Frederique Constant and Alpina become first luxury watch manufacturers to embrace Official Google Glass Explorer Program.
Smart glasses are arguably the most innovative emerging technology. Though planned to hit the marketplace later this year, Google Glass remains in its invite-only Explorer phase, with less than one percent of companies experimenting with the new tool. However, analysts predict rapid growth within the next five years; projecting that one in ten organizations may provide select staff with smart glasses by 2019.
First to the finish in the race to innovate the luxury timepiece market through the introduction of Google Glass, Swiss watch brands Frederique Constant and Alpina have incorporated the fledgling technology into their 2014 brand strategies.
The new device will transform the brands’ processes of training and communicating with its representatives worldwide, beginning first with a new approach to merchandising.
The insertion of Google Glass capabilities into this already advanced process allows brand directors to create brief and easily understandable ‘How To’ videos from the first person point of view. Now brand sales representatives will be able to access tutorials on merchandising, technical functionality of timepieces and more in an on-demand setting.
“Leading innovation and embracing technologies in a luxury way is what our brands are all about, so this union is quite logical,” said Ralph Simons, President of Alpina Frederique Constant Americas and the initiator of this project. “Since gaining membership to the Google Glass Explorer Program, we have been actively developing best approaches to integrate these smart glasses into new and existing brand processes.”
Executives from Frederique Constant and Alpina plan to embrace Google Glass as a tool not only used to enhance merchandising and internal training, but also for internal research and development practices, generation of unique content such as the assembly of in-house movements from the watchmaker’s perspective, or a virtual tour of the brands’ talented design team and master watchmakers at work in Plan-les-Ouates, Switzerland.
