ESCP ALUMNI magazine - Special Issue 2022 - 94

Business Life
Luxury
Cartier: watches with a
real emotional power
Rodolphe RATZEL (05) is Cartier International's Marketing Director for Watches.
We had the chance to speak to him about his career path, his missions, and his
vision on watchmaking.
Rodolphe RATZEL (05)
Marketing Director for Watches,
Cartier International
You have been at Cartier for 15
years. Can you share with us
your career path?
I joined Cartier after graduation, as a
product manager in the Accessories
division. After three years, I joined the
China subsidiary, which had just been
created, and I spent four amazing years
in Shanghai before returning to Paris in
2014. I have held a variety of positions
across different departments: Digital
Communications, Jewellery Marketing,
and Chief of staff to Cyrille Vigneron,
the current President & CEO of Cartier
International. In 2019, I was appointed
International Marketing Director for
Watches.
Did you think that you would
make a career at one of the
world's greatest jewellery
Maison's?
I never set-out with a specific goal to
work in the watch and jewellery sector,
but I knew that I wanted to work with
physical, tangible, and beautiful products.
I have a passion for drawing, so
I also wanted to find a way to work with
designers on a daily basis.
Why did you decide to work in
watchmaking and jewellery?
Given these reasons just mentioned,
the jewellery and watchmaking sectors
are very appealing to me. For a Maison
like Cartier, the products are the main
" raison d'être " . They translate an idea,
not a need. They are full of history and
emotion. Working on their design and
marketing is a privilege.
The products inevitably have shared characteristics:
creativity, know-how, technical
expertise, a profusion of materials.
However, the sectors differ due to their
structures and dynamics.
Jewellery is made up of a handful of
international Maisons, and a multitude
of local and independent small-scale
businesses. It has the strongest growth
in the luxury industry, making it a very
attractive sector. Which is reflected by
the increased number of acquisitions
by the big luxury groups over the past
decade.
On the other hand, the watchmaking
market consists of brands only. The
challenge is for a player to seize a few
points of market share of another player.
It is growing at a lower pace than jewellery,
but this is not stopping some brands
from significantly growing, being very
profitable, and highly desirable.
What is your main mission at
Cartier?
I define and implement Cartier's global
watchmaking strategy. With my team, I
manage the product development process:
selecting the type of products to
develop, briefing the designers, and leading
the development of these designs
with the manufacturing teams. Once the
product plan has been defined, we work
with the Communication and Commercial
departments to develop the activation
strategies that support the launch of these
collections. In addition to new product
development, it is also important that we
continue to foster and grow Cartier's existing
watch collections and ensure that our
market share increases.
How do you see the future of
watchmaking?
If you think of a watch's original function,
which is to simply tell time, it is easy to
think that they are no longer necessary in
today's digital world. Some people may
even think they are obsolete given the rise
in smart watches, but in fact, the luxury
watchmaking sector is doing quite well.
Over the past year several notable brands
have posted record breaking turnovers,
proving that the desirability of some iconic
watches has never been stronger. This is
even seen at auction houses where they
have seen record prices for select watches.
Watches are still very much sought-after
objects. They are seen as an indicator
of style and personality, as well as a
safe investment. All these qualities make
watches relatively timeless and desirable
objects, and in my view, this will continue
to remain true.
94 ❙
ESCP Alumni Magazine Special issue ❙ 2022
ESCP ALUMNI magazine - Special Issue 2022

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