IWC’s Marketing Disaster

We love IWC, but their latest ad misses the mark big time.

January 27, 2021

IWC is one of those brands that never ceases to surprise. Their recent history has been filled with some of the best modern watch releases we can think of, and their heritage is second to none. So what, then, went so horribly wrong with this most recent marketing push?

First and foremost, we should consider what it takes to be a killer in-house marketer for any given brand. The big thing is they need to understand what makes the brand great to begin with, and make that the basis of their work. Second to that, though perhaps just as importantly, they need to be equipped to leverage that in not only their work, but the work others do on behalf of their company.

Now to the IWC ad that Christian drove Michael all the way to Staten Island just to see. It reads: “An Apple A Day, An IWC Forever.” We could go on for days on all the different ways that’s a problem, not least of which is the confusing messaging about the Apple Watch that we can only assume is in there somewhere. But the real crime is this – the IWC brand story is so much more rich and deep than this ad would ever lead anyone to believe. Is that really what it’s been reduced to?