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Limited Edition - Marketing 101
The scarcity principle has been exploited by marketers for a very long time. Social scientists would tell you that the more rare or scarce something is the more you will desire it. There are many variations of this rule and we are pre-programmed to be susceptible to it's power. Doesn't matter whether it's a sale at the local store "for a limited time only" or a limited edition watch. As soon as you are told something is limited the brain automatically goes into auto drive.
Brands exploit the limited edition language all the time as away to increase demand and prices for their watches. The reality is this rarely works and evidenced int he secondary market. I'll never forget when I made the mistake of buying a Chopard Regulator thinking it was a limited edition of 250 pieces. Limited edition of 250 yes, but I was shocked when I realized they kept doing a new series of 250 just by changing the dial color slightly... in fact there were thousands upon thousands of these watches being made.
When I'm considering a watch I do not let the word "limited" influence my decision.
Limited Edition Watches. Good, bad or otherwise?
Hi All, Many companies do it. Do we like it? Does it increase the ‘value’ of a piece? What do you think of ‘limited production’? Does it make a difference if we know a manufacture makes 100 watches a year, versus thousands? Is there something different ab...
Sensible and risky topic, Andrew...
It won't be easy to not vent, here... We could say that, at the exception of a few ( limited ) examples, limited editions are limited in interest. what is the interest of a limited edition for the Megeve Yacht Club, except the fact that thanks to this lil...
Beautiful 5513 :-)
I love this watch About L.Es, it certainly is a factor when considering Sports or Extreme Watches as it increases the catchet/limited buzz/hype factor but when it comes to complicated pieces with high levels of finishing, the fact the watch has to go thro...
I have to say I like them.....
for example the AP ROO comes out in various colours which I think is great as there will more than likely be a colour you like and they don't charge extra. But sometimes the cost is a surprise..when I got my Speedy Pro last year I also saw the limited ver...
It is special....
but £2500 extra..! Not that special to me....but only me Yours my friend, Andy.
Good and bad...
Good - they make special dial, hands, or combination of both. Sometimes the entire model is LE, because it does not commercially make sense to make unlimited (Enamel dial ones in general, and GS LEs come to mind - they are all supercharged in terms of acc...
Very debatable..
Good that you brought this topic up... One of my friends actually bought a watch purely because it is a limited edition. His reasoning is that the price may increase because it is a limited edition watch. However, it was limited to over 1000 pieces. For m...
My nasty post. Not for kicks but you would like to hear honest thought.
I support the concept of limited edition. To be clear there are only 2 factor to do limited edition. One, impossible or unjustifiable for mass production. Two, a special and important event that worthy of a commemorative piece. The above is not my persona...
I have to control myself.....and limit myself to 2-3 paragraphs
Andrew- I fear you may have unleashed a hornets nest in a limited edition watch box!! Let's take a different approach. I am gonna speak up FOR LEs We need LEs more then ever, in this world whereby individualism is cheered n craved for. Who am I, if don't ...
The perfect watch for any occasion ...
Who would have thought that someone would have heard your request! Click here . But I take the point you are making. The difficulty is to know where to draw the line. Not everyone is going to be interested in the same "marketing angle" (I didn't mean that...
Ah yes...THAT watch
I had the pleasure of discussing the finer details of THAT watch over dinner...yes....with the learned Dr Cheong. Strangely the wagyu beef tasted aged and leathery...wonder why. Best, Horo
Excellent post Horo! Love it!
Where can I order that sausage watch or is it sold out the minute it's announced already?
In the words of my favourite AD....
Loudly, "Sir, there is a wait list for this model".....looking coyly, leans forward and signals to me to do likewise, looks left and right nervously....."but for you, and only you, I have one reserved for THAT limited edition customer that you are" he whi...
Lol! Which AD? THG, sw, cw?
That's one of the reasons I hate to go to ADs. I got " that piece specially reserved for YOU!" Wonder how many times they use that on clients. Cheers PAt
It would be nice if only most LE were really LE but...
this is no longer the case and everything seems to have became a LE. It is the same principle as a retailer who advertises his "Big Sale Event" ...365 days per annum!! People don't believe it anymore (one would hope). The once an exception is now the new ...
over used!
Obviously, some LE received some commercial and financial success, most of them can be executed with very low risk and low cost. However for brand mangers out there, LE works only for the top tier and a very selected few. Therefore it your brand is not th...
good and bad...
... i think most people always like some item which does not exist too many in this world so that it can have some sense of superior and sole ownership... but sometimes to me i like my friends or other people are also wearing the same watch for example so...
The best LEs are really hard to get
I'm not taking about the ubiquitous ROOs/Bangs/AMVOX crew which say little more than an LV speedy with a personalized name on it, but of the many that are found on the catalogue of antiquorum or Christies.For example, I had the pleasure of handling a PP T...
My solution ..............
They should try another approach. Why not try it this way. Make that LE , but ... . Do you care how many pieces that will be made ? 500 ? 1000 ? 1500 ? A lot of guys will always be frustrated because they did not get one I think it would be a good solutio...
Souscription
Interesting, Bruno. A variation on the souscription idea. They could even number the pieces because the number ordered after the 'souscription period' would be known. Of course it may make pricing the watch a little complicated. The watch might be a 'hit'...
I think
the manufacture must have an idea about the number off pieces they'll have to make. They can look at their previous LE and see how fast they were gone. Besides, if a watch is more in demand, I never saw them lowering the price
Why not 6 000 or 8 000, Bruno?
