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Marketing Profile: Rolex

March 03, 2023  /  Jay Leon

Don’t tell the crypto bros, but in sports branding: slow and steady wins the race.  We have seen this in the way Red Bull has been building its Red Bull Racing team since the ‘90s. And the way Emirates has steadily added to its portfolio of teams and events since the ‘80s.  Along with every other brand that wants to build a lasting legacy, they have been following a playbook written by Rolex, the grandmaster of luxury brands, elite sports and high achievement. 

Nothing telegraphs success like a Rolex.  Well, maybe a Bugatti, but you have to leave it with the valet. Life is even better if you didn’t buy your Rolex for yourself.  In sailboat racing, Rolex has sponsored the US Yachtsman and Yachtswoman of the year awards and the World Sailor of the Year Awards for decades.  In sailing, Rolex and its moto:  “A crown for every achievement”  tells the whole story.

Rolex is the 5th most valuable luxury brand and the official timekeeper of prestige.  Even though there isn’t a time element in tennis or golf, Rolex is front and center at all four tennis grand slams and all four golf majors.  In motorsports, where performance is measured to the hundredth of a second, Rolex sponsors Formula 1, the FIA World Endurance Championship, and the 24 hours of Le Mans.  Rolex is big at equestrian events. Even though I don’t have any idea if time is important to them, I am comfortable assuming the Rolex crown is highly valued by those on horseback.  In sailboat racing, time is a big deal, and you know you are at a big event when you see the Rolex flag flying. 

Rolex is a leading sponsor of The Americas Cup, the TP52 Superseries, the Fastnet race, the Sydney to Hobart race, the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup, and Sail GP.

In addition to event sponsorships, Rolex sponsors individual athletes in each of these sports.  Sometimes paying millions per year to top athletes like Roger Federer and Tiger Woods.

Rolex has stuck with its sponsorship strategy since it practically created the genre in 1927.  Given the decades long history Rolex has with these premier events, it is clear they are committed to it. 

In addition to these prestige Rolex events and top tier athlete sponsorships, Rolex has a long record of breaking records.   Chuck Yaeger wore a Rolex when he broke the sound barrier in 1947, Sir Edmund Hillary wore one in 1953 at the top of Mt. Everest, and Jacques Piccard and Don Welsh took one to the bottom of the Mariana Trench in 1960. 

Then James Cameron did it again in 2012.

When Hans Wilsdorf and Alfred Davis started making time pieces in 1905 as Wilsdorf and Davis, most people of refinement carried pocket watches.  Now, the Internet is 40 years old, there is constant buzzing about chatbots and AI, and every person already has at least one device on them that tells the time.  Nevertheless, this 100 year old Swiss watch company is making analog watches and sponsoring elite events and athletes - and cannot make watches fast enough to keep up with the orders.

OK.  This is really sounding like a Rolex fan club newsletter.  Anyone can be impressed with the business Rolex has built during its first century.  But what can we learn from their experiences?

We have very little hard financial information about the privately held Rolex SA.  It has been reported that Rolex generates about $8 billion in revenue from the sale of over 1 million timepieces per year, generating profits of over $1 billion.  It reaches customers through a worldwide network of about 2,000 independent retailers.  Industry experts estimate Rolex controls 25% of the worldwide luxury timepiece marketplace.

There is a tension in marketing between a consistent and lasting strategy and scoring the wins needed today.  Many companies have been pulled away from their long-term strategy by the latest struggle or shiny new thing.  Compounding this struggle, new marketing chiefs often want to put their personal stamp on an organization.  There is no evidence that Rolex suffers from such tension. Rolex is running a business they intend to last.  It would not surprise me if they have a vision for Rolex 2050.  Their strategy of equating Rolex with great achievement is relevant in any decade, year, quarter, or tomorrow.  Their association with present day top performers keeps them current.  Not only is their long term and short term compatible, they enhance each other. 

When Hans Wilsdorf died in 1960, he left the company to the Hans Wilsdorf Foundation.  The not for profit foundation is the only beneficiary of the Rolex enterprise which likely makes a pretty large mound of cash available for good works.  And the foundation does do some impressive work. In 1976 they launched a grant making process and to date have awarded 155 grants.

As we have come to expect, the works of the foundation only enhance the Rolex brand. 

Thanks for sticking with me through this long and winding tale.  Even though we don’t have much concrete data to analyze, I will remember Rolex for their steadfastness.  Every company should use the Rolex story to inspire a review of the most fundamental elements of their strategy.  Then, working steadily, refresh the methods employed to ensure all marketing activities are done in a way that strengthens the strategy.  When slow is not the style of the day, steady is even more important.

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categories / Marketing Profile
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