Omega Boutique

[jimyritz]

I went to the high end mall by my house to get the wife a birthday present (Tiffany's ) and stop in at Tourneau to see what they had for pre-owned watches.

What did I find? A huge sign and area boarded off across from Tourneau---

OMEGA BOUTIQUE COMING SOON..

Guy at Tourneau says as soon as Omega goes in Tourneau loses Omega...

This will be interesting...Can Omega exist by selling at MSRP? Especially when folks are used to getting a discount.

The guy at Tourneau said that they may discount more...and they will sell pre-owned Omega's...Pay full price for an Omega or walk across the way and get 20% off a Breitling ..


This will be interesting to watch.....

What do you think?

Mike

[cali kid]

WOW, dont know if a Boutique is best to be put right next to a Tourneau! Omega is going to have to deal or lose business to another brand or their own used watches across the street!

[dshap]

I believe it could work, especially is they come out with a really good advertising campaign. I wonder if their plan is to go after first time luxury watch buyers (their new designs have a young and sporty look) and wow them with a fancy boutique and top service, rather than long-time watch buyers who remember when Omega was more affordable and could be had at a large discount.

[cali kid]

could be right David , keep us updated on what happens Mike!

[moishlashen]

It will be interesting. Omega has done a lot recently with the in-house movements and continuing to upgrade their designs to keep them contemporary.

From a business perspective it costs a lot of money to design and manufacture a movement and even to re-design current models. Keep in mind that when a manufacturing process is in place and at a steady state thats when the money making begins. Think Rolex and the sub they've made with no sweeping changes for over 50 years-that was a huge money maker for them.

My point is Omega is spending a ton of cash and risk so it looks like they are looking to jump up in the ranks. A blitzkrieg ad campaign would make sense as the next step as Shap says.

It will be fun to follow and for us Omega owners probably a good thing $$ wise with what we have.

[matt.wu]

Among the non-WIS I know, Omega actually has a good reputation for making a quality watch, so their marketing (Olympics, Bond, general advertising) is working on a certain level.

However, I'm not sure this strategy is the way to "move up" though. If this doesn't work, there's no way to really go back. You may end up ostracizing your existing fanbase on the hope of grabbing another. If this new target audience doesn't decide to pony up the dough for a watch and instead prefers to go with their iPhones, Omega's gonna be in a sticky situation.

I like their new 8500 watches, on a whole. I just don't like how quickly they're trying to move into another price bracket. I think it's not as simple as changing the price tag - you've got to earn your way there.

[dshap]

I really think with the right ad campaign and some time, they could compete with Rolex. They have the celebrity endorsements, James Bond, other movies (I just watched The American, and you can clearly see the Speedy in almost every scene), and now fancy boutiques. A really good print campaign in high-end magazines and financial papers would finish it off.

They're obviously investing a ton of money and risking their whole brand on this endeavor, so I'm going to assume that they've done their research and have good reason to believe this will work.

[jimyritz]

Omega has the marketing division of SWATCH behind it as well...
=============
I've loved all my Omega's especially the PO's....The PO's were excellent
all around desk divers...Why? because of their price point....It was hard to beat
the PO when it was $3600 (plus 20-25% off from AD's)...

Now depending on the version Omega will have watches priced liked the Sub C
DSSD and Daytona...Priced at Retail, MSRP...

I don't know....The marketing people at Omega are a lot smarter than me...

[lilhoody]

Taken from theawesomer.com

I think the answer is clear! I don't get Omega anyway.

[dukerules]

I think Omega has a quality product. It's just mass, non-WIS buyers' perception that's at stake, and those buyers don't generally equate Omega with Rolex at this point in time. It's a risky move to make I think, but I'm sure Omega's marketing and financial departments know what they're doing.

[425ranger]

Good luck to them. The 9300 series looks interesting.... Rolex price point is a scary zone to try and sell 300,000 watches.

[demer03]