At 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Swatch will be presenting the new Gold Moonswatch on Zurich’s Paradeplatz. What does that mean exactly? It is unknown. Bastien Buss, media spokesman for the Swatch Group, did not want to comment on tomorrow when asked by ZüriToday. All the necessary information can be found in the Swatch Insta post.
If you look at the opening hours of the Swatch store on Bahnhofstrasse, the store closes at 8 p.m. Is it still possible to buy the watch on the same day? “No comment,” says Buss, “but you can assume so.” He cannot rule out that people will be queuing in the morning. But Swatch has no influence on that.
“Customers are hyped”
Critical comments are already pouring down on Swatch’s announcement post. A year ago, Swatch launched eleven Moonswatch models together with Omega. The special thing about it: The design is based on the Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch – but you can get the “cheap” model for significantly less money. While the original Omega costs 6,000 francs and upwards, the Swatch variant is available for 250 francs. The result: Watch fans all over the world smashed Swatch’s door.
Why are you scaring customers away? “It’s a marketing principle. The customers are hyped and made fun of by the meager information,” says Buss. Because of the controversy, they are then talked about and reported on. This increases awareness of the product.
Moonswatch is not a limited edition
Marketing expert Felix Murbach knows this strategy. “The success proves Swatch’s marketing concept right,” says Murbach. “Now everyone is talking about the Moonswatch again and everyone knows that a watch will come out tomorrow.”
There will definitely be long queues again because consumers don’t know whether the watch will be available to buy tomorrow and how many copies will be available. So many watch fanatics will probably be at Paradeplatz several hours before the 7 p.m. release. And this, although it is not a limited edition. If you are patient, you can also buy the watch later. This is also confirmed by the Swatch spokesman.
Matthias Ganz and Barbara Lanz
