Tadashi Shibuya says he is at the heart of G-Shock’s target market thanks to his love of the outdoors lifestyle and sports.
“I’m definitely the type of guy who would wear G-Shock, even if I didn’t work for the company,” he says.
“I spend my downtime doing things like snowboarding, surfing, running, hiking and even skydiving. I like to push myself to try new challenges and the adrenaline rush of achieving something exciting makes life more interesting. My big challenge this year is to run the NYC marathon; G-Shock can help me with the training plan.”
Managing the brand across the United States, Canada and Mexico, as he does, can be a white-knuckle ride, but that just makes it more exciting, Tadashi says.
“The most rewarding part of my position is the daily conflicts that present themselves,” he insists.
“Whether it be working through supply chain management issues or maintaining our sales volume during a pandemic, as well as leading a team of highly enthusiastic individuals, this has been the most rewarding time of my professional life.”
Young people have been lured away from wearing watches by a combination of smartphones being used to tell the time and smartwatches being used to measure health and wellbeing, but G-Shock has remained relevant through its ground-breaking use of different colors, materials and finishes.
“G-Shock is not a traditional watch brand,” he says.
“We always need to think about innovative, different and unique approaches. G-Shock has been approaching the younger audiences with messages that convey its uniqueness, such as sports-oriented functionality and fashion-oriented style.”
He likens the combination to the sneaker market. “A watch can be directly tied into a wearer’s identity,” he continues.
“Wouldn’t you want to be known as tough, resilient and unique?”
