When David Beckham was selected to be the face for Tudor, his talents both on and off the pitch, combined with acute media savvy made him the obvious choice – with over 54 million fans on Facebook and close to 21 million on Instagram, Beckham’s obvious skill with half-line goal shots and sartorial flair for well cut suits, fitted bottoms and myriad of interesting hairstyles made him fit the quintessential definition for the maxim – “women want him, men went to be him”.
Thus the choice of the unpredictable, contentious and undeniably bold spectacle that is Lady Gaga was considered gutsy relative to the sure-hit that was the English footballer. According to research firm, Networked Insights, their Social Intelligence Report collated reaction data on Gaga and found that about 32% were positive while the remaining had harboured a neutral or negative reaction. Given that brand ambassadors literally perform as Fleet Admirals for the brand, surely someone with that level of mixed reactions would be an anathema to Tudor would it not? But, drilling deeper into the data, one uncovers the true potential of Lady Gaga’s influence – the study found that 52% are women and 48% are men and that despite her reputation for being popular among teens, the largest percentage of her fans, a whopping two-thirds 35 or older. Most crucially, they are solidly upper middle income with a range of US$25,000 and US$74,999 annually with the upper 5% earning $150,000 or more.
Beyond this, Lady Gaga is not the mere deliverer of catchy pop ditties and dance routines, she embodies a visual style beyond fashion and music but also one of social commentary – Gaga is the total package, while the shock value is widely understood by all, the motives behind these stunts are not so well understood. On a more substantive level, Gaga’s activism and outreach towards her supported causes sets her apart from other brand ambassadors. In a sense, she literally exemplified the Tudor “Born to Dare” ethos by being Born this Way and it was the sort of differentiation that the brand needed after decades of association with its older brother, Rolex. From the Fastrider ceramic chronographs to the game changing Pelagos, Tudor is a brand consistently on the forefront of horological innovation and yet, expertly respectful of the heritage that helped spawn its initial concept as a spin off and now, independent brand on its own merits. Lady Gaga does not ‘stir’ for stir’s sake, there’s a genuine cause célèbre behind her actions and as well packaged celebrity who engenders love and not mere appreciation from her fans, Tudor’s rise as one of the fastest, most value for money watch brands with dedicated devotees is only matched by Lady Gaga.
As it turns out Tudor shares more than a chronograph calibre with Breitling. David Beckham was once a Breitling Brand Ambassador as well.
The Manufacture chronograph Calibre MT5813 boasting a 70-hour power reserve, a silicon balance spring and certification by the Swiss Official Chronometer Testing Institute was jointly developed with Breitling