Time marches on
If rebranding your company is a move that requires extensive research, then it stands to reason that renaming your business altogether necessitates even more careful thought. Back in March this year, UK watchmaker Rotary elected to do both, changing its name to The Dreyfuss Group to reflect the importance of its veteran Swiss watch brand Dreyfuss & Co – and so far it all seems to be working out very nicely.
Along with the recent development of heritage brand Windmills – more of which anon – the name change consolidates a shift of approach to more traditional offers with, in many cases, luxurious connotations. “The Dreyfuss Group works closely with a leading market research group, and it is becoming increasingly clear that consumers are moving away from fashion-led brands to more traditional brands that offer quality and value for money,” explains Barry Fitzpatrick, international sales director at The Dreyfuss Group. “As such, we feel that our current brand portfolio satisfies this changing trend and caters to consumers at all price points.”
It is most definitely an evolving portfolio, however, with 2007 witnessing a number of significant additions. Most recently these have included the Rotary Vintage collection of gents watches, intended to offer consumers “a generous selection of stylish strap and bracelet watches inspired by historic Rotary designs. The collection carefully blends the old with the new as it fuses vintage styling with modern day watch technology thanks to the Dolphin Waterproof standard that has been awarded to the whole collection.” Available in selected travel retail outlets since early in the year, with further roll-out to follow, the collection is aimed at holidaymakers and frequent travellers.
Rotary Rocks has also joined the portfolio recently. A standalone brand of 20 ladies diamond set watches, the range arrives with its own display/POS material and, says Fitzpatrick, is “very separate to the Rotary collection”. At the time of interview, the range was about to be showcased at the 2007 Baselworld Watch & Jewellery Fair with a view to raising its profile with travel retail buyers.
There has also been a great deal of attention for the brand new Joseph & Thomas Windmills collection, which is not currently available in travel retail. Designed to complement the Dreyfuss Group portfolio of classic dress watches, the brand consists of precious metal mechanical watches and seemingly provides a logical extension to the company’s existing presence in the sphere of long-lasting luxury timepieces.
“Further to the success of the Dreyfuss & Co collection, it became clear that consumers are looking for more classic watches with longevity,” confirms Fitzpatrick. “The J & T Windmills collection celebrates the golden era of clockmaking, namely the 17th and 18th centuries when England and specifically London was the clockmaking capital of the world. This offers international customers the opportunity to purchase a stunning watch with British history attached to it.”
While not presently available in our channel, Fitzpatrick admits that “there has been much interest in the brand and [availability in TR] is something that is likely to be considered in the future”.
As for the standalone brand of handmade Swiss timepieces that inspired the recent change of company name, it has been performing strongly in TR since its international debut at the 2006 Baselworld event.
The subject of a Frontier Brands profile in May last year, Dreyfuss & Co’s historical emphasis – it is divided into lines named after key historical dates in master horologist Rene Dreyfuss’ life – and stylish presentation struck a chord with inflight retailers from day one, as early listings with Lufthansa, Swiss Air and British Airways demonstrated.
Now available in a selection of UK and international airports, the elaborately-constructed Dreyfuss & Co watches have proven to be “particularly successful in the German travel retail outlets. Thanks to our in-house display department, we are able to create bespoke displays to fit different areas available and also produce appropriate marketing for light boxes for this brand and Rotary.”
Along with the Rotary brand, Dreyfuss & Co is also benefiting from the development of slimline airline boxes created to make the product suitable for the intensely space-conscious inflight environment. As a further incentive to buy, Dreyfuss & Co customers are issued with a voucher that enables them to send off for the lavish presentation box that they would usually receive when buying one of the watches in an airport environment.
A question of strategy
Rotary has long been a prominent presence in travel retail worldwide, so how important is the channel to the rebranded and renamed manufacturer? ‘Very’ appears to be the short answer. At greater length, Fitzpatrick explains: “It accounts for a substantial part of the company’s sales and every year a new strategy is developed to ensure that the offerings are consistently rejuvenated to appeal to the target market. We consistently launch products that will appeal to the travel retail consumer, such as the Rotary Revelation reversible dial watches, and the Dolphin Waterproof Standard that ensures the Rotary dress watches can be worn to ‘swim and dive all day’ and therefore appeal to holidaymakers.”
This enthusiasm for new product development underlines a commitment to travel retail that has been undimmed even by recent international security pressures. While acknowledging the impact of these new circumstances on all areas of the TR channel, Fitzpatrick reports that The Dreyfuss Group “has not experienced a dramatic decline in sales or demand for any of the brands. As such, we have adopted a very positive approach and work closely with our travel retail partners to ensure that the future remains bright for all parties involved.”
With tentative ideas about further launches – “we have plans to develop potential new brands over the next 18 months, but these are very much at the initial design stage at the moment” – and an enviably robust portfolio already in place, there is no reason to think that the future won’t be very bright for The Dreyfuss Group. Ready to acknowledge changing consumer requirements and reflect them in its product ranges, the supplier’s high-profile status in its chosen category seems evermore secure. n
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