At the weekend watch retailer Swatch was supposed to launch its Audemars Piguet collaboration, Royal Pop, in stores globally.

Instead it was met with carnage and chaos-scenes from Saturday showed huge crowds of people gathering at stores worldwide.

So what went so wrong? Or right depending on you ask?

Swatch marketed the collaboration like most brands do, with a couple of social media teasers hinting at what was coming and the official announcement a few days later.

The teasers did their job well, almost too well, and sparked a lot of hype and conversation around the release, with consumers trying to guess the what the posts were hinting at.

So it was no surprise that engagement on the retailer’s official announcement post was high, receiving over 410,000 likes on Instagram and 21,000 on TikTok.

In comparison, sportswear brand On’s Instagram post about the release of its LightSpray Cloudmaster trainer, designed in collaboration with fashion house Loewe, received over 18,000 likes and H&M’s Instagram post on its collaboration with Stella McCartney has under 5000.

The announcement itself also sparked more conversation as rather than releasing a classic wristwatch, the pair unveiled a pocket watch. According to Swatch, they were inspired by Swatch’s pop watches from the 1980’s and Audemars Piguet’s Royal Oak collection.

The collection aims to “change the way [consumers] wear watches” and it certainly sparked their imagination with the announcement post having over 17,000 comments. Whether they loved or hated it, people were talking.

And that conversation helped to drive up demand, as shoppers wanted to see what all the fuss was about.

It could also be suggested that one of the reasons demand was high was the fact the collab made Audemars Piguet watches accessible (well, more accessible than they are usually). The luxury brand’s products are usually price on request, which is unattainable to the vast majority of people.

However, one watch from the Royal Pop collection will set consumers back £335.00, which while still pricey, is a price more consumers can afford.

Reselling is another major reason demand may have soared. Audemars Pigue watches are extremely expensive and price combined with a perceived scarcity could have caused many to assume (probably correctly) that resale value would be higher than RRP.

Pieces in the collection are currently being listed on second hand marketplace Ebay from £450 upwards (as of writing this article).

All of this combined then led to the crazy scenes we saw Saturday.

Swatch did address the issues via a statement on its site and social media.

It read: “To ensure the safety of both our customers and our staff in Swatch stores, we kindly ask you not to rush to our stores in large numbers to acquire this product. The Royal Pop Collection will remain available for several months.

“In some countries/regions, queues of more than 50 people cannot be accepted, and sales may need to be paused.”

However many consumers felt this wasn’t enough and suggested the watch retailer should have anticipated demand and done more to prevent it.

So what could have Swatch done to avoid the chaos?

Well, as many users suggested on the brand’s Instagram account- they could have followed in Apple’s footsteps and made the initial release online only before rolling it out to stores nationwide.

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