How Tiffany’s Patek Philippe sales strategy backfired
To get their hands on a coveted Blue Dial watch, customers had to spend millions on other items. The “bundling” policy ended up costing the iconic jeweller dearly.
Watch lovers descended on Tiffany & Co. when it offered a limited-edition Patek Philippe Nautilus 5711 with a dial in the jeweller’s signature blue. Bloomberg
Tiffany salespeople called them the “watch monsters”. The obsessives. The wealthy shoppers who were sure they should be among the chosen few to get their hands on a rare timepiece from Patek Philippe.
They descended on Tiffany & Co a few years ago, when the retailer began offering a limited-edition Patek Philippe Nautilus 5711 with a dial in the jeweller’s signature robin’s-egg blue. Patek crafted 170 of them, a tribute to the number of years the brands had worked together. Tiffany’s hope was that the buzzy timepiece would help attract – and retain – high-end shoppers who weren’t already regular customers.
