I love wrist watches. As a kid I had several, a mix of analog and digital. From about 5 or 6 years of age, I would always be found wearing one of the watches I owned. Even today, I have 3 wrist watches, a military certified one, a Raymond-Weil, and one given to me by a former employer when I left that has their logo on the face. To this day I still keep abreast of the wrist watch market. My watches work fine and yet and I keep toying with the idea of purchasing a Breitling. I have a passion for the design, attention to detail, precision and expertise this company puts into their products. Compared with the typical “get it out the door and fix it later” approach with many of today’s companies, what Breitling promotes is refreshing. While I understand why most technology companies run their businesses with the “out the door” approach and the necessity in today’s market, it makes me feel sad inside.
I just finished watching a Ted presentation by Sir Ken Robinson. It is a informative and entertaining presentation on how the education system of today does not need an evolution. Instead it requires a revolution. Much of what he says parallels what Seth Godin wrote about in Linchpin. One of Ken’s analogies is how our children do not see the point of a wrist watch. A single purpose device that is no longer necessary but people over the age of 25 typically wear a wrist watch simply because we always have. I have to admit, I am well over the age of 25 and I still wear one. I also have a PDA, tweet, blog, and am very current in the latest technology, networks and security. I don’t need a wrist watch. Not only do I still wear one,but I still want a Breitling. Why?
I love their website. It is current and artistic, constantly being updated. It shows you the ‘flashy’ look of their products, yet those wishing to obtain technical details of a specific product can do so easily. It doesn’t send you to a PDF, technical specifications and flashy displays are all integrated into the site design. It is well thought out and well designed. This is important. It tells the viewer that is how they do everything including how they design their wrist watches. The design of the site, shows their personal brand. There are lots of videos of their jet team. You might wonder what a jet team has to do with the wrist watches. My wife joking said “That is why they have to charge so much for their watches.” Just like the design of their website, the videos of the jet team re-enforce the Breitling personal brand. Jet teams flying with accuracy, speed, timing, focus, trust, taking risk. That is how they make their watches, their website, train their jet team, how they view their trade craft. How they do everything.
I want a Breitling watch because I like watches and the attributes of the Breitling brand resonate with me. I feel sad sometimes with the “get it out the door” approach of many companies, because they ignore what I value. Precision, speed, timing, attention to detail, trust are attributes I have valued since I was the age of 6.
