Johan Blake & Olympic100m Silver Medal winner Richard Mille !!!!!
The Fastest Watch at the London Olympics? That Would be Richard Mille
Pay close attention here. What Richard Mille pulled
off at the Olympics with their sponsorship of 100M dash silver medalist
Yohan Blake is nothing short of brilliant. Richard Mille might be a
small brand but they’ve managed an impressive presence. Teaming up with
sports superstars, they created the RM 027 for tennis great Rafael Nadal and the RM 038 for Masters champion Bubba Watson,
among others. These were extremely savvy moves. But the Yohan Blake
sponsorship takes the cake, nothing short of a marketing coup.
Creating mystery around the watch, Richard Mille encouraged people to
guess the “secret” of who would wear their tourbillon watch in the 100M
men’s final dash. We knew it was silver medalist Yohan Blake right
after the announcement.
The big “secret” of who was going to wear the watch, never was one,
because it was never intended to be. There were clues laid out like
candy on a children’s Easter egg hunt. Richard Mille released the
“secret” watch July 30th, just six days before Blake raced in the final,
stating in the press release that it was to welcome a “sprinter” into
the family. The watch wears a white, green and yellow color scheme, the
colors of the Jamaican flag. Since Usain Bolt – reigning Olympic
champion and Blake’s training partner — is already locked up in a Hublot
sponsorship, the most likely candidate was Blake. The “secret” did the
job, spreading like wildfire on the Internet by getting bloggers and
journalists excited to find the answer Richard Mille had already placed
right in front of their noses.
Remember, no athletes can officially endorse a brand during the
Olympics, and Richard Mille must wait until 3 days after the close of
the Olympics to officially announce the Blake sponsorship. But they got
around that rule and timed it perfectly. Blake was set to vie for
victory in the 100M finals wearing the watch in front of a national and
international audience, during prime time this past Sunday evening.
How did Richard Mille do it? Since the direct route was blocked, they
had to figure out a way to get around the sticky wicket of the no
advertising rule or get busted. Using “Coattail” ambushing, a type of
ambush marketing, they took advantage of the legitimate connection
between themselves and Blake and Blake’s spotlight position in front of
the cameras in London, and it didn’t cost them a wooden nickel. I’m not
talking about Blake’s sponsorship of the watch here but the exposure or
marketing of the watch via the Olympics.
Mille couldn’t have asked for better prime product placement if they
had purchased it. As Blake took his position in the starting blocks, the
Richard Mille watch was front and center. Seconds before the starting
gun, an NBC announcer described how Blake positions his feet in the
blocks. As the camera focused on Blake’s right foot, the eyes of watch
enthusiasts around the world were on Blake’s right wrist, inches away.
Although the watch isn’t a new caliber and looks to be the RM, Richard
Mille is sure to create one for the speedy Jamaican that is tailored to
running really fast. Interested to see how they justify that one.
Yohan Blake ran a great race, finishing second to Usain Bolt. Blake
may not have been the fastest human at these Olympics, but he did make
the Richard Mille the fastest watch that evening.
Richard Mille Website - www.richardmille.com/
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