Marketing positioning of Rolex and Tudor for the future

[IsaaH]

Do you think that Rolex will continue down the years to aim towards competing against high luxury watch brands (ALS, PP, etc.) while Tudor takes its place to offer more sporty options?

I personally believe that both Tudor and Rolex will maintain their current standing while offering some watches that venture out of their normal market (consider the Tudor 2023 solid gold Prince Big Block chronograph and the Rolex 1908). Wouldn't make sense to shake things up too much from their designs from today, especially given that Rolex and Tudor both have some iconic designs over the course of their shared histories.

Your thoughts?

[Calatrava r]

No question Rolex has always been on a journey to rise upscale in the market. They have been very successful in their endeavors of late as documented by the value retention in their PM offerings.

[slide13]

I think Rolex has done a fantastic job positioning Tudor as the more affordable, more available, possibly more "entry level" alternative to Rolex while still keeping some shared brand identity yet letting Tudor be it's own thing.

I honestly don't think that was a given with how Tudor had fallen out of the US market. I think they succeeded by finding a gap in the market and offering a quality product that easily beat out it's less expensive competition (higher end Seiko, Oris, Doxa, etc) while coming in well under some of the more established Rolex alternatives (Omega, IWC, Breitling, etc).

Before Tudor that $3500-4500 price range was no longer well served after Omega moved up in price. And unless you have a Tudor and a Rolex side by side, the Tudor is good enough that you don't really recognize it as much of a lesser watch than the Rolex. (I say this having both a BB58 and a Sub Date 41 currently.....and side by side, the difference definitely show themselves....but before I got my new Sub I kinda forgot abou them)

So, my guess is they'll keep doing what they've been doing. I'm sure they'd love to keep Rolex exclusive and hard to acquire, though I don't know that the market will allow that long term...we've already started to see the softening there. But regardless I think Tudor still offers a great value proposition for a lot of buyers and even though I have a Sub now I still enjoy my BB58 a lot, which is saying something.

[Tools]

Rolex doesn't compete against anybody.

[omar-rye]

Originally Posted by Tools

Rolex doesn't compete against anybody.

They were competing when they came out with the 11 series Subs, Explorer II, Datejust II, Daydate II, etc

[doublevanose82]

Originally Posted by Tools

Rolex doesn't compete against anybody.

[Tools]

Originally Posted by omar-rye

They were competing when they came out with the 11 series Subs, Explorer II, Datejust II, Daydate II, etc

Evolution and progression of the product line.

Rolex sells every watch they make, they don't try to break into other niche markets or offer look-alikes to compete against other brands. When they put something new on the market, like the Skydweller, it is filled with new and innovative tech, not to go heads-up with another product.

Businesses and events actively pursue a Rolex sponsorship for its cache' and prestige and world following. Rolex engineers and watchmaking schools are leading the charge for future mechanical watches.

Reichmont, Swatch and others buy up brand names. Rolex stands on its own...... they aren't actively competing in the sense of building the brand.

[kmzandrew777]

Rolex doesn't try to compete against the high horology brands like AP, VC, PP, ALS, etc.

They're just in their own lane and dominating. They're sort of like the iphone of luxury watches. There might be better or more expensive watches out there, but they're basically the name that everyone thinks of first when they think "luxury watch."

The only other watch brand that has been anywhere near as successful as Rolex with its marketing is Richard Mille. RM is a mystery to me, as they have no heritage and make insanely overpriced watches that are ugly. I genuinely don't get why people like RM, especially when Hublot is so hated. RM is like a 1000 times more ridiculous, overpriced, and gaudy version of Hublot. If you ask me, the average RMs look more like an Invicta than the average Hublot so I'm really at a loss for the RM love, but hats off to them on their marketing and success.

As for Tudor, I do like the look of a handful of their watches, but I think they've just been riding on Rolex's coattails. If it wasn't for people thinking of Tudors as "baby Rolexes," I doubt they'd be selling so well as I've found them underwhelming quality-wise and heritage-wise.
For the price point they're at, I'm more intrigued by brands like Omega, Grand Seiko, Zenith, and even Breitling.

[PT_91]

Originally Posted by kmzandrew777

Rolex doesn't try to compete against the high horology brands like AP, VC, PP, ALS, etc.

They're just in their own lane and dominating. They're sort of like the iphone of luxury watches. There might be better or more expensive watches out there, but they're basically the name that everyone thinks of first when they think "luxury watch."

The only other watch brand that has been anywhere near as successful as Rolex with its marketing is Richard Mille. RM is a mystery to me, as they have no heritage and make insanely overpriced watches that are ugly. I genuinely don't get why people like RM, especially when Hublot is so hated. RM is like a 1000 times more ridiculous, overpriced, and gaudy version of Hublot. If you ask me, the average RMs look more like an Invicta than the average Hublot so I'm really at a loss for the RM love, but hats off to them on their marketing and success.

As for Tudor, I do like the look of a handful of their watches, but I think they've just been riding on Rolex's coattails. If it wasn't for people thinking of Tudors as "baby Rolexes," I doubt they'd be selling so well as I've found them underwhelming quality-wise and heritage-wise.
For the price point they're at, I'm more intrigued by brands like Omega, Grand Seiko, Zenith, and even Breitling.

Very good post.

[Roddypeepa]

What the market needs (and I think has at the moment) is choice.

We have decent value propositions like Oris, Longines etc

More expensive like IWC, Breitling, Omega, zenith.

Higher still like Rolex, Grand Seiko, GO, Blancpain

Then JLC

Then the trinity.

In my opinion watch industry is in rude health and I hope that more people discover this intriguing and sometimes mad hobby.

God thinking about these brands makes me wish I had a few hundred thousand disposable.


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[Inthesticks]

Rolex has done an amazing job of building their brand, its become the standard for prestigious watches, and everyone with a collection has at least one. Tudor has benefited from the brand Rolex has built. I cant think it would stand a chance against other watches in its price range if not for its association with Rolex..