Audemars Piguet CEO Francois-Henry Bennahmias on why golf and the Swiss manufacturer are a perfect match

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  • Audemars Piguet have a lot of time for sport. Their watches have always been distinctive since the company was founded by Jules Louis Audemars and Edward Auguste Piguet in 1875. They are award-winning mechanical masterpieces with impeccable finishing so the fit is perfect, whether it be for golfers, where the Swiss manufacturer are currently one of the most respected players in the game, or the modern gentleman.

    As a global company focusing on exclusivity they are also incredibly particular about who they use to promote their brand, but they have a knack of picking quality players at the right time with fine examples including major winners Henrik Stenson, Darren Clarke, Louis Oosthuizen and Danny Willett.

    Since 1989 Audemars Piguet’s association with golf has grown spectacularly. Former world number one Nick Faldo became the company’s first ambassador, and during his association with the brand, went on to become one of the greatest players in the world with six major wins.

    It took another fifteen years before their next major deal came when Francois-Henry Bennahmias, then working as CEO in America, was invited to the 2004 Ryder Cup in Michigan by Frenchman Thomas Levet.

    The Paris native is the current CEO of Audemars Piguet having started out working in the marketing and sales department of the company back in 1994.

    The ebullient 52-year-old was a former golfer himself and was even ranked in the top-25 in France during the height of his playing days. Now, in his seventh year at the helm of the 143 year old family-owned company, he has seen the brand and its association with golf continue to develop and evolve.

    “I was in the team for a long time. I found a lot of great things and a few bad ones,” he tells Sport360. “We focused on where we were good at for the next few years to help improve.

    “Everything came out of quality. Quality about everything we were doing. Quality about watches. Quality about communications. Quality at the relationship among people in the company. Quality about customer experience. Quality at every level.”

    He adds: “I got to meet a lot of the players from the European team. Thomas (Levet) invited me along and I got to follow the Ryder Cup for the weekend. Here, I met Darren (Clarke), Lee (Westwood) and Ian (Poulter) and we signed them up straight away.

    “That what the bigger birth of golf and Audemars Piguet.”

    Since then, the luxury brand and their association with golf has increased and they now have 21 ambassadors competing on both the European and PGA Tours, including new ambassador Matt Wallace – one of the stand out players this season.

    With so many golfers performing at such a high level in 2018, naturally the pool of talent to pick from is quite deep.

    The Audemars Piguet selection process is one of thorough consideration as Bennahmias explains: “The ambassadors go through an interview like I would hire anybody else in the company.

    “I want to meet them. I want to assess them. I want to know what they know about life. Golf is great but you need much more than that, what they know about boats, trips, cars, watches.

    “We have lots of people that have become ambassadors who were already wearing the brand. They were already in love with the brand, passionate about the brand and it’s much more genuine and organically good to work together.”

    With golf being an individual form, players form will change a lot throughout their careers. Some brands and sponsors may decide to choose a different path for their clients if enduring a long run of bad form, but Audemars Piguet remain loyal and stick with their ambassadors through thick and thin.

    Willett is one such example of Audemars Piguet’s loyalty. After winning the Masters in April 2016, it looked like the only way was up for the Englishman. But a loss of form, injuries and confidence saw him spiral down to as low as 462 in the world rankings.

    Despite his struggles, Audemars Piguet stuck with the 31-year-old and he broke a 953 day win drought to clinch the DP World Tour Championship title at the weekend, a sweet victory for both brand and ambassador.

    “Being part of the Audemars Piguet company means you are with us good times and bad,” Bennahmias says.

    “Danny won the Masters, his wife gave birth and then he’s on a new road of parenthood which is a new experience for anyone. Somehow it did affect his game and now he is starting to get back. We would have never let him down.

    “It’s a very difficult game. You can go through waves of success and failure and that’s part of being human which we love at Audemars Piguet.”

    Willett, Stenson and Wallace are just some of the supreme athletes Audemars Piguet align themselves with.

    But apart from golf the Swiss manufacturer are also visible in other sporting arenas. On the west coast of America NBA superstar LeBron James wears AP with pride.

    Bennahmias first met the LA Lakers king fifteen years ago in New York and the fact that a positive relationship remains today is a testimony to the gratitude, loyalty and family-orientated nature of Audemars Piguet.

    “I’ve known LeBron since he was 18,” says Bennahmias. “It’s a long time. I had dinner with him in Paris one month ago. The relationship is still there. Sometimes we will not see each for three, four of five months but it is still very much there.”

    “He’s not an ambassador but he wears it with pride. There is a connection that has existed for a long time and it’s still there. That’s what it is all about when it goes back to being authentic, original, genuine.”

    Today, Audemars Piguet produce around 40,000 units per year and they employ 1,450 staff at the company base in Le Brassus, Switzerland. The production may be low compared to other luxury brands but it remains one of the most exclusive and best on the market.

    Bennahmias adds: “When we increase again by a little bit. It’ll be 42,00 or 43,000. We will do it very slow.

    “What we are building now, we want to be exclusive because that is the true definition of luxury. We want to keep surprising people with the best of the best that watch making can bring.”

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