Founded in 2005, MB&F is more than your average independent luxury watchmaker. The company founder and creative director, Maximilian Büsser, refers to it as a ‘horological concept laboratory’, thus setting the scene for a collective of highly skilled designers, artists and watchmakers who created radical watches that bring something authentically new to the luxury watchmaking scene.
As the company celebrates ten years of its Legacy Machines — wristwatch creations that draw from an imagined past for their inspiration — the founder and creative director tells CEO Middle East about how creativity and teamwork have helped the brand thrive even during a crisis.
MB&F is an independent brand that makes luxury watches. By those two facts alone, looking at your industry, you should be in a pot of hot water by now. Why aren’t you?
I wonder virtually every day how is it that 2020 was our best performing year ever in terms of sales at our retailers. At the beginning of 2021, demand has gone insane. It is probably a mix of many elements.
MB&F is pushing the limits of horology into a new dimension
In 2013, when my first daughter was born, I decided that the company would not grow anymore. We kept that line even though every year demand grew and it outdid production every year. It escalated in 2020 when demand grew even more, but there was no product to find, making it even more desirable.
Insanely intense creativity and state-of-the-art engineering are also paving the way to success. Over the last ten years, we have created 15 totally new calibers (movements). That is way more than any other watch brand during the same time period, even those whose revenue is 50 times bigger than ours.
We have also developed a very strong bond with our followers, both owners and fans. For 16 years we have been very outspoken on why we exist, how we work and what we stand for. MB&F is not only about incredible watchmaking, it is about defending values such as transparency, humanity, respect and a strong artistic stance.
We have never followed the market, we have never even listened to the market. We create our own path. Those who resonate to that, feel very strongly about us.
What leadership traits are needed during a crisis to steer a luxury brand?
A mix of very long-term thinking mixed with pragmatic short-term decisions. And always, keeping a strong connection with your team.
Twenty years ago, I decided that being proud of my decisions would always supersede any other reason, especially money. Every decision I have made at MB&F has been the right one even though many of them did not make much economic sense or did not bring success. Because at the end of the day I will always be proud of them.
In March 2020 I thought the year would be a disaster and anticipated -50 percent revenue on 2019. We took all the necessary cost cutting measures except we never let anyone of the team go, even though I was expecting heavy losses.
Our team took 16 years to build, every member is the best we have found. There is no way we were going to let any go because all of them would be crucial to manoeuvre through the storm.
During the whole of 2020, even though most of us were working remotely, we kept a very strong bind with the whole team, scheduling global meetings every week to outline the challenges at hand and what decisions were being enacted in every department.
Do you think as a leader of a luxury watch brand, that you are by default a spokesperson for the industry, as people in your position are often asked questions about ‘the industry’? Is there a sense of responsibility in that regard?
The media are always interested in our opinions, especially as we are pretty candid about them but let’s face it, they are only our perception of reality. We all see the world through our own filter.
What do you think MB&F could have done better in the past 12 months and what was your toughest lesson?
I honestly do not see how we could have done better. We learned as we went, going from an anticipated disaster to the best sales year ever in less than eight months, and adapting our strategy every month according to the new data at hand.
What did your company do that ensured its survival?
When you go track driving for the first time, the instructor tells you that at the end of the straight line you never brake progressively because it will get you killed. The same applied in March 2020 for us.
We hit the brakes with both feet, and then eased off as we saw that the curve was not as steep as we expected, hence maintaining control. At the same time, none of our planned launches were postponed — when most big brands cancelled virtually all their launches, leaving us a lot of space.
In parallel we increased our presence on social media dramatically, especially on platforms like IG live or Zoom webinars which allow interactivity, thus massively increasing our footprint in a year where most competitors disappeared from the radar.
MB&F is not only about incredible watchmaking, it is about defending values such as transparency, humanity, respect and a strong artistic stance
Luxury brands that rely on the touchpoint of ‘one to one’ especially for its most exclusive or highly priced items have had to resort to creating an emotional response digitally. What has been your strategy and plan in this respect and how has it worked?
I used to think that one of the most important assets of a small artisan brand like ours was that I travelled extensively every year to meet customers. In the last twelve months I have not travelled once, but replaced that by many more interactions on digital media — mostly Zoom meetings but also IG live and others.
Has your future product offering been influenced by the pandemic?
Our incredible success has not altered our ways. We still want to grow and our creative drive is going to be even more intense.
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