Towards A Brand New Future

Breitling is in the midst of a radical transformation of its product, marketing and communications strategy under a dynamic new CEO

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George Kern is a man in a hurry. The former Head of Watchmaking, Marketing and Digital at Richemont, who took over as the CEO of Breitling last year after the brand was bought over by private equity group CVC Capital Partners, is in the middle of a significant restructuring effort at the brand.

Among the things that he has done in less than a year of being at the helm are paring down the brand’s extensive collection to focus on watches in the 3,500-8,000 Swiss francs category, shift away from brand’s recent over-emphasis on aviation and drop the aviation inspired wings from its famous B logo to go back to the simpler old logo. Moreover, he has led the refocus of the product strategy towards watches that are rooted in Breitling’s rich heritage from the 30s, 40s and 50s, and changed the direction of the advertising strategy towards something called a `squad’ concept (which involves creating three-person groups, called the squads) of brand ambassadors made up of famous men and women who are recognized masters in their respective professions. In this interview, Kern discussed the thought behind these changes and more.

Tell us about the rationale behind all the recent changes that you are bringing about at Breitling.

Breitling is a super-successful company and very profitable. The challenge for us is to bring it to the next level. It’s a privately owned company, run by very passionate people. Now we have new investors who want to make Breitling a global brand. For this, you need to adjust a couple of things in products, communication, etc.