More than 100 years ago, Baselworld was founded in the Swiss city of Basel and has long become an unmissable event for luxury, jewelry, watch brands and manufacturers. With over thousands of international visitors and exhibitors each year, Baselworld is the largest watch and jewelry trade show in existence. Year after year, the world’s top watch and jewelry makers present their new collections and reporters spot new trends to write about for the upcoming year.
Image: Baselworld
Baselworld 2018: How brands approached the event
This year’s Baselworld took place a few weeks ago, but that doesn’t mean the media is done talking about it. In our latest report, Digital Impacts in the Luxury Sector: A Snapshot of Jewelry & Watch Brands from Baselworld 2018, we uncover the brands that generated the most buzz during the Swiss luxury show. While determining which brands ranked highest at Baselworld in terms of impact surrounding the event on online and social media, we also compare the differences in strategy and how each brand’s participation at the event has been reflected in terms of voices. To gain further insights, we also asked different brands to elaborate on their Baselworld strategy at the fair. We asked them about their main goals for participating at Baselworld, which channels they used for marketing and if they activated any influencers, among other topics.
After gathering all the data and results from the interviews we held, here are two key findings we’d like to highlight:
Traditional Media is the Main Voice for Brands
Contrary to what some may think, traditional media is still playing a key role and is in fact still the most powerful voice for many brands at Baselworld. A solid example of this is Breguet, with over 75% of its brand voice stemming from third-party media. This can be explained by the high number of reporters and magazine editors that attend the annual event. Throughout the days of the fair, the media highlights announcements of new watch designs and innovations that are showcased and brands therefore see a spike in media impact. This serves the ultimate goal of gaining brand awareness and boosting new product launches, as media usually has a wider reach, with 40% of the brands questioned saying that media is their main target at Baselworld.
Image: The New York Times
The use of influencers at Baselworld
Influencer marketing is just as prevalent in the watch & jewelry sector as it is in fashion; the power of an influencer's voice is undeniable. 65% of the brands we interviewed at Baselworld said they collaborated with influencers. When it comes to choosing the kind of influencer to work with, 75% of brands at Baselworld claimed to prefer working with ‘pure’ influencers over celebrities. For this questionnaire, we described a 'pure' influencer as an opinion leader who has gained their following and built their community based solely on their actions on social media, whereas celebrities are those known for other work primarily, such as acting, sports or singing. However, when looking at the data and putting our audience-driven Media Impact Value algorithm to use, we found that celebrities, such as Usain Bolt, manage to generate tremendous engagement.
To learn more about how brands performed at this year's Baselworld and who made the most of their presence at the fair, download our report: Digital Impacts in the Luxury Sector: A Snapshot of Jewelry & Watch Brands from Baselworld 2018.
By Launchmetrics Content Team
The Launchmetrics content team is always on the lookout for new trends in the fashion and technology sector. We are geeks with style and lovers of good stories!
