2011年10月10日星期一

Let's see a brand watch named Hans Wilsdorf

Hans Wilsdorf founded the company we now know as Rolex in 1905. Born in Kulmbach, Germany in 1881, the company, Wilsdorf & Davies, was based in London. By 1908 it had become one of the leading watch companies in the UK. It was in this year that he coined the name Rolex.
Official Chronometer Certification was awarded to Rolex in 1910 from the "Bureau Officiel" in Switzerland, the first time this had ever been given to a wristwatch. This was to be the first of many accolades awarded to the watch, including the Class A Precision from the Kew Observatory in 1914.
In 1926 the Rolex Oyster was released. It was the first wristwatch to be considered waterproof, proven a year later when the watch was worn by the swimmer Mercedes Gleitze in his successful bid to cross the English Channel. This was beneficial to Wilsdorf whom had sponsored the event and gained considerable exposure for his new Oyster Watch. Wilsdorf recognised the importance of advertising and marketing his creation in order to gain publicity and prestige.
1931 saw the creation of the Perpetual Rotor, a mechanism now seen as the basis for self-winding movements. In the following years Rolex released the first Oyster Perpetual Ladydate (1954) the GMT Master with dual time zone function (1955) and the first Day-Date (1956).
Andre Heiniger took over the company following the death of Hans Wildorf on 06 July 1960. Rolex continued to invent and innovate in terms of technical skill and style throughout the 2nd half of the century. The Sea-dweller (1967) was certified as reaching depths of up to 1,220 metres making it the choice for Professional Divers - a point that was quickly adopted in advertising the model. The Explorer II (1978) and Cosmograph Daytona (1988) were also released to international waiting lists securing Rolex as one of the worlds most prestigious watch brands.

The images of famous figures

Cartoon images of Li Na, Yao Ming and Liu Xiang, China's most successful sport figures, are these days constantly cropping up on the Internet.
Li towers over Yao and Liu, signifying that the female will surpass the then-top-idols to become the new sponsor favorite.
The addition of the $1.75 million bonus money for the French title brings Li's season income till now to $3.23 million, much more than the total earnings of her 12-year career thus far.
Contracts and coverage from sponsorship deals helped Li rank No 35 on the 2011 Forbes China Celebrity List announced last month before her latest win.
A CCTV anchor estimated that Li may earn as much as 200 million yuan through sponsor endorsement after the French triumph while Yao 130 million and Liu even less.
Li's own commercial backers now include Nike, which has already received exposure from broadcasts back to China showing the 29-year-old wearing the brand. Ads currently run by Rolex today have highlighted its ties to Li. The Chinese athlete also partners with Nestle's Haagen Dazs ice cream.
Given the popularity of celebrity endorsements in the country, other tennis stars from may also profit from Li's win.
If she keeps winning, it will boost the endorsement spending on other tennis stars by international sportswear companies like Nike. It may also, more than ever, bring into the bidding Chinese sportswear companies that are building world-class business heft and have in recent years been increasing their ratio of spending on advertising and promotion as a percentage of total costs.
For instance, Yao's success in the NBA, the popularity of the game in China, and China's modest success in international basketball competitions have led to a slew of deals between NBA figures and Chinese companies, including Kevin Garnett and Luis Scola.
Already, tennis star Jelena Jankovic has an endorsement contract with China's Anta Sports Products. Olga Govortsova has an agreement with Peak of China.