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SCMP Reporter

Times are changing for the better in Hong Kong - and as the economy rebounds, young professionals are becoming increasingly style-conscious about what they wear on their wrists.

They see their watch as a reflection of their taste and individuality, and one brand in particular has broken the mould in Hong Kong this year with a blend of Italian style and an advertising campaign that oozes sex appeal.

Its message - Don't touch my Breil - is part of the rebirth and modernisation of the famous brand over the past decade that has seen it establish itself as Italy's top brand and one of the top three brands in Spain.

The company has expanded the Breil presence in Hong Kong, with its first stand-alone outlet in the IFC mall in a step towards a major push into Hong Kong and the mainland.

'We are going to open three or four more stores in Hong Kong in the next few years,' said Marcello Binda, president of the Binda group which owns the Breil brand, during a visit to Hong Kong and the mainland in July.

'I have visited Shanghai and I have visited Beijing for the first time. We have great expectations for the Chinese market. Everybody in Italy is talking about China as a big opportunity.'

A regular visitor to Hong Kong over the past 25 years, Mr Binda said he had watched with keen interest the development of the watch market here as the tastes and desires of the city's customers changed.

Customers who opted for conventional, functional designer names before are now becoming more attentive to style and design. In a resurgent Hong Kong, today's more confident customer wants to stand out and be individual.

It is a desire that chimes perfectly with the youthfulness and dynamism of Breil's marketing campaign, which makes an emotional link between the watch and the wearer.

'The relationship between the consumer and the product is very important, if not fundamental,' Mr Binda said. 'Our customers really don't want to take [their watches] off. There is an intimate relationship between the consumer and the product.'

It was this concept of intimacy that led to the slogan 'Take everything, but my Breil' in the 1990s, a slogan simplified to 'Don't touch my Breil' in the present advertising campaign.

In Hong Kong, that intimate link between the consumer and the watch is typified in advertisements for the successful Globe collection, showing a girl with a man's watch on her wrist.

'It is something that gets the attention of the consumer immediately,' Mr Binda said.

The undeniable sex appeal of the Breil brand has won it a young following, with a target market of buyers aged between 18 and 35.

Watches cost from US$250 to US$300, a range Mr Binda described as 'perhaps above average but not too expensive ... for the upscale market it is affordable'.

What comes with the relatively modest price tag, however, is a distinctly Italian flair.

'We want to always be recognisable as an Italian brand based in Milan and it makes a lot of difference,' Mr Binda said.

'Milan is style, Milan is design, Milan is innovation, and all of these things are linked to our brand.

'We have been established for almost 100 years, but in the past 10 years we have established a strong reputation for innovation, for ideas.'

That innovation is evident in Breil's recent jewellery line which has excited and surprised buyers around the world with its originality and versatility.

It includes the iconic Snake necklace, which can be twisted and moulded into different shapes.

Mr Binda described the necklace as 'a mixture of technology, engineering and style'.

'If you want to change the shape of the necklace you can.

'You can just go in front of a mirror and play with it,' he said. That is what Breil is all about - playing with all of your senses.'

Breil's jewellery line has proved spectacularly successful and has attracted an unexpectedly broad range of customers.

'It is appealing to women in their 20s and 30s, and a lot of 45- to 50-year-old women as well,' Mr Binda said.

'When I discovered that my mother was one of the most enthusiastic customers for Breil jewellery, I realised we had an opportunity to extend our appeal.'

The successful expansion of the Breil brand may appear to have come as effortlessly as style does to the Italians, but behind it lies a mission to make the name as well-known worldwide as it is in its homeland.

'Our vision is to be a worldwide brand, a worldwide company,' Mr Binda said.

'We are trying to deliver a unique Italian style to the world. We want to be the leading Italian company for watches and accessories in the world in the next five to 10 years.

'We are trying to really push [ourselves] to be as successful everywhere as we are right now in Italy. We are looking forward at this stage to [working] hard to try to reach this goal.'

The Breil shop is on the first floor of the IFC shopping mall.



Italian brand finds sex appeal is timeless