Feature: Why Rolex’s Co-founder Was A Marketing Wizard
When Rolex co-founders Hans Wilsdorf and Alfred Davis joined forces early in the twentieth century, their rivals were already wizened veterans, with the likes of Omega, Patek Philippe, Vacheron Constantin and others possessing decades of industry experience.
If anyone was going to find success in the impending era of the wristwatch, it wasn’t fresh-faced Hans and Alfred. It was these battle-hardened brands with their knowledge, contacts and technical know-how. What they didn’t have, however, was the marketing genius of Wilsdorf, a man with an uncanny knack for drumming up publicity and sniffing out an opportunity for a headline.
It’s fair to say that if Wilsdorf was around today and he wasn’t working in the watch industry, he’d have made a first-class advertising man or PR guru.
Here’s why…
He Dispensed With Plain Dials
One of Wilsdorf’s earliest forms of brand promotion involved printing the Rolex name on the dial, which was virtually unheard of back then. Retailers were resistant, to say the least. “The opposition I encountered [from sellers] seemed insuperable,” recounted Wilsdorf years later.
An Oyster model from the 1920s, by which time Rolex were adding their name to the dials.
So he began by sneaking the brand name onto one in six watches, slowly increasing this to three in six to build up recognition. For a while, in another effort to distinguish the brand, Rolex watch dials also featured a number 12 numeral in red, standing out from the other numerals which were in black.
After the First World War, with soldiers returning from the battlefield wearing their Rolex watches, and bearing the brand name like a badge of honour, the company began to take off, as did the wristwatch itself.
He Pioneered The Brand Ambassador
In an early example of brand endorsement, Wilsdorf got Mercedes Gleitze, the first woman to swim the English Channel, to wear a Rolex Oyster around her neck as she braved the waves.
He also spent a small fortune on advertising the feat in print, as well as creating eye-catching shop window displays that featured Rolex Oysters submerged in aquariums filled with tropical fish.
An advert featuring Mercedes Gleitze who wore a Rolex while swimming the English Channel.
In the fifties, Rolex offered assistance to adventurers and explorers, hence its famous role in the 1953 Everest Expedition where Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay were the first to summit the world’s tallest mountain. Naturally Rolex wasn’t shy about telling the world about this achievement via newspaper adverts.
Author Ian Fleming’s decision to have Bond wear a Rolex had nothing to do with Wilsdorf, but it still looked great for Rolex when Sean Connery wore a Submariner in the movies. Wilsdorf wasn’t just a genius; sometimes he could be plain lucky.
He Was Good At Naming Stuff… Sometimes!
Wilsdorf was keen to create an affordable watch brand after establishing Rolex but he struggled to come up with another catchy name that rolled off the tongue the way Rolex does. Having hit upon some kind of magic word formula with that meaningless name, he tried to go down the same route for his second venture.
How does Hofex sound to you? Preposterous? Well how about the hideously clunky Rolwatco?
These, plus the marginally better Falcon and Elvira were just a few that Wilsdorf went as far as registering, without actually doing anything with them—which was probably for the best.
Hans Wilsdorf was a savvy marketeer who garnered plenty of publicity for his brand.
Thankfully he came to his senses and went with the name Tudor, probably a nod to England, where he had met his business partner, Alfred Davis. Plus it has royal connotations–not a bad thing for a luxury product.
Wilsdorf would have undoubtedly been delighted with Tudor’s roster of celebrity brand ambassadors today and its solid status in the industry, while Rolex has reached a position where it practically sells itself.
As for whether either brand would have had the success it’s had if it was called Rolwatco, we’ll never really know.
Looking for a pre-owned Rolex watch? Click here to shop now
Looking for pre-owned Rolex finance? Click here to shop now
