Limited availability and long lists all a product of social media marketing?

[Nav01L]

In thread after thread we hear of limited availability, long waiting lists for steel sport models (where one is lucky enough to even get on them) and frustrated potential buyers. It’s a new reality and we wonder - why?!?

I wonder, might it have anything to do with social media? A byproduct of the rarity of modern Rolex sport models is the bragging rights coming with having got one. And in a braggadocious environment as social media in general and outlets like Instagram in particular, such bragging rights typically don’t remain silence. Quite to the contrary, they may well lead to loads of free advertising.

I mean the guy who walks into the AD and buys his dream watch would more likely than not just slap it on his wrist and be done with it, if at all, he might pass it along around a beer that same night at the pub, but that’s it.

Whereas the guy that gets the call after two years of agonizing over his Daytona - he does a “got the call” thread here, live tweets the pickup, posts the whole event to Facebook and is poised to fill his Instagram page with the new watch for months to follow.

Obviously this might be over characterizing it a bit, but you get the the idea.

And with distribution set to go online more and more, isn’t that social media saturation exactly what a brand should be aiming for?

Who cares how people feel at the AD when the client you’re trying to reach will probably never set foot into one. Who cares about the guy being snubbed by arrogant staff there when you are watering the mouths of thousands of people who can’t wait to press the order button online after being exposed to a barrage of “look at me, I am the greatest because I got the latest” wherever they look on social media...

I think that might well be the long play here. In the meantime, us being turned down at the AD just makes us transitional casualties, and let’s face it, we’re probably (i) not material enough to matter and (ii) going to be back for more anyway.

What do you guys think?