CEO of Audemars Piguet Reckons Luxury Business is Kid's Play

Audemars Piguet Holding SA is a Swiss manufacturer of luxury mechanical watches and clocks, headquartered in Le Brassus, Switzerland. The company was founded by Jules Louis Audemars and Edward Auguste Piguet in the Vallée de Joux in 1875, acquiring the name Audemars Piguet & Cie in 1881. The company has been family-owned since its founding.

François-Henry Bennahmias, the CEO of luxury watch brand Audemars Piguet (AP), turned to an unlikely age group for clues to the future of the luxury business – the children of his colleagues.

With Covid-19 spreading and no one quite knowing what the future held, Bennahmias, a father himself, recognised it was important to talk to the young, as they were going to shape the world.

“On the third weekend (of shutdown) I asked all employees to speak to their kids, whether they are 3-years-old or 25, and to ask them how they see life after Covid-19. I got drawings, e-mails, videos, letters; a lot of answers,” Bennahmias, a former golfer, said in an interview with Watchbox, a dealer of pre-owned watches. “Every single one of them spoke about love, but not the love of two people connected on Facebook. No, it was about wanting to hug their grandmother or grandfather. I want to be able to kiss my girlfriend. As humans, they all spoke about love as the first thing they need every single day.”

Further on, Bennahmias said, “I want to listen more and more to the younger generation because we are going to see so many changes to the world we are living in. If we are unwilling to learn, then we are going to be in trouble. There is only one way to do this the right way, and that is to listen to our kids.”

AP watches start at around Rs 12 lakhs. It is not the brand’s culture to sell online, though they made an exception during the pandemic. Bennahmias’s definition of luxury is, “When we talk about luxury, we want to be touched in the part of your brain where emotions are triggered. Emotions could be for a watch, a piece of art, shoes, a handbag; anything. Emotions are between people. The computer will not give you an emotion.”

Bennahmias then said he had a plan for a business in the new world, but did not reveal it. “Three days after this conversation with AP employees, I got the idea of how we are going to change and adjust to these issues. I cannot go into details, but I can guarantee you this goes far beyond the watch industry, it affects the fashion industry, hotels, cars, jewellery, everything. We cannot deal with clients in the same way we have treated them for the past 30 years. I don’t need four walls to sell you a watch tomorrow,” he said.

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