Hublot’s New Website…*sigh*…Falls Short

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Hublot’s New Website…*sigh*…Falls Short
by Kyle Stults on October 29, 2009

I know this will not go over well with many readers of this blog, but I think someone’s got to say it – Hublot’s new website is a disappointment.

It really does pain me to say this, because of all the watch brands out there, Hublot is probably in my Top 3 when it comes to Internet-savvy watch brands. Unlike some brands (Rolex, for one) Hublot does not fear the Internet – it embraces it. Team Hublot uses the Internet to their great advantage. They leverage it for all its worth. Facebook page. Twitter. Their own web TV productions. A CEO who is known to drop in on online discussion forums and say hi and maybe even extend the warranty of a few lucky Hublot owners (yes, we love you for this, Jean-Claude Biver). When it comes to a digital media strategy and Internet-savvy, Hublot has been giving lessons that I wish other watch brands were taking notes on.

But now, after several weeks of “teasing” the new site – building the hype – Hublot stumbles out of the gates with this:

hublot new website launch

The homepage has nothing to offer! What is the message this homepage conveys except emptiness and confusion? It certainly is not inviting. And from here on in the experience is a struggle to maintain. The navigation is poor and hard to follow. The images are out of proportion (too big, mostly). Flash-laden pages load slow. The whole experience is quite unfriendly, really. And the “watches on sticks” concept just does not work for me (I guess they are supposed to be watch hands):

hublot website collections

And to think that I now miss the prior Hublot website! It was actually quite good – very engaging, inviting and exciting – right from the homepage! And very press/media friendly, too. I know its not easy, and sure all websites have their shortcomings. But then again, if anyone has the resources to create a phenomenal website, surely it is Hublot! Perhaps Hublot aimed to high. Perhaps my own expectations were too high. Whatever the case, the aim did not hit the target on this one.

According to Hublot CEO Jean-Claude Biver in the site’s inaugural Newsletter, Hublot’s website gets 300,000 to 500,000 visitors per month, with an average visit of 9 minutes. Pretty good engagement! I certainly don’t see the new site helping those numbers, though. But as always in this world…time will tell. Do you see it differently? If so, I’d love to know – leave a comment below, or catch up with us on Twitter or Facebook.

Jason

It is doubtful that Hublot receives those kind of numbers for their site. A variance of 200,000 visitors per month for a site that does not even receive a million visitors per month is a huge variance, and therefore very, very unlikely. JCB is blowing smoke, like usual. People are sticking to the tried and true brands, the real buyers have realized that Hublot is not a good buy and JCB is merely trying to compensate for the loss in sales by overstating the numbers.
- Kyle S.
  
  Jason
  
  I found the wide variance in visitors to be quite striking as well! Perhaps Baselworld would explain this (a high time of year for many watch sites), but I do not know for sure.
  
  Thanks for weighing-in with your thoughts.
  
  Kyle
- http://www.hublot.com jean claude biver
  
  Hope I can meet with you one day and show you our numbers concerning the internet visitors per month
  I would also like to invite you to visit our manufacture and see what we are doing there. Would be honored to present you our new movement named UNICO. It is a in house chronograph movement.
  I am ready to pay you one hotel night and your flight ticket to come to our manufacture in Nyon
  Hope you can accept this invitation
  See you soon and best regards
James

I have noticed Hublot holds a lot of events and the owners and admirers have big smiles when they hold or show off new Hublots or even their own personal Hublot.

As for the website, I thought pages like these were neat. After all who wanted to see only the front of the watch! For me, I like to see watches from every angle.

http://www.hublot.com/site/#/EN/COLLECTION/BYCOLLECTION/1/ZOOM/377/VklEPUJCS19hbGxibGFja184NTZ4NDcwLmZsdg==

And I do prefer the old website over the new one.
- Kyle S.
  
  James-
  
  Thanks for your comments. While some aspects of the site are neat, and I admire Hublot for having a site that does not fit the mold, I think Hublot went too far. I find the site difficult to navigate and almost too flashy for its own good. And those with a DSL-equivalent Internet connection may find it particularly slow to load and browse.
  
  As I said in my post, I expected more from Hublot on this. But I am always open for debate – as I figured this post would generate some passionate views!
  
  Kyle
  - http://www.hublot.com jean claude biver
    
    Our web designer is Olivier Bourqui (o.bourqui@hublot.com) and I have given him your comments.
    I hope he will be able to get in touch with you and take advantage of your remarks
    - Olivier
      
      Dear Kyle,
      
      Thank your for you comments that will help us make this child site grows
      
      Do not hesitate to contact me with your insights.
      Thank you again.
      Olivier
Jason

Good point, Baselworld does significantly increase website visitors to watch related sites.

And Hublot does seem to have a lot of hardcore fans, so maybe I am wrong in stating that their popularity is diminishing.

However, one thing that have noticed since the acquisition by LVMH, is less commitment from the US staff. Prior to being with LVMH I really liked Hublot and dealing with them (including meeting in Baselworld), however, post LVMH my primary contact seems to have become pretentious. After kindly sending information and appointment requests, I was simply ignored. For that reason, I find it very hard to support the brand, when almost every other brand I deal with is open and willing to provide information and meet with me in-person. When dealing with watch brands, the best ones have a “je ne sais quoi” ( a certain something), and that makes me want to deal with them and ultimately buy from them. At first I thought Hublot had it, now I am not so sure. AP, JLC, Breitling, the Swatch Group, etc….. they all have it, I just want to do business with them.
http://www.hublot.com jean claude biver

Interesting your comments about any change in the US
Please send me more information about this on jcbiver@hublot.com so I can better understand and make the right corrections to our behaviour.
Thank you for your input and best regards
http://meemi.com/nicholasjacob Jack

I so badly ought to get professionally in gear and create a blog like this one.
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