Celebrity clutter forces Solvil to drop stars

HONG KONG: Watch and eyewear brand Solvil et Titus has dropped celebrities from its new campaign, citing the high celebrity clutter factor. Instead, the brand is taking an aspirational lifestyle approach and contemporarising romance for the younger consumer segment, according to the brand's agency, Hotdog Creative Workshop. The result is the "Follow my own time" theme for Solvil's watch collection and "I see things my way" for the company's eyewear products. Cheung said the strategy gives Solvil et Titus a consistent but new brand image, as well as the freedom to develop separate advertising executions in the two categories. The campaign, which broke this month, is print-focused but also has an outdoor element, with advertising in the MTR. Over the past decade, Hong Kong celebrities Anita Mui and Chow Yun Fat and Manchester United star Ryan Giggs fronted Solvil's campaigns. However, Hotdog creative consultant Ron Cheung said celebrity endorsements had been worked to death, and were no longer desirable or appealing. But the agency has retained the romance aspect of the brand, which Cheung said was a traditional feature of the Solvil image, in the new creative work. Cheung commented: "We have to take the romance concept and redefine it in a contemporary manner in order to appeal to the 21st century consumer. To the new generation, romance is more short-term than a lifetime commitment. There is also an emphasis on self and independence." Solvil's repositioning follows the change in its advertising agency. Hotdog took the creative account off Ogilvy & Mather earlier in the year, while BGX won the account management brief.

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