In Conversation With Hamilton

We caught up with Sylvain Dolla, CEO of Hamilton to learn more about the brand’s history, digital strategy, and relationship with aviation.

Tells us more about yourself and Hamilton?

My Name is Sylvain Dolla CEO of Hamilton and I have enjoyed working for the company for the past 11 years. It is a very special brand with a unique DNA, it is originally an American but today it enjoys the best of the Swiss know-how. The brand 1892 in Lancaster Pennsylvania, It has always been an avant-garde brand that focused for a long time on military watches, mainly during WWII.

What is Hamilton’s relationship with cinema?

Hamilton always had a long lasting relationship with Hollywood, we regularly partner with blockbusters, the last one in date is The Martian starring Matt Damon and this year it will be Liam Hemsworth wearing one of our pilot watches in the latest Independence Day.

How was 2015 for Hamilton?

It was good. It was a year where we had to fight to get results and we got them. 2016 started very well for us, in particular in the Middle East where we enjoyed a very strong growth in Saudi Arabia and in the UAE. It will not be as easy as before, we will have to fight more but I a confident that we should have a good year.

How is Hamilton embracing social media? What is your strategy?

The first strategy is human resources, our marketing team is fairly young compared to the rest of the company and I think it starts there. You have to bring on board people who understand the new platforms. I think digital media will become a strong tool to complement traditional media.

What is Hamilton relationship with aviation?

Hamilton has been associated with aviation for 100 years. After WWI we became the official time keeper of a lot of aviation companies in the US and during WWII all the US pilots were wearing Hamilton watches. So we entertain a long and deep relationship with aviation. More recently we have been working with the best pilots in the world and one of them is the winner of the latest UAE Red Bull Air Race, Nicolas Ivanoff.