The leading market research in the luxury watch industry. Since 2004.
Previous editions.
Historically, the watchmaking industry had little culture of market research. Brands were almost exclusively relying on their network of retailers to gather indirect consumer feedback. The advent of the Internet introduced a new paradigm in the industry.
Why the WorldWatchReport™?
Every day, millions of watch aficionados go online and search for watch-related products. Yet, prior to the WorldWatchReport™, no industry tools or statistics were available which could track the main preferences and current topics to understand the online behavior of the watch clientele.
In 2004, Digital Luxury Group – formerly IC-Agency Geneva – seized the opportunity to develop the first market research entirely based on intentions spontaneously and anonymously expressed by consumers on the Internet.
Latest editions
Key highlights from the previous editions are available below. Learn more about the current edition »
2011.
Key highlights
- Nearly 1 out of 3 searches for luxury watch brands is now performed in the BRIC markets.
- Longines dethrones Omega as the most popular brand in China, pushing Rolex backwards to the fifth position.
- Rolex confirms its status of the leading brand in the US, a market where the popularity of Breitling is booming.
- The top 3 most searched brand ambassadors are as global as the industry: Tiger Woods (TAG Heuer), Aishwarya Rai (Longines) and Jet Li (Hublot) who lead the way
- 2010 marked the year of Facebook, with more than 1,5 million watch aficionados (+450% year-to-year increase)
2010.
Key highlights
- Global online demand for the 25 watch brands increased by 24.5%.
- BRIC markets account for 11.8% of the global demand: China is the leading market with 59% of the searches from BRIC markets.
- Internet demand for counterfeit goods decreased by 22% in the United States, whereas it grew 5.9% across Europe.
- Facebook becomes a key platform for watch brands, gathering more than 460’000 watch enthusiasts (+286% fans in one year).
- Watch-related videos posted by fans are now accounting for 43% of brand visibility on Youtube.
2009.
Key highlights
- The United States is the most important market with 42.8% of the total online demand
- Michael Phelps’ record at the Beijing Olympic Games 2008 (8 gold medals) gave Omega the opportunity to present the #1 Ambassador
- Germany is now the second online European market this year, ahead of Italy
- American, English and German customers can be qualified as « connoisseur » with 22% of model-specific searches
- Chinese consumers are very brand oriented, showing moderated interest for model specific searches, reflecting the early emergence of the luxury watch industry in China.
