CEO of Ulysse Nardin Patrik P. Hoffman, introduces the “Freak”

Lara Mansour   |   21-08-2015

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Ulysse Nardin was born in Le Locle in 1823. Starting out as an apprentice to his father Léonard-Frédéric, he went to work with William DuBois, one of the greatest experts of his age in precision timepieces. In 1846, at the tender age of 23, Ulysse Nardin founded the company that still bears his name today, in Le Locle. His pocket and marine chronometers soon set the benchmark in both civil and military realms. When he died in 1876, his son Paul-David took the helm.

 

Crowned by more than 4,300 watchmaking awards including 18 gold medals, the firm nonetheless had to be put up for sale in 1983 after falling victim to the quartz crisis. Living in Asia, where he worked in the watchmaking industry, Rolf W. Schnyder stepped in to take over the company. Out of his ambition was born the legendary Trilogy of Time collection: the Astrolabium Galileo Galilei, the Planetarium Copernicus and the Tellurium Johannes Kepler greatly impressed connoisseurs and confirmed the comeback of Ulysse Nardin as one of the greatest names in Swiss watchmaking.

 

In 2011, Patrik Hoffman was chosen to become the next CEO after the sudden passing of Rolf W. Schnyder. He recently hosted the opening of the brand’s largest boutique in the world at the Dubai Mall, in partnership with the Bin Hendi Enterprises. Spanning 240 sq. m, the launch of Ulysse Nardin’s biggest boutique was held subsequent to the brand setting up its office in Dubai. Another highlight heralding the launch was the ‘Vivaldi’ watch which was showcased in a first preview before it makes its official debut at forthcoming watch fair, Basel World 2015 in March.

 

Coming from a background in sales and marketing, he has taken up positions in Malaysia where he lived for 5 years, The United States where he spent 13 years and Switzerland, where he is currently based. He once handled the regional office in North America and the Caribbean and was in charge of the entire business supervision. Under his leadership, Ulysse Nardin enormously expanded its presence in the USA and in the Caribbean. In addition to this, he regularly travels to visit the retail outlets of Ulysse Nardin around the world. The large amount of time spent travelling never bothered him and his family of 5. At some point in life, he found it hard to define the concept of “home.”

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In this interview he tells us all about his motto in life, management style and the mentality that helped him succeed.

 

You were based in several Asian countries throughout your career, so you are an expert on that market of course. What can you say about the Gulf and Middle Eastern markets?

Well I think we want to put more effort here. I think it’s a market which we didn’t tap into too much in the past. We did a lot of our concentration on the U.S., Russia and the ex-Soviet countries. Maybe I would have to admit that we neglected this part of the world. Now we have moved a strong team leader here and we will make a stronger presence. We have to explain the product and the philosophy, for that you need people who are interested and understand these things.

How would you describe yourself now as a CEO in the watch industry?

I think I’m probably not the average CEO. I’m a bit different in the sense that Ulysse Nardin was always family owned. The owner, Rolf Schnyder, who passed away 4 years ago, was an extrovert and an eccentric man. But he always had both feet grounded on the floor. I see myself as a manager, managing a company. I don’t see myself as owning the company. I treat the company as it would be my own, but it’s not my own. Sometimes I feel you meet CEOs that behave as if the company is their own but the key here is only to treat it that way.

This is exactly what I learned from the late Mr. Rolf, to have both feet on the ground for one. Wherever you go, whether it’s Hong Kong, Dubai, The U.S., Moscow, this culture is always in the company. A kind of humbleness is always here. Secondly, people talk about Rolf’s creativity and entrepreneurship, but I admire his courage the most. He had a lot of guts!

You have lived in 3 different continents; tell us about all the moving around that you do.

It’s again related to my philosophy. When somebody asks me how to move up the ladder and advance in one’s career, I state that you have to learn fast and be flexible. Those are the two things that I also tell my 3 sons. When I say flexible, I mean not having too much of a black and white thinking. There are things that are going to come up in your personal and work life which you have to deal with and resolve on your own. This is what I learned from traveling to different countries, that you have to adapt. We have to always be able to adjust numbers, strategies, plans with work as well. Things change and if you don’t adapt you will lose.

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“There will be more activity with the new office that we have here in Dubai as well as our largest boutique to date! Dubai is the window to the world, especially the Dubai Mall which has people visiting from literally everywhere.” – Patrik Hoffman

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Tell us about all the traveling around that you do. Do you ever tire of it?

I think if you don’t like it, it will be difficult. You have to like it. I don’t even know where I was this year. Japan, Egypt, France a few times, San Francisco, Dubai and the U.S. My three favourite cities are Cape Town, San Francisco and Sydney. They have something which appeals to me.

What is something that attracts loyal customer and connoisseurs to this brand?

What became more important today than it was a few years back is, the true history of the brand. Today people go back in time and they want to see real value. Ulysse Nardin holds a true history. For example we have the anchor logo, but it didn’t come about because of a marketing guru who said to us ‘hey, nobody tapped the sea concept yet, why don’t you use the sea as your marketing tool?’ It’s a true history. We have always been attached to the sea since a hundred years ago. What we do today is always somewhat based on the past. If you say that the marine aspect is appealing, it’s also backed up with a true history.

The Freak watch, who named it?

We worked on the mechanism for 7, 8 years and whenever we work on a product we refer to them with code names or a number. The code name for this was Freak, for many years. It is freaky afterall. In the year 2000, we had to find a name and the late Rolf Schnyder said: ‘Why don’t we call it the Freak?’ That’s part of what I said before that he had guts, we told him he was insane! It’s a watch that might at some stage cost a fortune, you cannot call it a Freak! He said, ‘Yes, we can and we will.’ Today, it holds the most famous name.

Tell us about the Vivaldi timepiece. It strayed away quite a bit from the Marine identity…

It’s very different. In the communication which will be announced after Basel, things will be more Marine oriented but there are certain pieces that you cannot put into the Marine lines. It’s just not possible. The Freak, for example is not Marine. We have the freedom to go out of our boundaries. There are certain things coming out which are “freaky” and don’t fit into those lines. This is where the flexibility comes in again, we don’t want to be slaves of our own philosophy and strategy.

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What’s your favourite part of your job and what do you like being most involved in?

See I didn’t expect the question! I thought you would ask about my favourite timepiece, which is what I’m used to being asked. I think it’s probably meeting people, getting things out of people and translating them through to the world. In many ways I am not a creator, a designer or a salesperson, it’s more about conducting the business for me. I bring people together to create. You have a person sitting at a desk in Switzerland putting a timepiece together, who has possible never been outside of Switzerland. Speaking from an extreme perspective. He always lived in that little village and that’s maybe all he knows, but he’s very creative in what he does. The timepieces he works on are being purchased in a flamboyant place like here. So somehow you have to get these two worlds and philosophies together, without any physical contact. The introverted artist from one side, and the person who has the means to purchase on the other.

What are your thoughts then on the reputation that Swiss watchmakers hold in this industry?

Only 50 thousand people in Switzerland are involved in the watch industry, which is a very small number compared to the large image they portray to the world! There are companies that employ 100 or 150 thousand employees like Nestlé for example, but surprisingly enough, the whole watch industry in Switzerland is minuscule compared to the massive influence it has. This is what’s so remarkable about this country.

 

 

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