Storytelling and the power of symbols; an Audemars Piguet tale

Since the dawn of times, stories have fascinated people all around the world. This is a story as well, but how do we tell one that captivates the audience like the stars in the sky or their dreams ? How do we tell stories around luxury brands that inspire people ?

Audemars Piguet’s trailer is an origin story as well as a statement. The almost fated encounter between Jules Louis Audemars and Edward Auguste Piguet leading to the creation of a brand that is a master in its craft. The video does not sell a product; it shares the company’s value, its mindset and its tale of how an exceptional watch-making company came to be.

The color palette is somber and desaturated, nature reforms into technology and light is shining upon the accomplishments of the brand. The story – the values of AP, are told through visuals and text, one highlighting and uplifting another. The trailer is inspiring. It’s presented as beautiful and as a model, as how you would want to be – and that is a key strength of this trailer.

Audemar Piguet’s storytelling is a prime example of luxury storytelling, encapsulating many of the quality principles that define the genre. First and foremost, the firm began in 1875, founded by “two young and ambitious watchmakers”, Louis Audemars and Auguste Piguet. The middle of the story is slightly less clearly defined but consists of the general evolution and growth of the firm to this day.

Said story is intriguingly embedded in the spirit of the vallée de Joux along the almost mystical craftsmanship involved behind the finesse and accuracy of the brand whose tale also involves multiple generations of brilliant watchmakers, the family of the founders, various inspirations and multiple collaborations.

The main challenge Audemar Piguet has been facing through all of its prosperous lifespan consists in maintaining the impeccable properties of their watches through transmitting its humble mastery across multiple generations and keeping its independence instead of relying on being owned by bigger companies.

There is no surprise or tension in the story of the watchmaking firm; its characters, i.e. the founders, owners and the talented watchmakers of Audemars Piguet have strived to keep its growth steadily healthy.

The origins of the company are well detailed and accompanied with illustrations of the founders, the setting of the vallée de Joux and some of the firm’s works, helping the reader visualize the story and understand the brand spirit.

The story then ends on a positive note: despite their perpetual independence, and well-defined values, Audemars Piguet has developed a brand through connections and dialogue with the outer world while also enriching their brand through multiple inspirations across various domains.

It is anticipating customers' desires.

This story is not only addressed to the potential customer and the previous customer, but also appeals to  the young people more willing to join Audemars Piguet group and work in it in the future. Audemars Piguet caters to a very high-end cliente, and their target customers are successful, free spirited and well-educated. They have mature and creative insights, determination and possess a refined and sophisticated demeanor.

The story of AP is simple: two entrepreneurs who, firmly believing in their convictions, decide, against the current trends, to start manufacturing watches by hand.

But this story is deeper and is based on three storytelling pillars that will resonate within any reader: independence, spirituality and family

Firstly, AP are non-conformists. They believe in their deepest convictions and undertake to handcraft their watches, which goes against the trend of mass production driven by the rise of industrialization. This is the first value of independence, which goes hand in hand with spirituality.

Indeed, AP has a philosophy of believing in its values: independence, family, etc. But beyond that, from the very first lines of the company's storytelling, we can understand that AP aims to be close to nature: it is a company born on the edge of Switzerland, in the heart of the mountains, in the cold and the snow. AP seeks to associate a certain rusticity to its brand image. AP also makes watches: representations of the passage of time dictated by astronomy and nature, which have always been the basis of time measuring devices.

Finally, the third pillar of AP's storytelling is family. AP is a family business, passing on its know-how and secrets from generation to generation.

With each of these three foundations, AP touches the reader's heartstrings. Indeed, everyone can recognize themselves in at least one of these three values, because they are fundamental to human beings.

The message is clear: AP is a family business, spiritually imbued because it was born in the heart of nature at its most magnificent and wild, and it believes in its deepest values.

What the reader gets from this is a feeling of belonging to this great family that is AP, recognizing himself in one or more of these fundamental values, but also a form of exaltation, inspired by these values that are greater than the individual: independence, spirituality and family. Three things for which man has been fighting for centuries and which today are found in a mechanical object that can be worn on the wrist.

​​The advertising has the purpose to make the potential customer think about all the words the video points out. It is using the human cognitive connection to pass the information and create a memory. Audemars Piguet, with this video, wants to demonstrate to the ones seeing it all the values the product and the brand are sharing with the customer. It is using the affect to touch customers into their values, with different words such as “independence” or “forward thinking “, and also with the last sentence of the ad. It is anticipating customers' desires. It created suspense during all the video, and still showed strength, thoroughness and the natural beauty to reach customer thoughts.

The power of the story comes from its persuasiveness. The values stated in the story are supported by the fact of what the brand really has. Specifically, Audemars Piguet is the last traditional and independent Swiss watchmaking company that is still owned by its founding families even after more than 140 years, which allows it to keep the mastery handed down from generation to generation as well as to have the innovation suitable to its origin. In addition, the story visual also helps the audiences to feel the strong connection between nature where the brand was born and the creation of their watches.

The Luxaholic Team

REFERENCES

(2021). Audemars piguet. Retrieved October 31, 2021, from https://www.audemarspiguet.com/com/en/about/origins.html

(2016). Marketing strategy and new product launch for Audemars Piguet. Issuu. https://issuu.com/ravneetsachdeva/docs/fragrance_book_edited

Aaker D, Aaker JL. (2016). What are Your Signature Stories? California Management Review. 58(3).49-65.