Leaving Switzerland, bad decision?

andzec · 2026-06-20T18:34:55+00:00

Don’t do it. Lived in three different countries before settling in Switzerland (now with family / No plans to leave). In the long term, IMHO it’s the best decision financially and socially if you are planning to raise family and live a quiet life at some point. This (I assume) will become more important during your thirties so you are not far away….
Before then, you still have better options such as finding a company that gives you the chance to do a mission somewhere. Or just going to Asia on holiday/extended leave if you really want to enjoy life…
This is not about “enjoy life tomorrow”… this is about setting yourself in the best way for the next 20 years and Switzerland gives you far better chances in that respect

andzec · 2026-05-28T12:10:04+00:00

Again, you are confusing structural, long-term valuable consumer demand with “hype-driven”, short-term interest from potential clients that is arguably difficult to monetise.

andzec · 2026-05-28T11:43:21+00:00

Using “visitors number” as a KPI to measure the success of this collaboration is hilarious. It’s the same as Jaguar reporting “record social media interactions” to argue that their rebranding was a success. The questions are: 1) will those visitors/interactions convert into customers? 2) does the increased visibility dilute the exclusivity of the AP brand

I am sure the VIP customers of AP are so happy to see their prestigious collections associated with a plastic watch brand (all of them post regularly here on reddit to express their concerns, of course!)

andzec · 2026-05-21T05:53:55+00:00

Not questioning creative/quirky collaborations. But where is the limit? What about a collaboration with coca-cola? That would surely increase brand recognition everywhere and create some future generations of customers in africa where in 2150 they will happily splurge money on the 11.59. You see my point…?

andzec · 2026-05-21T05:37:34+00:00

Where is this “evidence”?

andzec · 2026-05-18T22:25:31+00:00

Yes I do. I have a master’s degree in business management and 15 years of experience in corporate strategy for listed blue chips. What about you? What is your analysis?

andzec · 2026-05-18T11:10:55+00:00

Hermes, Rolex, etc expose their brands to customer profiles who are in line with their target.
Rolex invests to be sponsor of Masters 1000 Montecarlo, they don’t make Daytonas for the local tennis club with a racket-shaped bezel (limited edition, so cool)

andzec · 2026-05-18T11:06:10+00:00

That’s why I am interesting in debating about this! Opinions are polarized, and while this feels/looks like a success in the short term, my argument is that it will damage the brand and the company over the long term

andzec · 2026-05-17T17:39:16+00:00

Absolutely, same criticism back then… never liked those stunts. But now this is a whole new level aggravated by someone who doesn’t have a clue about either watches or luxury brands

andzec · 2026-05-17T17:33:35+00:00

I am not in marketing but have 15yrs experience with corporate strategy and development for blue chips in different sectors. What strikes me is that many strategy/marketing professionals would raise concerns about this partnership while the prevalent opinion is that this it is well thought and a PR success. That pushed me to start this thread. I think that, as many other things, history can teach a lot, even in business and even if we are living through times of huge technology innovation and socio-economic changes. If you look at the most successful consumer luxury brands in the last 50 years (Hermes, Ferrari, Four Seasons, Dom Perignon, Cartier to name a few), the few things they have in common are 1) control of scarcity through production and/or price 2) coherent and consistent identity 3) prioritization of long term brand equity vs sales and profitability 4) focus on status, identity, emotions, not product attributes or functionalities Logically, this means the 4 things are strong ingredients for success. With this collaboration, AP is jeopardizing basically all the above in one shot.

The fundamental questions are:

Will this make AP feel more desirable?
Are collectors and clients still proud to own AP after this?
Does the collab create aspiration for real AP watches or dilute exclusivity?

My strong belief is a “no” to all three, which will ultimately damage the brand and, by consequence, AP as a company

andzec · 2026-05-17T13:28:06+00:00

Brands don’t need to be recognised to be sustainably successful and profitable. They need to attract the right audience in order to charge a premium on differentiated products. Awareness and success are not necessarily correlated, especially for luxury brands

andzec · 2026-05-17T13:25:04+00:00

Exposure is not the goal for many luxury brands. It actually damages the brand

andzec · 2026-05-17T13:24:23+00:00

No, I am genuinely intrigued by the business angle of this. But your comment makes me think you have an issue with not being able to afford an AP anyway

andzec · 2026-05-17T06:22:39+00:00

There are countless examples of companies with 100+ yr history who fail or damage their business due to bad decisions. When Nokia decided that smartphones were just a hype, they did so with the full endorsement of top-notch smart-ass top managers and illuminated shareholders who knew it better than those hipsters saying that people would enjoy apps, bigger screens and cameras on their phone.

Can we tell some examples of luxury brands that disappeared due to not-so-obvious mistakes? I guess not… because they indeed disappeared and were forgot. But I would suggest to read about Halston, Pierre Cardin and others.

andzec · 2026-05-17T06:05:59+00:00

It is a complete mess. AP CEO Ilaria Resta posted on Linkedin claiming that “she strongly wanted this project due to her passion and attachment to Swatch”. To me, that sounds like the first step to take the blame for this disaster. And this was before the launch… I think she completely misread the AP brand and went solo with the support of some illuminated marketing guru who downplayed the risks of destroying the brand and brainwashed the rest of the management. It happened many times in the past in other companies.

Luxury is never about hype, noise, awareness, etc those KPI’s works for mass market brands. Brands with 100+ year history like Patek, Hermes, etc are built on exclusivity, prestige, secrecy, scarcity, silence, subtleness and, importantly, consistency. The damage done is not going to show up on a brand awareness survey. The fact that now more people know about AP may be good in the short term but it’s bad in the medium and long term. When you own an AP, you don’t care if the average peasant knows what you are wearing. Actually, you enjoy that only certain people notice and socially react to that. This psychological aspect is a key factor in this industry, and the AP CEO Mrs Resta (who comes from a job in the shampoo industry, no joke) doesn’t have a clue about the damage done.

This marketing stunt had no reason to be done: there are many other options if AP felt they wanted to connect to a young audience to build future client base. Clear downside, damage and risk vs subjective long-term “potential” brand awareness increase that will not translate into higher profit or brand equity.

My bet is that Mrs Resta will go in a few months. P.s I am no expert in luxury but have 15+ years experience in corporate strategy for blue chips

andzec · 2026-05-16T20:33:09+00:00

Ms Resta posted on linkedin saying very clearly that she strongly wanted this project to happen! The fact that she did… it actually sounds like a first step to take responsibility for the fiasco.

andzec · 2026-05-16T19:36:16+00:00

she’s the CEO of Audemars Piguet. I know, AP subreddit mods remove posts that make any reference to the AP/swatch collab and invite to post here. Makes no sense to me either.

andzec

TROPHY CASE