently ranked #1 or #2 in the world, seesawing back and forth with Serbia's Novak Djokovic. We started following him on the Tennis Channel and ESPN and have become incurable groupies.  

 

The Rolex Connection.
Along with our fascination with Alcaraz, this marketing junkie — a.k.a. Denny Hatch — has become intrigued by the dominance of Rolex watches in the tennis world. E.g., on ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) championship court scoreboards across the globe, plus myriad photos of top tennis professionals wearing a Rolex watch. 

 

Carlos Alcaraz Can Potentially Earn $8 Million per Year with
His Rolex Deal Following in the Footsteps of Roger Federer.

 

“The ‘Swiss Maestro’ Roger Federer, who is regarded as one of the most decorated brand ambassadors for Rolex signed his first 10-year $15 million deal with the Swiss watchmaking company in 2006 and was ultimately upgraded with a whopping $8 million annual deal in 2016.

“In January 2022 Carlos Alcaraz was signed by Rolex and joined the likes of Roger Federer and Jack Sinner. What this means for the Spaniard is that if he can keep up his impressive performance and elevate his career statistics, Rolex might potentially renew and offer him a deal even sweeter than Roger’s.”
—Aarav Singh Gill, Sportsmanor.com

A Quickie History of Rolex.
"Originally founded in 1905 in London by 24-year-old Hans Wilsdorf and his brother-in-law Alfred Davis, Rolex was first known as Wilsdorf & Davis. They originally imported movements, housed them in British cases, and sold them to jewelers. Through this, the pair saw the potential for developing their own brand. In 1908 this was realized when Wilsdorf secured the name Rolex."  —thewatchbox.com.

Since founding, Rolex has acquired more than 500 different patents and the company's 2000 employee/watchmakers produce 8 types of classic watches for men — mostly by hand — as well as ladies’ watches. Prices run from $3,000 to (Daytona Oyster Reference 6263) $227,481.

 Rolex Is the Main Sponsor of World Tennis.
"Rolex and tennis first came together when the brand partnered with the Wimbledon Championships in 1978 when tennis was experiencing a powerful transformation. The brand gradually forged links with all of the sport’s elite competitions. Rolex now partners the four Grand Slam tournaments, all the major Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) events in the men’s and women’s game and the leading international team contests."  —Rolex.com

In addition to tennis, Rolex has become a preeminent force in the sponsorship of other high-profile sporting events and individual athletes. The result is an avalanche of worldwide awareness of Rolex in print media, online and TV. Among them:

• Motor Sports: Rolex Daytona 24; Le Mans 24 Hours; FIA World Endurance; In addition, according to Forbes, Rolex pays an annual $50 million fee to Formula 1 in order for their logo to be plastered on cars, advertising boards at motor race tracks and drivers' outerwear.

• Automotive Classic Events: Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion; Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance^®; Goodwood Revival.

• Yachting: Rolex partners some of the top crewed offshore races. The brand is associated with numerous annual and biannual coastal regattas all over the world. It is Official Timepiece for two such championships that are at the cutting edge of nautical technology: SailGP, featuring the planet’s fastest catamarans, and the 52 SUPER SERIES for high-performance TP52 monohulls. Rolex also partners prestigious offshore races, such as the Rolex Fastnet Race, the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race and the Rolex Middle Sea Race.

• Golf: Rolex partners with the R&A (Royal and Ancient) held at St. Andrews and the USGA Masters Tournament at Augusta in April; the PGA Championship in May; U.S. Open in June; British Open in July. Plus Rolex support extends to all five Majors in women’s golf.

 • Olympic Equestrian events: show jumping, dressage, other events.

 

Like the ladies and gent above, you’d like to show off your $60,000 Rolex. More to the point Rolex desperately wants you to show it off. It’s gorgeous... famous... a conversation starter. Alas it’s on your wrist and often buried under your jacket sleeve and/or shirt cuff. Rolex realizes they have a problem and provides guidance on the website.

The Official Way to Show off Your Rolex

 

Rosser Reeves (1910-1984)

Chairman, Ted Bates Advertising Agency

 

 

  Rosser Reeves Conceived the "Unique Selling Proposition."

– Each ad must make a proposition: “Buy this product and you get these benefits."

– The proposition must be unique: something that your competitors do not, cannot or will not offer.

– The proposition must sell: it must be something prospects really want; it pulls them over to your product

 

Memorable USPs—Unique Selling Propositions.

“99 and 44/100% pure.” —Ivory Soap (Procter & Gamble, 1892)

“The skin you love to touch.” —Woodbury Soap (J. Walter Thompson Co. 1911)

“When it rains it pours.” —Morton Salt (N.W. Ayer & Son, 1912)

“We’ll leave the light on for you.” —Motel 6 (Richards Group 1988)

“Bags Fly Free.” —Southwest Airlines (GSD&M, 2010)

 

About Rolex and Its Non-Existent USP.
• More than a dozen up-up-up-market watch companies manufacture spectacular timepieces — all with myriad unique complications that sell for five- and six figures. Among them: Cartier - Hermès - Van Cleef & Arpels – Panerai – Grand Seiko – Patek Phillipe - Tag Heuer.  

 

• All are exquisite masterpieces of the watchmaker’s art — beautifully crafted, many bejeweled (especially women’s models), with seemingly infinite choices of "complications."

 

• However, compared to Rolex — with its 120-year history and vast worldwide recognition — other watchmakers come across as boutique operations, even though they produce fine products and are profitable.
In short, Rolex is king!

