Storyboard18 | Smartwatch is an instrument, not competition: Global CEO, Rado

Adrian Bosshard, Global CEO, Rado Watch Co.

During his first-ever visit to India, Storyboard 18 caught up with Adrian Bosshard, Global CEO, Rado Watch Co and spoke to him about the growth of the luxury watch market in India, expanding to tier 2-3 markets in the country, impact of the increasing popularity of smartwatches on the brand and much more.

How do you feel travelling after so many months, the borders have finally opened?

Despite working for over 20 years in the watch industry, since past two years I am the global CEO of the Rado brand. India is a key market but due to the pandemic we were not able to travel. But now, we really enjoy being in this important country, to feel the market here, to see the people, and to also meet our retailers.

After the pandemic, what does the luxury market in India look like?

Firstly, we have to say when the stores were closed, the end consumers didn’t have any opportunities to purchase watches; it could be purchased only digitally. Not only the watch industry but the whole industry was impacted. But as soon as the store opened again, the business came back stronger than before. Q4 2021 was even stronger than last quarter before the pandemic.

This was for the India market or globally?

In India specifically but also two- thirds of the countries where Rado is operating performed better in Q4 2021 over Q4 in 2019. That means the desire to buy beautiful watches, the desire to give some premium Rado watches was never lost. As soon as the stores were open again finally it was back more than ever.

What are the key trends when it comes to purchase of luxury watches? How do they compare with the global trends?

What I am observing is that the Indian taste is more in line with the global taste. Ten years ago Indians were a little less dissolute than today. India is now a part of the global village of the world. Which means thanks to social media and digitalization the customer is totally informed about the global trends.

Today, the Indian customer is also following the global trends. The global trend is to purchase something strong, reliable and with values. The customer today is buying less but when he is buying, he is buying value. That means, he is not buying cheap things but he is buying value. This is what we see by the young customer, by the old customer and therefore for a brand like Rado we offer real value. The real Swiss watch making, quality premium product in terms of scratch resistance, etc.

Consumers are looking for value. So how are you upping your technologies or innovations to meet the demands of the consumers of today?

Never rest. Always be happy with achievements but never be satisfied. Our ambition is always to improve, to innovate. Our design engineers are thinking about what they can offer more to our end consumers. That means we are totally in the service of our end consumers. We were the pioneer in the past, we are pioneer today and we will be pioneer in the future. To generate trends, to be innovative in offering additional values where comfort, precision, beautiful design and to inspire the watch lovers worldwide.

How has the increasing popularity of smart watches and Apple Watch impacted premium Swiss watch brands such as RADO?

You have a smart watch on your wrist. But, I am convinced one day when you see the difference between a real Swiss watch and a smartwatch. First of all, the spirit of a brand like Rado, the technology, the artwork and the passion behind it. A smart watch is an instrument. This is not a competition. It is an instrument and in two years the technology will be obsolete. But Rado is a watch for life. You can keep a smartwatch for sports and other activities but for special moments with your family, to go out in the evening, a real Swiss Watch is like the art work with the kind of passion, competence behind it. We believe that younger consumers one day will see the value in traditional strong brands like Rado which will offer value for life.

And how are you making this consumer see value in investing in a watch such as Rado? What is the strategy there?

First of all, do good things and talk about it. That means all our communication activities. Our watch makers are working in factories, they are all in Switzerland. But then we have to transport their hard work and this strong message to other markets. We have in India a very strong sales and marketing team who is capable of transferring this message to the retailers, to the sales people. Also, through the digital activities, through the traditional activities to the end consumer and of course with this we have a big community of fans and also our ambassadors. Hrithik Roshan is a great ambassador with whom we have associated for 10 years now. He is also a very important person to communicate the value of Rado to the worldwide customers and specially the Indian consumer.

What are the future plans for India and which areas will you invest in the coming months? Growth plans and opportunities?

We will open more boutiques but really no premium boutiques to bring in the full assortment products and message of the brand in the stores. We will not increase general doors but the quality of distribution will definitely increase. And most importantly we see opportunities not just in Tier 1 cities but also in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities because in these cities you also have young customers with good education who would like to be inspired by the Rado products.