Grooving to a whole new beat with Swatch

<p>To promote the launch of the first digital Swatch, and the </p><p>watchmaker's invention of a new time system called ".beat", CIA </p><p>Medianetwork Hong Kong developed a multimedia strategy which had to </p><p>encompass the fact that the target audience (aged 15 to 45) was </p><p>relatively broad and consumed different media. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The time system, ".beat", essentially aimed to destroy the time barriers </p><p>between multi-market communities. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The system divided 24 hours into 1,000 units, allegedly allowing people </p><p>all over the world to adjust their schedules to the same ".beat". </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The Swatch campaign therefore had to build its communication strategy on </p><p>four "pillars of strength": innovation, provocation, "forever" and </p><p>fun. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The creative strategy was to encourage people to look at time from a new </p><p>perspective, and ads carried a fresh, modern look without being </p><p>simplistically hi-tech. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The theme of "Live to a new beat" was reflected in the creative through </p><p>everyday life situations, such as playing, dancing, loving, working, </p><p>chatting and surfing. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>A press campaign of small ads was initially deployed to kick off the </p><p>series a week prior to the actual launch, which took place in youth and </p><p>general magazines. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>All print ads carried the ".beat" web page address to encourage readers </p><p>to download the programme from the Internet. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The message was further enhanced via editorial coverage in magazines, </p><p>and free banner ads on nominated media Web pages. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>These banner ads, which were also placed on high-traffic search engines, </p><p>reinforced the credibility of Swatch as the timekeeper on the </p><p>Internet. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>A time check campaign was carried out on radio, for which the stations </p><p>used the ".beat" system instead of the regular time clock. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>According to CIA, this was an example of media adapting its content for </p><p>the brand being promoted. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Sunday, the mobile phone service provider, cooperated with Swatch to </p><p>devise a promotion in which all Sunday users received the time check as </p><p>".beat" via SMS on their handsets. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>In summary, the creative and media executions reflected the brand values </p><p>of Swatch and the uniqueness of ".beat", enhancing the overall image of </p><p>Swatch. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The message of ".beat" related to the audience, without using hi-tech </p><p>explanations. The media campaign deployed simple channels which were </p><p>integral to the everyday lives of the audience, such as mobile phones </p><p>and radio. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>According to the client, two weeks after the launch of the campaign, </p><p>four of the six models of its digital watch were sold out. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>* This ongoing National Geographic Showcase series features selected </p><p>material from winners and other entries in the Best Use of Media </p><p>category in MEDIA's Agency of the Year Awards 1999. </p><p><BR><BR> </p>