$10 Rolex sells for 66k on Ebay!

A retired Navy doctor starts the bid for his vintage Rolex at $9.95, and ends up with $66,100 by the end of the bid.

Full article here

Chapter 8- Segmenting & Target Marketing

Market segmenting is an idea that applies to who companies should target when marketing a product. Its basically a way for marketers to group consumers that are most likely to purchase their products. For example, Marketers can segment groups of consumers based on age, race, gender or their income level. After marketers segment a group that will be most likely to buy their product, target marketing comes into play. Target marketing is the focus companies put on specific groups of consumers, that they their product will most attract.

Breitling is a high end brand that definitely puts market segmenting and target marketing into play when pushing their product. For example; GQ magazine is a men's fashion magazine that has Breitling ads in each issue. By Breitling advertising in a publication like GQ, they are obviously targeting men, and not just any man, but men of higher income. GQ magazine can be obtained by anyone, but is most popular among men that are willing to spend a few thousand dollars on a watch. It's quite obvious when you flip through the pages and see ads for Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Rolex that this isn't printed for any average Joe. These are all companies that you won't see advertising during a football game. People might say, "Companies target men during sporting events". Which is true, but it will be different kinds of companies. You'll certainly see ads from Ford, Toyota and Budweiser during a sporting cast, because those are companies that target the average American male, due to their product's affordability. This proves that Breitling is precise when it comes to segmenting and target marketing. They know that it would be a waste of time and money to advertise to the average American man, that most likely won't purchase a $5,000 watch. So they market their products in a publication that is popular amongst the guys with money to blow, GQ. Thats income segmenting at its best.

Jay WINS again!

Hip Hop business mogul Jay-Z, has the official "Ok" to open new venues of his 40/40 club in a number of airports across the U.S. Which will add on to the venues already established in New York, Atlantic City, Tokyo and a number of other cities.

Read the official article here

Chapter 11- Developing And Managing Products

Corporations are always looking for new ways to increase revenue and interest in their products. Developing new products is one of the top ways to keep consumers on their toes and curious about what's next from a company. Apple is a company that continuously comes out with new products and updates for old ones. By having that reputation, Apple is one of the top generators of interest in the business world. When constantly updating products that are effective and reliable, a company is sure to generate more interest, which in turn will of course generate more revenue.

Breitling targets the interest of the upper class and people of the aviation field. Although an already established company, Breitling recently created the new product named, Navitimer 01 Limited. A watch from a classic company with a contemporary look. Although the new watch has a modern look, it still contains the vintage swiss watch movement, that majority of watch companies no longer use. So Breitling is basically giving the consumer an updated look from their vintage chronograph watches, while still staying true to their original interior watch movement; Swiss. Developing this new product can increase sales, by gaining the interest of the newer generation that are interested solely in a great looking watch and the watch connoisseur that is interested in the look of the watch but even more interested in the movement.

Bottled Water; Big Business For No Reason?

Getting a Head Start on Black Friday Shopping

2 Women camp outside of Best Buy more than a week before Black Friday.

Chapter 21- Customer Relationship Management

       A company keeping a healthy relationship with its customer is keen to the idea of “customer loyalty”. Of course there are businesses that consumers will continue to religiously purchase from, no matter the relationship they have with the company. Supermarkets and Cable companies are just a few examples of businesses that people will continue to be loyal to, no matter the health of the relationship. The point of Customer Relationship Management is to potentially increase sales. When getting information from consumers, that gives the marketer the understanding of what will help sell their product or if their product is perfect the way it is.

      The way Breitling uses Customer relationship management is not aggressive at all. Many companies use surveys or questionaires, for their customers to help them better market and manage their product. Breitling on the other hand simply gives a link to their authorized dealers that you can contact if you have questions or comments. Being that they are a luxury watch company, I feel as if they wouldn’t value a customers input as much as a company providing a service that can possibly be improved to fit a customers happiness. I feel Breitling value’s its customers, but have their marketing management set in stone, and is not interested in changing anything about their company to meet individual customer needs.

