Apocalypse Of The Hundred Year Basel Watch Exhibition Crisis

In May 7th, the MCH group announced that it would cancel the 2021 Basel international watch and Jewellery Fair (Baselworld), which was scheduled for January 28, 2021 to February 2nd. The Basel watch and clock show will also be cancelled. Earlier, due to the impact of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, the organizers announced that the exhibition scheduled for April 30th to May 5th will be postponed until January next year. But in April 14th, Rolex, Tudor, Patek Philippe, Chanel and Chopin issued a joint statement, because the management of the Basel watch and clock exhibition had unilaterally delayed the decision without consultation, and at the same time, it was unfair to return the exhibition fees, unable to meet the brand's expectations and needs, so it would withdraw from the Basel watch and clock show. Three days later, the LVMH group also announced that its brand, real time, tiger Heuer and Bvlgari will all withdraw from the Basel watch and clock show, and will participate in the new exhibition held in Geneva next year.

The group's "big escape" of the watch brand is considered by the industry to be the biggest crisis in Basel watch and clock exhibition after the announcement of the 17 brands of Swatch group in 2018 to withdraw from the 2019 Basel watch and clock show. As of 2019, the number of exhibitors in Basel watch and clock show dropped from 1500 in 2016 to 520, and the first time there was a loss in 2019. However, the epidemic is just the last straw in the clock watch. The real reason behind it is more complicated.

The group's "big escape" of the watch brand has brought the Basel watch and clock exhibition to its biggest crisis. (photo 2019 Basel clock show live) visual China

Is the cost not worth it?

After 103 years of rain and wind, the Basel watch and clock show has not only accumulated a long history of brand names, but also produced many "enmity and hatred" with exhibitors, especially the high cost of exhibitors. Exhibitors Thomas Farber said in an interview with Telegraph that he participated in the Basel clocks Exhibition for many years and rented the same medium-sized booth in the basement, but the booth fee rose year after year, from the initial $10 thousand to the current US $100 thousand. In a week's participation, medium sized brands like them cost a total of 300 thousand to 600 thousand dollars. The exhibitors complained that although the schedule of the exhibition was shortened from eight days to six days in 2018, the same amount of exhibition fees was still charged.

Does the high cost pay the equivalent benefit? Exhibitors are skeptical about this. "I would rather spend $500 thousand to bring our customers to face-to-face exchanges in London, at least we can get all their attention," Scott Thompson, founder of CARAT London, a senior jewellery brand, told Forbes. He took the brand to the Basel watch and clock show for the first time and the last time in 2016, but he found: "we already know these customers at the exhibition. The Basel watch and clock show is like a product of the video recorder era and should be phased out."

Cedric Weisse, executive partner of European luxury group, believes that when he was the executive officer of the Marlox group, he did not participate in the Basel watch and clock show for the brand, nor did she have the commercial strategic significance. Most distributors have already completed most of their watch purchases in January, and they will also preview the special items at the Basel watch and clock show to advance their quota. In this way, whether the brand is involved in the watch show has become no longer important. But at the same time, he reluctantly indicated that although it was not necessary to know that the exhibition was not necessary, most exhibitors would still appear at the exhibition because of their face: "once the brand is not present, it will be considered a problem in the company's business."

Other straw that overcame camels.

In addition to the prohibitive cost of exhibitors, the MCH group of the organizers of Basel watch and clock exhibition is also unable to meet the individual needs and budgets of exhibitors. According to the jewelry expert and The Adventurine brand founder Marion Fasel, a jewelry designer friend expressed dissatisfaction with the booth arranged by the Basel watch and clock exhibition, but the organizers replied, "otherwise, do not join this year?" Compared with other clocks and jewellery exhibitions that regard clocks and exhibitors as important partners, the logistical team of the Basel watch and clock show lacks the skills to maintain customer relations, and the customers' complaints are always ignored, according to sources.

