Hey Chris, I’ve just spent a full day walking around WatchPro, am I’m very surprised at the turnout.
Saturday, did have a steady turnout, however it was never that busy.
I honestly think WatchPro l should be a free event, or a nominal fee, like it was at British Watchmakers Day last March.
Speaking to many brands, they were surprised at how low the foot fall was, and to highlight your point on ROI, it would almost be zero for them.
Sure there are many smaller brands that attended and hopefully they will pick up sales following the show.
But I expected to see many more of the big guns there.
Bremont may have been a sponsor for the Friday, but why did they have not even bother showing up?
We live the little guys like Brew but they had spent a hell of a lot of money on their stand.
Perhaps they need to find a bigger, less extravagant space, stop charging those attending and not milking those brave brands that did attend.
We should be able to put on a weekend event at least, with the bigger brands, it’s not like we’re a third world country, we have so much to offer, but can’t seem to get it right.
The smaller shows around the country are great for the smaller independent brands to get to a wider audience, but we need a bigger hitting event.
If the brands had the ability to sell take sales, at least that would negate some of their outlay.
Thanks for your comment - very insightful. I did hear from a few fellow journalists that the Salon got busier as the day went on, which I guess is to be expected as people slope off early from work and enjoy the promise of a few drinks.
The question of ticket pricing is one that we discussed at extreme length at SalonQP. Do you price something quite high, to give the impression that it's an event of quality and worth? Do you make it free, to get people in, but risk giving the impression that it's less prestigious - and more pertinently, risk a huge percentage of people not actually showing up? Ticketing is never likely to be a major revenue stream but it's always nice when it contributes something, and the sense I always had was that if people care about something, they will think it's worth paying for (see also my approach to The Fourth Wheel!). What often happens, although I can't speak for WatchPro, is that you end up setting a nominal ticket price, but then give so many discount codes, bundled special offers and free passes to all and sundry under the impression of 'exclusive offers' that anyone actually paying full price feels like a bit of a mug. Which isn't a great outcome, before someone's even set foot through your door.
Sad to hear your views of the footfall and revenue. As you say, they may pick up orders, and some press activity, but it's a lot of effort to go to to sell a couple of watches.
Bremont's presence, I now realise, was overstated - a combination of WatchPro not adequately communicating and trying to exaggerate their involvement. I heard it was a relatively last-minute decision to take part. I'd be interested to know what people thought of the Q&A, if they heard it - I've heard some say Davide was 'grilled' and others who thought Rob slightly bottled the tough questions.
I attended a couple of talks on Saturday that were rather poorly attended, which was a real shame. As in one with Andrew McUthceon, Wilbur Watches gave away a £3k watch.
I felt compelled to write an article off the back of it and feel that Bremont and Norqain were used as a draw to pull in the public without either attending. Why were there no other big-named brands there? I spoke to a few insiders and was told they had dropped WatchPro for similar reasons. It's a real shame as the UK needs a big Watch event. Maybe when Oracle Time gets involved, we will see some differences. Fingers crossed.
Hey Chris, I’ve just spent a full day walking around WatchPro, am I’m very surprised at the turnout.
Saturday, did have a steady turnout, however it was never that busy.
I honestly think WatchPro l should be a free event, or a nominal fee, like it was at British Watchmakers Day last March.
Speaking to many brands, they were surprised at how low the foot fall was, and to highlight your point on ROI, it would almost be zero for them.
Sure there are many smaller brands that attended and hopefully they will pick up sales following the show.
But I expected to see many more of the big guns there.
Bremont may have been a sponsor for the Friday, but why did they have not even bother showing up?
We live the little guys like Brew but they had spent a hell of a lot of money on their stand.
Perhaps they need to find a bigger, less extravagant space, stop charging those attending and not milking those brave brands that did attend.
We should be able to put on a weekend event at least, with the bigger brands, it’s not like we’re a third world country, we have so much to offer, but can’t seem to get it right.
The smaller shows around the country are great for the smaller independent brands to get to a wider audience, but we need a bigger hitting event.
If the brands had the ability to sell take sales, at least that would negate some of their outlay.
Hi Neil,
Thanks for your comment - very insightful. I did hear from a few fellow journalists that the Salon got busier as the day went on, which I guess is to be expected as people slope off early from work and enjoy the promise of a few drinks.
The question of ticket pricing is one that we discussed at extreme length at SalonQP. Do you price something quite high, to give the impression that it's an event of quality and worth? Do you make it free, to get people in, but risk giving the impression that it's less prestigious - and more pertinently, risk a huge percentage of people not actually showing up? Ticketing is never likely to be a major revenue stream but it's always nice when it contributes something, and the sense I always had was that if people care about something, they will think it's worth paying for (see also my approach to The Fourth Wheel!). What often happens, although I can't speak for WatchPro, is that you end up setting a nominal ticket price, but then give so many discount codes, bundled special offers and free passes to all and sundry under the impression of 'exclusive offers' that anyone actually paying full price feels like a bit of a mug. Which isn't a great outcome, before someone's even set foot through your door.
Sad to hear your views of the footfall and revenue. As you say, they may pick up orders, and some press activity, but it's a lot of effort to go to to sell a couple of watches.
Bremont's presence, I now realise, was overstated - a combination of WatchPro not adequately communicating and trying to exaggerate their involvement. I heard it was a relatively last-minute decision to take part. I'd be interested to know what people thought of the Q&A, if they heard it - I've heard some say Davide was 'grilled' and others who thought Rob slightly bottled the tough questions.
I attended a couple of talks on Saturday that were rather poorly attended, which was a real shame. As in one with Andrew McUthceon, Wilbur Watches gave away a £3k watch.
I felt compelled to write an article off the back of it and feel that Bremont and Norqain were used as a draw to pull in the public without either attending. Why were there no other big-named brands there? I spoke to a few insiders and was told they had dropped WatchPro for similar reasons. It's a real shame as the UK needs a big Watch event. Maybe when Oracle Time gets involved, we will see some differences. Fingers crossed.
https://watchbrothers.co.uk/watchpro-2024/
No mention of the best SalonQP talk ever staged?
Talking Hands Live!
https://theprodigalguide.substack.com/p/live-from-salonqp-2013
I knew you’d be here to say this 😁. RIP Talking Hands, another idea ahead of its time.