Bomberg watch brand expands in the Middle East

Dubai: Bomberg, a watch brand for men in the UAE, is expanding in the Middle East, Rick Delacroix, the company’s chairman, told Gulf News on Wednesday.

“Going into 2014, we want to continue with very small growth. Next year, in the region, we will be in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait,” Delacroix said, adding that the brand will be present in multi-brand stores.

Switzerland-based Bomberg, which was launched in 2012, is retailed across Ahmed Seddiqi and Sons’ stores in the UAE. It is the luxury watch distributor’s “affordable luxury” brand, according to Delacroix. The pieces are sold for between $600 (Dh2,202) and $1,500 (Dh5,505), he said.

The company’s objective is to sell 15,000 watches globally by the end of the year.

“We’ve chosen [to be present in] Italy, Holland, Greece, and Mexico. These are the countries where people are trend setters, and they travel and spend,” he said.

Regionally, Bomberg is present in Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Pakistan and Azerbaijan. However, Delacroix said the company has “chosen not to go into the US” because of “tradition”. “They are not watch people.”

Demand for the mid-priced luxury brands is strong in the UAE. However, a challenge that these brands face is “communicating brand positioning that resonates with customers,” Colin Beaton, managing director of Limelight Creative Services, a retail consultancy, said.

“The issue here is differentiating — there are a lot of well-established brands here. The competition is serious,” he said. He added that mid-priced brands should develop their image and retail display to stand out from competition.

Demand

However, with a lower-price point, brands witness impulse buying.

Meanwhile, Delacroix said that watches are accessories and he sees demand for it in the UAE. According to him, the Middle East is “a capital centre to build a brand”.

“You have to target markets that have the sophistication and understanding to go against the trend and that’s one of the reasons why we came to the UAE,” he said.

The company is focusing on the design of its pieces, and it is not planning to integrate technologies into them. “I’d like to keep it simple. A watch is an accessory,” he said.

“We have to be different. We have to find shapes, colours and polishes that allow people to go further into the brand, and then you have to bring status,” he said.

Also, Bomberg is developing its brand through social media sites, and growing its customer base, according to Delacroix.

“In the last two weeks, we’ve gone up to 60,000 people on Facebook alone,” he said.