Benjamin Arabov, CEO of Jacob & Co, On Technique and Future

2022 is a significant date for Jacob & Co. because the model based by Jacob Arabo expanded its enterprise to luxurious watchmaking simply 20 years in the past. Since then, Jacob & Co. has come a good distance, creating a number of the most extroverted and mind-bogglingly advanced watches. A couple of yr in the past, Benjamin Arabov, Jacob’s son, has been named CEO of the model. The opening of their new boutique on the celebrated Rue du Rhône in Geneva was the right alternative to interview him.

Xavier Markl, MONOCHROME – How was your first yr as CEO of Jacob & Co?

Benjamin Arabov, CEO of Jacob & Co. – It’s been thrilling. I come from a advertising and marketing and information background. After I began my enterprise again in 2014, I used to be working a advertising and marketing company for seven years the place we targeted on numbers and information. Working right here permits me to make use of the artistic aspect of my mind. It has helped me to understand how fortunate I’m that I inherited the creativity of my father. It additionally provides me the chance to work with my household. No enterprise is simple, particularly if you discuss household companies, however over the course of the previous yr, my father and I’ve been capable of finding a working relationship that’s efficient and assist develop the enterprise. In 2021, we doubled our gross sales over the prior yr, which was our greatest yr. I used to be capable of are available enhance operations & increase our advertising and marketing efforts. 

It has been nice, however we nonetheless have quite a bit to beat. Even with this progress, we’ve got simply grazed our prospects. I might say we’re working at 10 to fifteen p.c of our potential. So, there’s much more to go by way of development however we’ve got set a really stable basis to do that.

What’s the cut up between watches and jewellery in your enterprise?

The division is about 80% for watches and 20% for jewellery.

How do you work together together with your father?

We mainly cut up the enterprise. I concentrate on advertising and marketing and operations, and he focuses on design and manufacturing. Over the previous few months, I’ve been working with him, presenting my ideas and opinions by way of new merchandise. His artistic course of relies on his intestine, his feeling, his reactions to a design he’s creating. It’s very emotion-driven which is optimistic and wholesome for a artistic designer. My artistic method can also be emotional, but it surely is also extra data-driven, making an attempt to know what shoppers are concerned with at this time, understanding the actions, the design, the dimensions, and the retail worth that’s acceptable for a product. Including these small parts gives a extra data-driven method to how we design our merchandise sooner or later. That is one of the best ways for me to precise how we work collectively planning merchandise.

If we discuss advertising and marketing, what are your focuses?

One thing that works properly for us is digital publicity. Now we have a giant concentrate on social media. We work exhausting on the kind of content material we’re creating. For instance, we create very ‘studio-focused’ content material for our personal pages, however once we distribute content material to influencers we’ve got a extra natural method, which permits them to be extra interactive and responsive. In its easiest kinds, we’re speaking concerning the wrist rolls and unboxing that you just see on Instagram. These easy methods work up about 5 to 6 occasions higher than studio movies or photographs.

In the long run, the extra eyeballs we get with our content material, the extra inquiries we are going to get, the extra we are going to develop. The opposite space of content material is technical. We’re working to additional enter the dialog relating to actions, problems, and excessive watchmaking boards by explaining our timepieces in a really detailed and technical approach to proceed profitable the respect of collectors.

You might be additionally concerned in numerous partnerships?

We love partnerships as a result of it permits us to mix our creativity with those that are achieved in different actions. And it permits us to achieve new audiences. We like to companion with people or corporations which can be risk-takers. Those that mainly consider our slogan ‘impressed by the inconceivable’. For example, we’ve got a partnership with Bugatti the place we create hyper sports activities car-themed timepieces with the DNA of each of our corporations. Now we have ‘The Godfather’ assortment, which is a partnership with paramount. We had been capable of take the idea of the film and interpret it with an built-in music field that performs the melody of the film theme and combines it with a tourbillon.

Now we have the Batman partnership that’s launching quickly. It’s a magnificence; you’ll adore it.

Speaking about your distribution, how are your watches retailed at this time.

Now we have our 5 branded boutiques and about 70 retail companions all over the world. We simply moved our Geneva boutique to a lovely two-story location. Our high markets are New York, Dubai, Geneva, and China.

We’re going to launch eCommerce this quarter. First, it’ll be targeted on jewellery after which we’ll promote watches. Our imaginative and prescient is to make use of eCommerce to promote watches that retail under USD 15,000. 

How is that this new boutique a milestone for the model?

Geneva is a global hub and the epicenter of the watch business. You would possibly say it’s heaven for watch lovers. It’s a large accomplishment to not solely open a boutique in Geneva however to take action in some of the prestigious blocks on the Rue du Rhone. An enormous share of our shoppers are worldwide, and it permits them to go to Geneva to see our watches and jewels in particular person, strive them on and actually get the Jacob & Co. expertise. We wish them to have an expertise they may always remember. Attempting on watches they’ve by no means seen earlier than and which can be actually out of this world. Once more, our slogan is ‘Impressed by the inconceivable’. 

How do you take care of particular orders? I suppose it’s a vital a part of your enterprise?

It isn’t a major a part of our enterprise; I might say quantities to about 10 to fifteen p.c of our enterprise. It’s attention-grabbing for us. I don’t suppose there are various manufacturers that do the customization the way in which we do. We like giving folks the chance to customise. However as we develop the corporate I don’t know if we’d wish to exceed our present numbers. When it comes to a long-term technique, it isn’t a key part of ours. We don’t do it for everyone. We’re selective. We do it for individuals who have been with us for a very long time. It disrupts the availability chain; it takes numerous time and assets.

What are the following challenges for Jacob and Co?

Now we have been creating watches for 20 years. Solely 10 years in the past, we began creating excessive complication watches. We developed groundbreaking problems and filed quite a few patents for our revolutionary actions. We’ve been capable of safe unprecedented partnerships with corporations like Bugatti. The one approach we had been in a position to do that whereas gaining the respect of our friends is with a transparent imaginative and prescient and cussed execution. The largest problem for us is to proceed to show ourselves within the business.

Throughout this brief time, we’ve confirmed that we’re right here to remain, and we work to proceed this path for generations to come back. There are corporations which were round for many years, even centuries, that haven’t produced the improvements we’ve got. We’ve created a tremendous platform and basis to proceed innovating and disrupting the watch business. The problem is that even when we’re going at a pace that’s unusual within the business, it doesn’t imply we should always not get the popularity.

Please choose just a few watches in your assortment that you just consider are essentially the most extraordinary and that you just put on every day.

The Chiron and the Godfather are two of my favorites. However every day, I typically put on a really skinny Palatial watch.

For extra info, please go to jacobandco.com