How Rolex narrates his story through timeless icons
"Rolex doesn't just tell time, it tells a story"
Nothing could best define the Swiss luxury watchmaker than such a statement. A Rolex watch transcends its material value and strives to establish an emotional connection with its wearers to become a companion in their prestigious and eventful life. Also, what better way to convey this message than through its impeccable storytelling abilities.
Rolex represents a perfect example of “customer story”. The company has continuously worked on reinforcing its compelling history through its highly celebrated buyers. Since 1927 when Rolex sponsored Mercedes Gleitze’s challenge of crossing the English Channel swimming, a long list of influential people have been portrayed wearing it. Probably being one of the longest ever advertising campaigns in history, “Rolex and Icons” managed to link people’s success to the ownership of its product. What do Pablo Picasso, Winston Churchill, Robert De Niro and Tiger Woods have in common? A Rolex! It was not the watch that made them great but the fact that they were wearing one during memorable events in their lives.
"Rolex and Icons" campaign
These examples perfectly depict the “customer as a hero” idea. Indeed, Rolex’s icons and the way they are portrayed show a close connection between their illustrious customers and the brand’s values. This contributes to building a powerful brand image and credibility given that customers highly value information provided by the experiences of customers that they can relate to. The “icon” strategy is developed in a way that it guarantees substance and authenticity to the story without appearing as a mere star-studded campaign. Standing as a status symbol in the world of smartwatches, Rolex's clues to its worldwide reputation can be also seen in the "Every Rolex Tells a Story" campaign.
When there is no such thing as product placement for this world, it is also possible to capture the tastes of the actors in the accessories they choose and see how this accessory integrates with the character. Here is an iconic example from the history of cinema that Rolex stands out as a complement to the characters in the movie.
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| The Color of Money (1986) - Paul Newman |
Accompanying Paul Newman in The Color of Money, the Rolex 36mm Datejust has an iconic place in the film. It is the visual symbol of the social position that the character wants to emphasize and reinforces his impressive personality. The Rolex is not just a device showing the time but also an object that sends the message the character wants to convey with his environment.
"Worn by luminaries, visionaries, champions"
In the “Rolex and Icons” campaign, Rolex does not showcase its watches but rather tells the viewer a story. The story of people, celebrities that trusted the brand. Winston Churchill, Martin Luther King, are not just individuals that wear a Rolex, but are considered icons : “Luminaries, visionaries, champions” so-called in the video. The main idea of this campaign is to link standard consumers with famous people, to engage the whole consumers as members of a large family.
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| Pablo Picasso wearing his rolex |
The advertising strategy of Rolex resulted to be as ultra-successful as the value it expresses. Selling more than 1 million pieces a year for a product that does not have any necessary functionality than telling the time, speaks for itself. Although new heroes have been found and will emerge in the future, Rolex will have its own energy to promote its watches. To further confirm this campaign success, Icons from all over the world are still willing to participate in this story.
Lastly, an element that could certainly be reinforced in Rolex’s tales of icons is the inclusion of more female representatives. One would mainly associate Rolex watches to male figures due to the numerous male representatives and having few women telling the story of their prestigious watch. This would allow Rolex to enrich its history and lay the foundation for new stories to be told.
References
D.Aaker & J.L.Aaker. (2016) - What Are Your Signature Stories ? -https://moodle.unil.ch/pluginfile.php/1690015/mod_resource/content/1/Aaker%20and%20Aaker%20%282016%29.pdf
- Every Rolex tells a story - Rolex
P.Reddinger. (2018) 16 watches that made history in Hollywood Actions Films. Roob Report
M.Danao. (2020) - How Rolex remains one of the world's most valuable brands - ReferralCandy Blog
A. Callan (2017) - Sports icons and their Rolex - Beckertime
- A history of the Rolex marketing strategy - Watch & Bullion
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