High net-worth consumers have rated Blancpain as the most luxurious watch brand in the 2010 Luxury Brand Status Index survey by the New York-based Luxury Institute.
“Despite being a relatively unknown brand, Blancpain clearly stands out as the most luxurious brand of the 33 in this study, said Luxury Institute CEO Milton Pedraza.
The LBSI asurvey asked high net-worth consumers to rate luxury brands by category across four equally weighted components – consistently superior quality; uniqueness and exclusivity; making the customer feel special across the entire experience; and being consumed by people who are admired and respected.
Blancpain, with a score of 8.74 out of 10 topped this year’s ‘Best of the Best’ list followed by Vacheron Constantin (8.15) and Breguet (8.09).
“The luxury watches category is one of the oldest and most prestigious,” said Pedraza, “and yet the industry is stuck in time in terms of its distribution and customer relationship building innovations.
“We predict that more luxury watch brands will build their own direct distribution channels via retail and online as they realize that the future belongs to those watch brands that have direct and deep relationships with their end consumers.”
The LBSI survey results are based on a national sample of 505 American consumers, with weighted average household income of US$845,000 and average investable assets of US$16.6 million.