Shine Bright like the color BLACK!

The Beauty of black face Breitling time pieces...

Chapter 16- Integrated Marketing Communications

Breitling uses a number of integrated marketing communication avenues to connect to their target consumer, With advertising being at the top of their marketing food chain. Although Breitling is not a company that solely relies on ads to increase revenue, they do spend a hefty amount of change pushing their watches into the consumer's eye. Will you ever see a Breitling watch commercial during Super Bowl Sunday? Most likely not. But you will find ads in high end men magazines such as GQ, with Breitling watches looking nothing less than perfect, in ever months issue. The idea of Breitling spending $5 million to have a 30 second super bowl commercial slot might be profitable. But why not spend millions less, signing a advertising contract with a male  high end fashion magazine like GQ, that gives your target audience (high end/fashionable males) a chance to stare at your product and fall in love with until they decide to head to the nearest Breitling dealer and make a purchase. Fans of watches fall in love with the appearance of the watch first, and a 30 second watch commercial on television will not give the consumer the chance to fall in love with the watch, the way a picture advertisement in a magazine will. Marketers thoroughly think of the best ways to communicate to the consumer, and for Breitling a simple magazine ad is the most profitable.

"Call Of Duty: Black Ops" Gunning for Sales Record

Hundreds of gamers, Including myself, waited in line last night (Nov.8.2010) for the midnight release of highly anticipated video game COD:Black Ops. The company responsible for the famous "Call of duty" video game series made a astonishing $401 Million from the midnight release alone. The holiday season is likely to shoot up "Black ops" sales a few million more.

Chapter 10- Product Concepts

Breitling would be a company under the Specialty Products umbrella. Being that they sell luxury watches, the way they market their product will always be very selective, in certainty that their brand will maintain its exclusive reputation. Breitling's signature wing symbol is one of the main things that make their product distinguished from other watch companies. Being that Bretiling's partner Bentley has a similar brand symbol, a Bentley consumer will most likely identify Breitling as high end of a company as Bentley, if they have no prior knowledge of Breitling. Keeping a Companies brand image stable is a very important part of the companies success. It shows consistency and reliability to the customer. Packaging is a keen aspect to marketing a product like a luxury watch. Breitling's packaging is very sophisticated, including a genuine leather box, the interior of the boxes range from leather to other luxury materials. Although packaging might not seem important, When trying to maintain a high end reputation for your product, packaging must match the quality and exclusiveness of the actual product.

Chapter 18- Sales

Sales are basically what every company is built for. All of the Strategic planning, advertising, target marketing etc., serves one purpose to companies, for products to sell. Breitling is a company that has a very casual approach to consumers in terms of getting their watches to sell. As said in previous posts, there is no true need for a $2,000 watch. Luxury items like Breitling do offer reliance and class, but a consumer can get a reliable and classy watch for well under $500 if needed. There is no loyalty programs or samplings for customers at a company like Breitling. Although Breitling does spend millions of dollars advertising their business, There aren't any other avenues used by them to increase sales such as contest and sweepstakes.  When making a purchase as high end as a luxury watch, the customer will most likely not be coming back to buy another next week, the way theybuy grocery weekly. Therefor customer loyalty programs and things of that sort to lure customers in is not necessary for Breitling to increase sales. What is necessary and can beneficial to Breitling is lead generation. By Breitling enforcing lead generation they know exactly where to avertise their products and in what geographic areas to open their stores. The new store on 5th avenue is a perfect example of that.

Travolta does Breitling photo shoot

Breitling Flagship Store Opening in NYC!

The opening of a Breitling retailer is coming to New york City in the fourth quarter of 2010. It will be in the area of the fashion/tourist paradise, 5th avenue. Located next door to top fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent.