 

 

As a Result, Rolex Has Never Had a Unique Selling Proposition.
Quite simply no single watch model — or Rolex family of watches — stands out above all others in the luxury timepiece industry.  All watches are alike. They are the same wee size, tell accurate time and have myriad complications.

 

What separates Rolex from the pack are the extraordinary headliners — show biz legends, sports heroes, corporate tycoons, investors, scientists, explorers, adventurers, gamblers, jet setters, and assorted risk takers.

 

Every time Rolex owners Joe Schlub or Jane Lunchbox peek at their Rolex to see what time it is, they get a secret — almost guilty — stab of pleasure and pride of membership in the elite circle of world renowned celebrities rich-rich men and women on the record and in the media as Rolex owners. 

 

A Partial Who's Who of Rolex Celebs and High Achievers Past & Current Seen and Photographed Wearing a Rolex:

Alessandra Ambrosio, Jennifer Aniston, Cardi B, David Beckham, Victoria Beckham, James Bond, Bono, Bjorn Borg, Warren Buffet, Sandra Bullock, James Cameron, Sir Malcolm Campbell, Fidel Castro, Jacques Chirac, Winston Churchill, Eric Clapton, Daniel Craig, Tom Cruise, Ellen DeGeneres, Clint Eastwood, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Chris Evert, Roger Federer, Chiara Ferragni, Gerald Ford, Jennifer Garner, Ina Garten, Mercedes Gleitz, Ernesto Che Guevara, Robert Downy, Jr., Muammar Gaddafi, Ryan Gosling, Rachel Green, Kevin Hart, Sir Edmund Hillary, Paris Hilton, Pope John-Paul II, Lyndon Baines Johnson, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Lindsay Lohan, John F. Kennedy (gifted by Marilyn Monroe), Jean-Claude Killy, Martin Luther King, Jr., Lydia Ko, Kyle Kuzma, Bernhard Langer, Adam Levine, J-Lo, Brooks Koepka, Phil Mickelson, Madonna, Steve McQueen, Paul Newman, Neymar, Jack Nicklaus, Anna Nordqvist, Tenzing Norgay, Barack Obama, Arnold Palmer, Roger Penske, Jacques Piccard, Brad Pitt, Gary Player, Elvis Presley, Jon Rahm, Emily Ratajkowsk, Ronald Reagan, Rihanna, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Nicholas Sarkozy, Adaam Scott, Will Smith, Annnika Sorenstam, Jason Statham, Jordan Spieth, Jackie Stewart, Sharon Stone, Kiri Te Kanawa, Charlize Theron, Justin Thomas, Lexi Thompson, Sofia Vergara, Lindsey Vonn,Mark Wahlberg, Tom Watson, Kanye West, Caroline Wozniacki, Reese Witherspoon, Tiger Woods, Boris Yeltsin, Alexander Zverev .

Think of it! Buy a Rolex and you can take your place among these luminaries! If you happen to meet up with one of them, you have an immediate conversational opener and shared interest to talk about. You are equals in something.

 

Maurice Chevalier on Rolex.

“Like a genial hotelier, Rolex has introduced me to some of the nicest people. I ask about their Rolex and they ask about mine. It's as marvelous a conversation piece as it is a timepiece.”

(With thanks to Bo Sacks for this mini-treasure)

In short you — the Rolex owner — are its USP! 

 

Below is an early Rolex space ad. It emphatically ain’t about the watch. It’s all about you — Rolex owner — imagining yourself mingling with world leaders.

 

 

I retyped the teensy, totally unreadable white type reversed out on a black background at bottom of this ad. Here 'tis:

When a Summit Conference is held at Geneva’s Palais des Nations, the best watch in the world is there.

     You can recognize its classic shape, carved out of a solid block of gold from the other end of the conference table.

     Inside the solid, pressure-proof walls of its Oyster case is a self-winding, officially certified chronometer movement.

     In our own building in Geneva, there is a room lined with the portraits of most of the world’s leaders.

     The Rolex they wear is the Datejust. In 18 ct. gold with matching Jubilee bracelet.

 

Remember the seven key copy drivers — the emotional hot buttons that cause people to act as articulated by Axel Andersson, Bob Hacker and yours truly:

fear - greed - guilt - anger - exclusivity - salvation - flattery 

In the immortal words of Seattle Marketing guru Bob Hacker: "If your copy isn't dripping with one or more of these, tear it up and start over."

This Rolex print ad is dripping with Exclusivity and Flattery

 

Guaranteed to Excite and Delight You: A Gallery of YouTube Fun Plus Rolex Product Owners.

(You are invited to STEAL SMART!)

 

1.          The Alcaraz "Tweener"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YK_mKZb8dOY

 

2.    Phillips Auction of Paul Newman’s Rolex Daytona
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0tjSUOvi5k&t=33s

 
NOTE: Including the buyer's premium of 12.5% (the Phillips Gallery commission) added to the last bid, the final price comes to $17,752,500.)

 

3.          Academy Awards 2023
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3TkPZPB5AE

 

4.      It Tells History
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=055u423Qc_o

 

5.  Federer, Le Mans, Equestrian, Immelmann
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dN_v1IYzMSo

 

 Takeaways to Consider

• If you were to buy Paul Newman’s $17 million Daytona Rolex, this is a schematic/outline of what you own. 

 • Many Rolex owners are collectors with up to a dozen or more watches — hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on acquiring Rolex bling they show off in special exhibit cases as a kind of mini-museum.

 

• Imagine the grand works they could do — the human misery they could alleviate — with this money going to the betterment of the world.

• Their lives would have real purpose. They would be universally beloved!

• IMO: This entire business of wristwatch collecting is nuts.

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