One of the most effective marketing slogans of all time came from the shampoo industry in the middle of the last century.
It’s precise provenance is contested, but the concept is thought to have emerged from a meeting at Clairol in the 1950s where the director of hair-care research and development, Paul Wallace, described how the first wash might fail to remove all grime from a person’s hair, so a second lather was recommended to ensure a perfect shine.
There may not have been advertising and branding executives in that meeting, but soon after the phrase “rinse and repeat” started to appear on shampoo bottles and over time it was credited as one of the greatest marketing slogans of all time as it almost doubled sales overnight.
The somewhat apocryphal story struck me recently when we ran a story about Prince William wearing a Garmin smartwatch and his favourite Omega Seamaster on his left and right wrists.
Some in the industry call it double-wristing. I think a decent marketeer could do better.
I have seen other famous faces do the same. Cheryl Crow in a documentary about her life; Ronnie Wood, Justin Bieber and many others.
I don’t think any of them were paid to double-wrist by watch brands, but I would suggest it is an idea that should be explored with brand ambassadors and influencers.
There are two types of double-wristing. The easiest to pull-off is to use both wrists, as we saw with the Prince of Wales. It is most commonly adopted as a way of wearing something cool and mechanical on one arm and a health-tracking smartwatch on the other.
Much cooler, in my opinion, and a great deal harder to pull off (I have tried and failed experimenting with a dozen watches from my collection), is two watches on one wrist.
When it works, however, it looks seriously cool, particularly if a bunch of bangles and bracelets are slung on as well in an “I couldn’t give a damn” piece of genius styling.
Women, I would suggest, do this better than men, not least because smaller watches on longer straps make it more practical than clipping into a Rolex Submariner and an Omega Speedmaster at the same time.
For brands and retailers, I think double-wristing is well worth exploring. Who knows, if it takes off, sales could double overnight.
I understand Prince William’s reason for wearing two watches at a time, but the only other non-reason would be the Justin Biebers of the world looking for attention. Women perhaps could pull this off as a fashion statement. But, lets remember. There are a lot of people in the world that can’t afford to wear anything more than a sub $100 quarts and might feel slighty adgitated if a co-worker shows up Monday morning wearing a couple of Datonas on his/her wrist.