Hublot on watch for winning deals

The Life: In the mid-2000s, luxury Swiss watchmaker Hublot got into sport sponsorships. Its latest football sponsorship? Dubai's Al Wasl Football Club.

When Bernie Ecclestone's Hublot watch was stolen during an assault, he turned it into a marketing opportunity for Formula One.

Shortly after Bernie Ecclestone, Formula One's boss, was attacked outside his London office, he called Hublot.

The billionaire, whose Hublot watch was stolen during the assault, spotted an opportunity to promote the official timekeeper of Formula One.

The Swiss maker of luxury watches later ran an advertisement with a picture of Mr Ecclestone's bruised and battered face accompanied by the line "See what people will do for a Hublot", alongside a picture of a watch like the one that was stolen from Mr Ecclestone.

That he turned the unfortunate event into positive publicity for his sport and its sponsor shows how such an arrangement can benefit both parties.

"To have success you have to invest in marketing and make people dream of the brand. That's why we have success in selling our watches," says Ricardo Guadalupe, the chief executive of Hublot.

Formula One is just one of a number of sponsorship deals held by the Swiss watchmaker, the latest of which was announced last week and involves a UAE football club.

Hublot, which was founded in 1980, had initially been associated with yachting - the name means "porthole". But the decision to branch into a variety of sports came about in 2004, when Jean-Claude Biver became chief executive.

"Most brands say you have to concentrate on one sport. You do golf, you do only golf, you do only tennis, you do only tennis. But for Hublot we said no. We should go to sports that are talking to our potential consumers," says Mr Guadalupe.

Hublot chose football because it gave the company the opportunity to reach people who can already afford the watch as well as young fans who may aspire to own one.

Hublot became the official timekeeper of the Swiss national team for the 2006 Fifa World Cup, and it now sponsors the Uefa Euro tournament as well as the Fifa World Cup.

Hublot quickly spotted the value in sponsoring individual teams and signed a deal with Manchester United in 2008.

"It is the most known team in Asia, specifically, so we have a lack of brand awareness in Asia because we are still a young brand. We thought that through Manchester we can have access to this brand awareness that we are missing specifically in Hong Kong and China," says Mr Guadalupe.

The company has since entered deals with Ajax Amsterdam, FC Bayern Munich and, most recently, Dubai's Al Wasl Football Club, whose manager, Diego Maradona is also a brand ambassador.

"The objective of the marketing activities is to bring the money to the club. The money will be used in making a winning team, developing the activities all over the club, not only for the first team," Marwan bin Beyat, the chairman of Al Wasl, said at a news conference to announce the deal last week.

Getting involved with football teams was also a smart move for the luxury watchmakerbecause players and managers help to build the brand's image, says Jamie Cunningham, the chief executive of Professional Sports Group.

"They were probably right on the money in terms of getting involved with Manchester United and going down that route. Coming to Al Wasl, Dubai as a retail and luxury-product centre is a very key part of the planet if you are into luxury watches," he says.

Hublot signed a deal with Ferrari last year, and it has been a sponsor of Formula One since March 2010.

"Our consumer is an entrepreneur, a young guy, successful. His life is maybe to go to see a game in Manchester or in London, to go to the World Cup and to go to see a Formula One grand prix. That's his world. We want him to think that Hublot is part of his world as well," says Mr Guadalupe.

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