In addition, the problem of accommodation and catering for exhibitors has not been satisfactorily resolved over the years. Clock industry contributor James Dowling has 25 years of experience in participating in the exhibition. He finds that the price of hotels has increased by nearly 500% every year during the clocks and watches. And no matter how many days the guests actually stay, the hotel must be booked for the entire exhibition period, plus the restaurant price which also takes the opportunity to rise. He feels that the Basel watch and clock show always gives me the shackles. Besides, the local transportation cost is also amazing. In search of cheap accommodation, he was forced out of town to rent on the German border. It took about 50 dollars to get to the exhibition hall by taxi, but the cost of returning from the exhibition was doubled. He said to Telegraph: "I liked this exhibition very much at the beginning. It's a social occasion where I have opportunities to establish contacts with people from all over the world only one or two times a year. But for now, the original humanistic care of the exhibition has been eroded gradually, instead of all the atmosphere that runs around money.

At the same time, the market changes also accelerated the "withering" of Basel watch and clock show. According to statistics, twenty years ago, most of the wholesale sales of clocks and watches accounted for 70%, and retail sales amounted to 30%. Now, the sales of brands through wholesale distributors account for 40% to 50%, while retail distribution patterns account for 50% to 60%. Most watch brands are trying to control distribution by controlling vertical outlets, and the trade mode relying on exhibition is being withdrawn from the stage of history. CARAT founder Thompson agrees. Since its inception, he has made adjustments to the brand's business strategy, and now focuses more on e-commerce and sales of 15 independent stores, because their business volume is more than that of wholesale business. He said: "the number of conventional wholesale channels is decreasing, and the distribution model is quite different from before."

When strong enemies bite you, how do you run?

In the past few years, the Basel watch and clock exhibition has also tried to take positive remedial measures to try to restore the trend of decline. In 2018, the sponsor appointed a new managing director, Michel. Loris-Melikoff, a series of measures have been taken to increase the attractiveness of the exhibition. First of all, exhibitors have provided more booths under the condition that the exhibition fees remain unchanged. Secondly, following the pace of competitor SIHH, a display area has been set up for small-scale independent watch brands. In addition, hotels have also been negotiating with the hotel to cut down the prices and shorten the exhibition schedule, so as to reduce the cost of exhibitors. 。 But these efforts are against the rival Geneva international advanced watch exhibition SIHH, but it is far from enough.

SIHH has completed the metamorphosis in recent years. Besides the heavy clock watch in Geneva, it is also active in global layout. First of all, in Hongkong and Miami, the "clock and miracle Exhibition" was tested. At the end of 2019, it was officially renamed the "Geneva watch and wonder Exhibition (Watches&Wonders)" (hereinafter referred to as the clock and miracle exhibition). It is positioned to build a world-class platform for the exchange of watches and jewellery brands, and the market structure is broader. In addition, the watch and miracle exhibition also attached great importance to the digital transformation from offline to online, and developed a comprehensive watch retailing app to actively develop business in regional horological Expo activities such as Dubai watch week.

Although this year's "big exam" and the offline exhibition were canceled, the SIHH organizers quickly launched a digital platform in April 25th for buyers to view 30 new products of the world's top watch brands. At the same time, the Tmall official flagship store, which combines Tmall luxury products and NET-A-PORTER, has hosted a cloud exhibition, and provides customers with a look at the purchase and appointment test service to maximize the gap in the physical space. This series of operations not only reflects the more active service consciousness of SIHH organizers, but also meets the expectations and demands of exhibitors in the new market situation.

Opportunities always favor those who are prepared. Comparing the two phases, although the Basel watch and clock show has decided to invest a lot of money in the development of Basel watch and clock exhibition and other digital platforms since 2019, but until April 14th of this year, MCH group still said in its announcement that "a new form of platform for research and design of a small wrist watch brand will be released and released this summer. In subsequent words, it is difficult to conceal the slow and conservative aspects of Basel watch and clock exhibition in digital exploration.

For a long time, the Basel watch exhibition has provided hundreds of small brands with unique opportunities to show new markets to the global market. On the contrary, the watch brands that held their positions in Basel have rushed to the Geneva exhibition 150 miles away. Will the future Basel watch and clock show have enough attraction to keep the rest of exhibitors and international buyers? Quillandpad.com co founder and editor in chief Elizabeth Doerr gave a pertinent prediction: "I know that the Basel watch and clock show will never be the same again. Only through a truly profound introspection, recognizing the turning point, past mistakes and the current needs of the industry can we break the cocoon into a butterfly. The prospect of the Basel watch and clock show is more uncertain than ever before. But I am confident that if the strategy is right, it is not yet known that "danger" is "machine".