Chapter 17- Advertising & Public Relations

Advertising and public relations are two of the most important factors of marketing. Advertising is a way for a company to gain the attention of the public consumer’s eye. All outlets from magazines, billboards and television commercials are used for advertising. Companies also use Celebrities and Athletes as advertising tools for their products. Sports wear companies like Nike use famous Athletes such as Michael Jordan and Lebron James as faces to sell their sneakers and clothing to millions of people. Companies realize the powerful influence Celebrities can have on a consumer's decision making. If Advertised correctly, the sales from a Celebrity endorsement can bring in a large amount of revenue. In 2005 Breitling signed A-list actor John Travolta on as the main spokesperson for advertising of the brands watches. Aside from John Travolta being a public influential icon, he is a registered Pilot. Being that Breitling is a popular brand in the flight community it was a great marketing decision on Breitling’s behalf to sign Travolta. There are many ads in magazines like GQ with Travolta modeling Breitling watches.

Chapter 15- Retailing

Retailing is strongly thought out when a company is deciding what type of retailer to have their merchandise placed in. If a company produces sporting goods it would probably look past the retail outlets such as supermarkets and convenience stores. Selling sporting goods would more than likely land your product in a specialty store such as Modell’s. A jewelry/watch company like Breitling is also likely to have its items sold in a specialty store like a jewelry shop. Benny & Co. is a Jewelry company that has two New York City locations. Benny privately runs his business, and obviously solely focuses on quality jewelry such as diamond encrusted Breitling watches. Breitling doesn’t have its own flagship store in New York City, so known jewelry dealers like Benny are the perfect outlet for known companies like Breitling to authorize their dealings to the consumer with.

Chapter 6-Consumer Decision Making

Decision-making can either be a very broad aspect for a consumer when deciding on a purchase, or a very simple one. Being that studies prove majority of purchases are not planned and made on impulse, we can conclude that most of consumer decision-making doesn’t take much pre-meditation. But, for that minority of purchases that does take a deeper thought process from the consumer, there are plenty of areas the decision has to take into consideration. For example, A Breitling customer would most likely not make "need recognition" the number one priority, being that there is arguably no real need for a watched priced over $1,000, when you can get a great quality watch priced well below $500. “Evaluating alternatives” might be an aspect a Breitling customer considers, for example shopping around to see if another jeweler will give him/her a better deal. The strongest part of a Breitling customers decision process to purchase a high end watch, would have to be, Information search. When buying something as expensive as a Breitling watch, a customer knows about the product they are exchanging their money for and most likely has an understanding of why the product is priced the way it is.

Chapter 5-Developing A Global Vision

Global Marketing is a major aspect of a companies business. Breitling and Bentley motors are two Global companies that decided to joint venture to create Bentley edition watches. Breitling is a Switzerland based watch company. Switzerland is known to produce the highest quality watches in the world. Bentley Motors is a British based automobile company that produces some of the highest quality and prestigious cars in the world. These two companies creating their joint venture was a perfect way for both to gain the attention of high-end consumers around the globe. It brings the attention of Bentley customers to the high-end watches and Breitling customer’s attention to the prestigious vehicles. The two companies connecting makes perfect sense, being that their individual consumers are more than likely to be the class of customer that can afford purchasing from either company.

Breitling and Bentley also share a similar wings logo. 

Corporate Irresponsibility

In 2005 one of the worlds Top fashion designers Hermes made themselves a public example of Corporate irresponsibility. In one of their Paris stores they denied entrance to the richest African-American women in the world Oprah Winfrey. Not only did the particular employees destroy their employment with the company, they caused a public worldwide uproar over the incident. When asked about the situation, one of the employees responded, “I just didn’t know who she was” as if knowing Oprah’s celebrity was the real issue.

What made this incident a corporate problem for the company is not that the associates did not recognize Oprah Winfrey, but that the root of the problem was obviously racism. No matter what country a company is based in discrimination based on race, religion or any personal profile is frowned upon in a business aspect. Studies show that Consumers are more likely to purchase from companies that practice ethical behavior. Denying one of the most powerful African-American women in the world entrance to a store Makes Hermes a prime example of a company that had its share of corporate irresponsibility.

