Breaking the binary and moving into genderless retail with Watchfinder

Capabilities

PR

Date

05/03/2022

We helped Watchfinder & Co become the first retailer to fully remove all gender labels from their entire operation, by changing perceptions around jewellery gender categories.

 The sizing model that most watch manufacturers use tends to fall into two categories – bigger watch diameters made for men and smaller watch diameters made for women. However, buying patterns show that this sizing model is out of date, often leading to uncomfortable purchasing experiences with people feeling like they are having to make a purchase based on gender categories rather than personal preference.

VCCP PR New York helped Watchfinder & Co announce an all-important move made by the retailer to remove all mentions of gender from their entire operation (including website and their boutiques)- instead, choosing to simply label watches as small, medium or large – in a bid to help customers discover more watches when searching for their perfect timepiece.

The campaign aimed to ensure that no one would face stigma for wanting to purchase items that would suit them better, and to ensure that everyday items such as watches are more accessible for everyone to enjoy – regardless of their gender.

To assist with the industry-first move, we worked with America’s Next Top Model judge and fashion photographer Nigel Barker fronting all broadcast interviews in the US, and rapper and fashion designer Tinie Tempah fronting all interviews in the UK through a global broadcast PR campaign.

The message was loud and clear –urging other manufacturers to follow suit and refer to watches by their size alone and ditch the ‘redundant, restrictive and outdated’ gender model, which labels certain watches as only suitable for those of a particular sex, undermining people’s personal tastes and size choices.

VCCP PR New York raised awareness across a whole host of broadcast outlets in the US on SiriusXM, iHeartRadio and various ABC, CBS and NBC channels through our satellite media tour (SMT). In total this generated a global audience reach of more than 1.9 billion across 150+ items of coverage.

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This was a
PR
Project for Watchfinder & Co