Guido Terreni is one of the most innovative and interesting minds that you can find in luxury. His knowledge and ideas about the requisite of an individual, the impulse or the desire for luxury and making people buy or spend tons for a watch that frankly speaking is not a necessity is something extraordinary. The company stands for Swiss luxury watches at its pinnacle.
His journey as a watchmaker started with his desire to be near his then girlfriend and present wife who was from Switzerland and this is where he discovered his other love WATCHMAKING. He has been part of few of the most successful watchmaking companies over couple of decade: the Octo Finissimo, which he launched while running Bulgari’s watch division is one of the most popular watches of Bulgari. He kept Bulgari one of the most popular watch brands of the decade.
Stating the Understated
Parmigiani Fleurier was a family owned brand with a niche audience and a culture of discretion, starting with its restorationist founder Michel Parmigiani, who is a fantastic craftsman himself. With Terreni, joining in 2021, after doing all he could for Bulgari the company launches three designs and become a success that it is today.
Guido Terreni had a clear understanding of what he wanted. He turnaround the company following simple rules of who is your audience or client and he incorporated that with the value of the brand brilliantly. And since his joining Parmigiani the company went from sells on consignment to now it having a waiting list as high as a year, all within 2 years. Making it one of the most popular and desired niche watch brands.
One of the most important reason for his success is his vision and individualistic approach to the growth.
According to Terreni: “Emotions don’t come from the turnover that you make or the profit that you make. Emotions come from what you can give in terms of pleasure to people who buy the products and crave what you are making”.
He was very clear in his goal and that was to bring a holistic approach to pushing the business forward. From the core brand, to the design, to the sales or the commercial aspect, to how to connect with audience and he was able to balance all this excellently. He has been able to orchestrate all this making this brand one of the most sort after in the market. He worked on balancing brand DNA to design, commercial strategy and communication. This project (PF) was really one that represented a balance of many elements. He has managed to orchestrate this simultaneously and the results have been phenomenal, having achieved so much in such a short time.
Parmigiani Transformation
Guido Terreni brought about organizational change by understanding the core value and connecting with the audience. Clearly understanding that there is a specific audience for these watches and catering to their needs and providing the exclusivity along with modern designs to make it more inclusive for the Gen Z. One of the major changes he incorporated was changing the logo to PF instead of the full name “Parmigiani”, he has been pretty successful in doing so as more and more of his audience or admirers and people in their 20s and 30s, by creating best luxury watches like, Tonda. Parmigiani Fleurier Tonda sales growth increased exponentially over the past two years.
His ability to still finds himself absorbed in understanding the tiniest of details around how a watch functions even with 25 years of experience in the industry, sets him apart and makes him a success story that he is today,
His belief of creativity with purpose sets him apart. When, otherwise the notion of everything is already done in watchmaking; he brought something new that nobody has ever done, making the collectors community, the niche buyer appreciate it.
He worked in sync with the owner never deviating from the core values that their ideology of watchmaking is understated and not loud. His knowledge that these watches are not for show off but for people who are knowledgeable and knows about watchmaking and are part of an inner circle of the horology community. Knowing exactly whom you are catering, along with the vast knowledge and craftsmanship for restoration along with the modern look and feel of its collections today, making it the best-selling Swiss luxury watch.
His passion for watchmaking and courage to combine the craftsmanship of watchmaking with modernism brought about the radical change in the company’s growth. One of the many reasons for the success that the rebranding brought is cutting out the distribution channels that did not suit the brands image or ideology of mutual respect between customers and the retailers. His ability to know his customer made him choose to be present in a multi-brand environment, making the customer compare and choose.