Week 4- The Marketing Environment

When companies create their marketing plans, the marketing environment is one of the most important factors that are focused on. The marketing environment is very broad, but that is a good thing because it gives marketers a large selection of areas to figure what area of the environment would need most focus to properly market their good or service. Target markets, ethnic demographics and purchasing power are all factors that can be focused on when trying to properly market a good or service.

Breitling would be considered a luxury company that targets consumers of high income. Being that their watches are priced at $1,200 and higher the marketing department for Breitling wouldn’t choose to place an advertisement for their company in a low income neighborhood or magazine that is not know to be frequently picked up by upper class consumers. Purchasing Power, which is a factor in the marketing environment, plays a large role in the strategy of a high-end company like Breitling.  To be able to afford a luxury watch, which means purchasing without interfering with your normal monthly expenses, your purchasing power would have to be extremely high. So either your standard of living is very low or your funds are very high. Not to say that a person with a low income can’t obtain a luxury watch, but obtaining and affording are two different things. Breitling marketers seem to not take a gamble with consumers who have a low standard of living or low income, so they place their ads in avenues that are popular amongst high end consumers such as GQ magazine and The Wall Street Journal. magazine and The Wall Street Journal.

Country Of Manufacture

Shirt- made in Sri Lanka

Jeans- made in The USA

Underwear- Made in India

Sneakers - made in China

Week 3- Ethics & Social Responsibility

Ethics and social responsibility are factors that play a large moral part in our society and everyday lives. They are also factors that establishments and corporations take very seriously and put time and thought into putting into action. Breitling takes part in both ethical behavior and social responsibility.

Breitling is a partner in the charity Winds Of Hope, A charity that’s focus is to fight human suffering and forgotten diseases all over the world. Many businesses get involved with charitable causes, which is an act that would fall under the social responsibility umbrella. The type of social responsibility that this particular company falls under would be “Corporate Social Responsibility” because they are helping a cause with no intention on profiting financially. I would also consider Breitling to be taking part in Ethical and Philanthropic responsibility.  Breitling not only funded the base capital of the charity organization but also regularly donates to the charities administrative account. 

More information on Winds Of Hope is available at www.windsofhope.org/en

 Being that research has found that companies practicing ethical behavior can have a positive effect on consumer attitude towards purchasing, it is profitable for a “corporate social responsible” company like Breitling to be ethically aware and active even though their intention is not to practice Sustainability.

Week 2- Strategic Planning

In December 2007 Breitling decided to put a new president in charge that had a strong background and experience in Strategic Planning. When Phillippe Bonay replaced Marie Bodman as the companies US president, Breitling expected a growth in American sales for its watches. Bonay previously was apart of senior marketing at other luxury watch companies such as Panerai and Piguet. Due to the success of those watch companies, Breitling's plan to make Bonay their US president was a simple plan but a good one none the less. What's a better strategic plan than putting someone in charge who has had a number of successful strategic plans that helped competition before?

Week 1- History and Mission Statement

 

The company Brietling was founded in the year of 1884 in the Jura Mountains of St. Imier Switzerland by Leon Breitling. Breitling opened a workshop thats focus was to produce Chronographs for scientific purposes. By 1892 Breitling's business was doing very well and he decided to relocate it to Chaux-de-fonds Switzerland, the booming area of swiss time piece production at that time. When the company was passed down to Leon Breitling's son Gatson in 1914, The first chronograph wrist watch was created for the use of pilots. A staple was born. Throughout the first half of the 20th century Breitling made its mark in the aviation field with its quality chronograph time pieces. Today Breitling watches are a staple in not just the aviation field but looked at in pop culture as one of the top watch companies in the world. 

                               

                                                           Leon Breitling 1984.

Mission: To provide the world with quality watches that can last a lifetime.




Breitling is a partner in the charity Winds Of Hope.

1940's Vintage Breitling watch.

2010 Breitling watch.