Seiko hands Wired account to Beacon

The Publicis agency was awarded the assignment, following a presentation, which recommended that Wired be developed as an "icon fashion brand", according to Beacon account director, Taku Suzuki.

Seiko previously worked with a Japanese agency. Media buying is currently handled by a number of agencies, including Starcom, with planning handled by an in-house team.

Beacon's initial campaign will roll out this month in Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan, with print ads featuring Tomoya Nagase, the lead singer of a top Japanese pop group, Tokio, which has a strong following in the three markets.

The main message, targeted at people between the ages of 19 and 24 years, will centre on the idea of going beyond the borders of language to achieve a shared perception of cool, underlined by the tagline, 'No more words, Wired.'

Suzuki said: "There's a whole feature of Japanese and Asian youth today that's about generational cool, which transcends national borders. Just take a look at how many Japanese and Western language magazines are sold in key Asian cities, without translation. Words aren't needed to define coolness."

He added that like other popular artists, "language itself is not the key issue in Asia. Style is. And Nagase is seen as an embodiment of this idea".

Suzuki said that previous campaigns centred on the concept of 'From Japan to the world', which he described as "relatively neutral".

The plan, therefore, aims to create a stronger emotional bond with the youth market by playing up the idea that Wired is from Japan and at the forefront of fashion trends.

Nevertheless, the brand has seen double-digit increases in sales year-on-year since it was launched in 2000 at the Basel Fair in Switzerland - the world's largest annual exhibition of watches and jewellery.

However, Seiko believes that a stronger, branding effort is required if it is to sustain the current growth rate into the foreseeable future.