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Watch ads make way for women
Economy

Watch ads make way for women

Thursday, 13 June 2013
By Flavia Giovannelli
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Flavia Giovannelli

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4 min read

In the past, brands have struggled to find the right voice when showcasing their women’s watches. The welcome news is that while red-carpet glamour is as important as ever, the message is now more carefully honed.

After being typecast in a supporting role, women are now claiming the limelight for themselves, and nowhere more than in the advertising campaigns that watch brands have concocted for the spring months. Adding further relish, the major offensives are coming from brands that are traditionally rooted in the men’s segment. Think Hublot, which has women firmly in its sights this year. Champion alpine skier Maria Höfl-Riesch, a new ambassador for the brand, pulled in the crowds at Baselworld where she presented the limited-edition watch which Hublot has made especially for her, all in white like the slopes on which she excels. As well as targeting women with rock-solid legs, Hublot has its eye on those with a well-filled head, such as Jacky Bracamontes Van Hoorde. The Mexican actress was already an expert on watches and a client of the brand before becoming its new face and spokesmodel in March this year, as Chief Executive Ricardo Guadalupe points out.

Inspirational women

Brands know full well that one way to appeal to a feminine clientele is to call on the modern-day muses who inspire them. Except they must now have something more to offer than beauty and fame. A star’s nationality, her personality or her career choices have to correspond. Nicole Kidman, under contract to Omega for the past eight years, made a dazzling appearance at an evening of festivities in Vienna, just days before Baselworld. As always, and despite a heavy schedule in Cannes, the Australian actress took her role as ambassador seriously as she talked about watches, Omega, and her friendship with Stephen Urquhart, who is President of the brand. Similarly, Cameron Diaz defends the same values of authenticity as TAG Heuer with style and a smile. As for Diane Kruger, she continues to bring her cosmopolitan elegance to Jaeger-LeCoultre which has strong ties with the world of film.

Cameron Diaz defends the same values of authenticity as TAG Heuer with style and a smile © TAG Heuer

Behind the Perfection, the latest campaign from Rolex, hasn’t gone unnoticed. Omnipresent in sport and the arts, the brand is backing a “dream team” of spokeswomen as varied as the sitar player Anoushka Shankar, ski racer Lindsey Vonn, pianist Yuja Wang, horsewoman Zara Phillips, and tennis players Ana Ivanovic and Caroline Wozniaki. Besides the fact that each is outstanding in her chosen field, all these women personify Rolex’s particular brand of elegance and success. This classic campaign captures women’s interest because they feel they can relate to what is being said. Lindsey Vonn, for example, confides that she got her Rolex during one of her most successful ski seasons, and that she hasn’t taken it off since. A fast track to the top, in other words!

Be your own woman

In the same vein, Parmigiani’s Women of Exception project, launched in 2006, distinguishes personalities in areas as diverse as the arts, gastronomy, science, business, sport and medicine. Like red-carpet celebrities, these women are chosen because they have been the architects of their own success. Joining their ranks this year is Olga Sviblova, the respected director of the Multimedia Art Museum in Moscow and creator of the Moscow Photography Biennale. Her Ph.D. in psychology of art shows the importance of the human element in her work.

Expectations are high of Audemars Piguet too, which is making its women’s collections a priority this year. Although advertising for the Royal Oak Offshore Ladycat campaign won’t kick in until the second half of the year, the collection is up and running. With it, the brand hopes to reflect women’s aspirations, desires and ambitions. Says Audemars Piguet, “Nowadays, women approach time without constraint, as an art of living. Women have made timepieces their allies, allowing them to assert their independence, to state without words but with clarity the essential facets of their personality.”

Eternal beauty

Patek Philippe has imagined a new rendition of its iconic Generations campaign for women, in support of its Twenty 4 watch. It draws a parallel between the enduring beauty and value of the Manufacture, and the defining moments in a woman’s life. This year the campaign looks to friendship between women with the tagline, Something truly precious holds its beauty forever. Photographed by Peggy Sirota, the Meeting Up visual shows two friends sharing a special moment in their everyday life. The moral of the story? There is more to a woman than her face or wrist…

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