Isn't it good to see the Beauty shared by most of the people? That is exactly one of he big pro of this 372, and I will certainly get one, if I have the funds, which is not sure at all... By the way, I prepared something on the Panerai SIHH 2011, still ha...
to keep it mare special
like it or not but when it is A BIT rare it is better than when you see them in every AD's window They made the 232 / 249 / 127 also on more or less 2000 pc This was years ago so a bit more, because more people buy panerai today , is imo fine but I would ...
i'm a bit of a cynic when it comes to limited editions
if its for the anniversary of a company ie 150 watches for 150th anniversary then i think thats fine, but 10,007 just 'cos an actor wore an Omega in a James Bond film is plainly stupid. too many companies do too many limited editions for no particular rea...
Both for and against
Personally, I both like it and dislike the LE issue but it is becoming more the norm now and I feel is getting overdone! For - I like the chance to buy watches in different colour schemes which the manufacturer can produce in small numbers as they are nev...
If I like it, good.
If I like it and it's limited, better. Just because of its exclusivity. No more than a thousand pieces worldwide or so, please. Cheers. Vte
I don't approve of contrived rarity.
I approve even less when the "limitation" seems to be a number very similar to the number the marketing department predicts it can sell.
I must admit I find some initial allure, but it is fleeting.
I agree with previous statements that limited production and limited editions can render the issue redundant. I think the biggest mistake would be to move on a watch because it is limited over a watch you like even slightly more which is not limited. Ulti...
Limited edition or......
rather, limited to the number they an sell... and then maybe produce some more??? Let me give you an example.... I bought a JLC Amvox 2 in pink gold... The JLC boutique ( mind you the boutique not an AD) assured me that this will be the only one in ros go...
I buy watches based on what I like and can afford,
regardless of their LE status. But if the ones I like are LE but are obtainable and reasonably priced, then why not? At the end of the day, most models from most brands will be discontinued and be replaced, so I just focus on the like, availability and af...
Misinformation
I agree with your perspective, Goh. And it is sometimes difficult to know from what level this misinformation comes. It's one thing to hear it from an over-enthusiastic salesperson, but another from the CEO of the manufacturer! But then again, there must ...
I usually react to LE's with wariness
--that a marketing strategy is afoot, not an incredibly rare watch... but on the rare (no pun intended--okay, pun intended) occasion that an LE 'blows me away'... I--like so many of us-- will be inclined to call my AD instantaneously. But 99% of the time,...
What is the history of Limited Editions?
Does anyone remember how far back this limited edition idea stretches? Is it really in the last decade that it has taken off? Not wanting to single out one company, but what were the first Offshore LE's and when were they released? [I am nervous about men...
Why not?
In general, I'm in favor of limited editions. But I also dislike the fact that they are, well, limited. If you don't take advantage when it comes out, there's a slim change you'll get one later, in cases where the production nuumbers are truly limited. Of...
Neither...
As we can't really ascertain why they are put out in the first place. And I am referring to the integrity aspect of it... if they really did put it out to commemorate something or if it's really more to hoodwink the gullible. Very difficult to pass judgem...
Does exclusivity = desirability?
Hi Echi, As usual, some great thoughts contained here. Things that seem obvious, but no one has mentioned them. There is an interesting thread on the 'value' of independents currently running on the AHCI Forum. The common theme is the vision of one watch ...
Thanks, Andrew. These types of problems really reach into the heart of who we are...
The issue seems at once simple and complex. I've done a bit of soul searching myself and to lesser souls like yours truly, a rolex is "exclusive" relatively and i guess i am partly buying into that equation of yours, of desirability=exclusivity without me...
A limited edition?
I don't believe the Big M Egg Flip is really a limited edition! Big M flavoured milk was introduced when I was 14 years old and, like Coke, it is firmly entrenched in my adolescent psyche. The Egg Flip, back in the 1970's, cost more than the standard vari...
I am convinced now that Macs are using the same marketing folks as Hublot and AP
Sorry, just had to rub it in...a little Best, Horo This message has been edited by Hororgasm on 2011-02-14 07:49:15
sounds more like unlimited marketing
Sour grapes a good wine do not make. ;-) Amery This message has been edited by amerix on 2011-02-14 09:58:12
Unlimited Marketing and the Limited Edition
It has a nice symmetry to it. We should discuss this further one day. Or someone should write a book ... A
Hi Andrew
I think the whole watch LE thing is overused. However, if an LE watch turns up that you find attractive, why not get that rather than the standard edition? That's the only real arbiter in the end. Some companies use the idea to bounce new ideas off the ma...
I like it
I like limited edition watches, it feels good to own something that few people own. The less of something there is the more valuable.
It's a physcological warfare.
A chinese proverb translated: "Goods are deemed more expensive by their rarity" but this is not true to me for LE. LE may not be good watches and good watches may not be LE. I think it's just clever marketing by the companies to make some pieces more desi...
And I sometimes wonder if the number of ...
... 'limited edition' watches is the exact number they thought they could sell anyway! Good advice, Patrick. Thanks Andrew
Limited edition....
to the amount they can sell..... It also reminds me of car models that are labeled limited editions and you see more of them on the dealers lots than the regular editions... lol Cheers
Limited Edition - Marketing 101
The scarcity principle has been exploited by marketers for a very long time. Social scientists would tell you that the more rare or scarce something is the more you will desire it. There are many variations of this rule and we are pre-programmed to be sus...
That's good advice, Brad ...
You have to love the watch for what it is, and not believe it is in some way 'special' because it is (possibly) limited. And I am reminded of a rug seller near us that always seems to be having a "closing down sale", but he never closes down! Andrew
Exactly.....
I felt the same with Amvox... (as I wrote previously in the same thread) Cheers