The Imperial Patek Philippe Marketing Campaign

Press Kit

Unique Properties

On May 23, 2023 Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo sold a Patek Philippe Ref. 96QL once belonging to Aisin-Gioro Puyi, the last Emperor of the Qing Dynasty, for HK$49 million/US$6.2 million in Hong Kong. Offered at auction were also artifacts, including a red paper fan. The global multimedia marketing campaign included a video trailer, viewings in New York, London, Taipei, Singapore and Hong Kong, a catalogue set; further, a video documentary telling the story of the friendship between Puyi and his Soviet interpreter to whom he gifted his watch, presented on a bespoke video tablet. The exhibition display featured a custom case with the watch appearing to be floating in space, turning around its axis, and a magnifying glass to appreciate the details of the watch dial.

Dimensions & Packaging

As this project was a multimedia campaign, including print, digital, packaging and architectural components, the established branding needed to be scalable and applicable across all touch points of the campaign.

Tags

Patek Philippe, the last Emperor, Phillips, Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo

Production Technology

The striking red color accent was carried through all elements of the campaign: a grand catalogue design featuring a slip case, further a video tablet, both wrapped in red book cloth with red foil stamping of the logo. The custom exhibition space appeared as if entering a red lacquered box with the watch display case as centerpiece masterfully engineered by Dietlin, framed by video screens displaying the trailer on each side.

Design Challenge

The task was to balance the historical context and provenance of the watch with a visually impactful campaign.
The production challenge was to make the watch appear floating with invisible support mechanism in the display case. A further challenge was to scale the global exhibition tour according to venue size and restrictions. The New York exhibition for example was the first stop of the tour and a far more open space. There, the stairs became a significant part of the exhibition experience with a long red carpet runner. The custom watch case wasn't ready yet at that time and another case alternative had to be found.

Research

The documentary film was the result of years of research including the authentication of the watch involving experts.

Inspiration

The story and provenance behind this watch is unique: the friendship between Puyi (the last emperor) and his Soviet interpreter to whom he gifted his Patek Philippe while in captivity. Phillips’ Marketing department developed a logo reminiscent of a movie title, drawing inspiration for the campaign trailer from Bertolucci's "The Last Emperor", which was incorporated into the global exhibition design on video screens. The striking red color accent was carried through all elements of the campaign, including catalogue design, video tablet, and custom exhibition space which was inspired by the Forbidden City.

Project Duration

The global marketing campaign was realized in Spring 2023 with exhibitions of the watch in New York, London, Taipei, Singapore and Hong Kong.

Operation Flow

The interaction with the campaign was multifaceted: The global exhibition could be experienced in person with the Patek Philippe watch presented floating in a custom display case. The video documentary, in addition to being available for viewing online, was presented on a bespoke video tablet (Vpak) that appeared like a conventional book, however when opened, revealed a video screen that auto played.

Patents

Watch display case by Lekoni

Image Credits

Phillips