REBOOTING

A FLAGGING BRAND

When European watch brand Ice-Watch launched, consumers were clamouring over its fashion forward collections. Unfortunately, nine years later, the brand had seen a steep decline in awareness, gradually dropping out of sight from consumers and the media – some even going as far as to wrongly assume the company was no longer active. The company wanted to be a top-of-mind brand for the media again but needed to revive its cool and relevant brand image.

We built a strategy that focused on engaging with media outside of typical campaigns focused on seasonal collections. For this, we highlighted the products’ vivid colours and variety of models, taking advantage of Pantone’s “Colour of the Year” announcement to feature specific models. We also focused on annual holidays and celebrations such as Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Christmas and Valentine’s Day.

Ice-Watch also needed a human face to connect further with journalists. In addition to corporate interviews, we organized quarterly events with Ice-Watch’s CEO to introduce limited-edition collections, targeting consumer media and fashion influencers. Finally, we considered it important to maintain the link with the watchmaking media to showcase the company’s expertise and activity, keeping the company’s annual attendance at Basel World, the flagship event for watchmaking professionals.

Through our efforts, the media perception of Ice-Watch shifted from that of a “company that launched a nice product years ago” to that of a “fashion brand that is always capable of recreating itself.” We helped reignite the dialogue with journalists, which ensured the brand excellent visibility throughout the year in women’s and men’s magazines, as well as lifestyle, fashion and business media. Top tier coverage included Femme Actuelle, GQ, Voici, Gala, L’Express. We achieved 296 articles in tier one lifestyle media, with a reach of over two billion.