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Christopher Ward uses lock down to launch its first TV advertising campaign

With viewing figures soaring and the cost of advertising slots tumbling, the British watchmaker has seized the initiative with a new campaign.

Friday is a big day for Christopher Ward. 

It is the day the British watchmaking company launches one of its most important watches of this year, and it will support that launch with its first ever television advertising campaign.

Speaking to Rob Corder in our new series of WatchPro Originals video interviews, Christopher Ward’s co-founder and managing director Mike France said his business philosophy has always been to zig when others zag, and he has always considered recessions as great opportunities to grab market share. “I’ve always rather enjoyed them,” he reveals.

Christopher Ward sells around 25,000 watches per year directly to consumers via its own ecommerce site. It has no wholesale operation and no retail partners.

This gives the business an automatic advantage during this crisis because it has none of its own stores to close, and no retailer partners shuttering their own doors.

It is also highly experienced at reaching out across the web and social media to generate demand. This led to sales rising by more than 70%, year-on-year during the first two weeks of April while other brands were seeing revenue collapse.

The company had already been planning for a big launch of a new watch that is currently under embargo, but will be unveiled on Friday online, across social media and with a television advert.

Television viewing figures are up around 40% during the crisis and, with many brands pulling their advertising, the cost of slots has dropped, Mr France explains.

So, for significantly less money, you reach considerably more potential customers — irrefutable logic in the eyes of Mr France.

The Christopher Ward advertising will appear across Sky channels including Sky 1 and Sky Witness where, Mr France believes, curiously-minded men, the key target market for the brand, can be found.

The advert was shot over the long Easter weekend, when the country was in lock down, obeying strict social distancing measures, Mr France says.

 

 

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2 Comments

  1. I’m very happy about that , I’m a huge supporter of the brand and have 3 CW’s in my collection and have put a fair few customers their way through my own interest in the brand, very happy the they have the clout to get on tv now and reach a much wider audience. Good for them, they deserve the opportunity, they make exceptional watches and at an affordable price. Love them.

  2. Outstanding watches. No longer homages of Rolex and Omega, but superbly crafted original designs. My Trident 3 gets far more wrist time that my Sub or Seamaster.

    My C60 consistently runs around -1 a day, lume lasts all night, machining of the case is exceptional, and the Selita SW200-1 can be serviced inexpensively by any decent watch maker.

    Combine this with excellent customer service and it makes a compelling package.

    If I had to keep only one watch in the collection, this would be it.

    Can’t recommend Chr. Ward highly enough.

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