Not long ago, in an interview with Chronos and Watchtime.net, Jean-Claude Beaver talked about the management confusion in Zenith in the past two years. All kinds of seemingly small mistakes accumulated and caused The brand not only failed to achieve the expected development goals, but caused considerable losses, forcing him to choose to take charge of Zenith himself.
‘Pure numbers are never the most important. Deficits are not important to me, but they are a manifestation of deeper problems. For me, it is important to know the cause of the deficit. Only then can I act accordingly. Mr. Beaver said, ‘The situation today is not caused by a single factor, but there are many small reasons. Is there a problem with the product? Or is it hiring too many employees? Or should marketing be better? Take out a single one , There should be no full responsibility. There are a few mistakes here, a little mistakes there, cumulative accumulation, and eventually the entire company is dead in my eyes. The company is not fast enough to run and develop, and my patience has been exhausted. Force. ‘
A well-developed manufacturer, such as Zenith, must act immediately when sales are below the level at which it can make a profit. ‘Being a manufacturer is both an advantage and a disadvantage, because you must complete a minimum production volume that is profitable. For a manufacturer with more than 200 employees, the profit threshold is about 25,000 to 30,000 per year. If these numbers are not reached, it is inevitable Yes, the company will lose money. ‘
When asked about Zenith’s positioning in the LVMH Group (which owns Tag Heuer and Hublot watches), Beaver said: ‘Zenith represents a traditional watch with price affinity, luxury that can be achieved, it More classic than Tag Heuer, the price of the product is between Hublot and Tag Heuer. ‘
As far as Tag Heuer is concerned, Mr. Beaver’s big strategy is to add greater value to each watch on the basis of the customer’s psychological price. Zenith is better positioned, but the strategy is the same. ‘It depends on the specific product. If a home-made ultra-thin watch is offered at a price of 4,000 euros, then this price is affinity, because the expected cost of a similar watch is about 9,000 euros. For example, it is usually sold for 200,000 euros ‘We are only selling 60,000 euros for a three-question watch, so this price is within reach.’
So for how the market awareness and brand positioning translate into specific products, Mr. Beaver believes that it is a good time to add a new sports watch series to Zenith. He revealed: ‘People’s lives are becoming more and more casual and sporty. Zenith already has a pilot series, but in my opinion it is not a sports watch. 2019/20, Zenith will add a new and unique Sports watch series. ‘