KMII
[Montblanc Moderator]
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IWC advertising - your opinion?
While hard for me to form a fully rounded opinion, as most of the IWC advertising I have seen has been in Switzerland (not sure they do the same globally), I am curious to hear my fellow Purists' opinion.
While I used to live there in the early 2000s, IWC ran a male focused (or chauvinist, if you ask my wife) campaign. My recent visits have confirmed that it is still going, of sorts. 
It never did much for raising the brand's appeal for me and it angered my wife no end (she is still of the opinion that my first IWC will be my last watch 
).
So what do you think? Has the polarisation it attempted worked in IWCs favour? Have you even noticed it? Do they use a different messaging in your part of the world?
IWC advertising - your opinion?
While hard for me to form a fully rounded opinion, as most of the IWC advertising I have seen has been in Switzerland (not sure they do the same globally), I am curious to hear my fellow Purists' opinion. While I used to live there in the early 2000s, IWC...
Seeing how you still live in Switzerland...
Are these / versions thereof still prominent (remember seeing several at Zürich airport every time I land)?
It should feature the former Croatian Prime Minister...
The one under many indictements.
This are vintage ads? What era was it. I don't think it did hard back then.
But yes in the PC world of today they could not get away with such advertising. Bill
I used to live there till 2005
And they were all over the place. I have seen similar ones in Zürich in 2016, so not that vintage...
They lingered, though...
And if you google IWC advertising, that\'s still the majority of what you find. Next to some vintage Ingenieur ads. The modern ones are toned down a bit: ...
Got me curious about IWC ads of that era. Wow.
almost as beautiful as a woman. Ticking the right way. This the pc translation the other would be. Not ticking correctly in German would equate to telling the person they've got a screw (or several) .... Too good for shopping washing, cleaning and wrappin...
I just posted a small selection :)
And you made very PC translations, too. Not ticking correctly in German would equate to telling the person they\'ve got a screw (or several) loose and the wrapping should be changing nappies
I think this thread deserves a full article to share with the world.
So not pc for the current pc world. Lets compile all our ads with real not pc translations and post this for all to enjoy Bill
They appear, or appeared, to be taking the risk...
that their target market will be amused rather than upset or uncomfortable about the obvious sexism of the ads. As far as I'm concerned its harmless, humourous stuff and it is controversial enough to make you give it real attention . The Da Vinci copy mad...
They definitely went for polarisation
And the ads are noticeable. But if awareness is paired with a negative attitude towards the brand, then advertising has not fully achieved its goal, no? For me it made me not want to buy it more and would not prevent me from doing so, either (my wife coul...
Hmmm yes and i do have quite a few more in mind.
I really like their more classic lines such as the Portugeiser and would really like to see IWC stick with them
I'm not a chauvinist myself...
But I don\'t care, I love these ads. I think IWC was just trying to make a splash. I can\'t take seriously the notion that the brand really looks down on women, it\'s absurd. They were just making a joke. I think if anything the fact that these ads are ob...
Well...
The last Swiss Canton to allow women to vote only did so in 1991 On a more serious note, you may be right in terms of their intention but I\'m not completely sure everyone saw it like that...
For me the...
level of intelligence equals level of understanding humor Knowing to take pun on your account not getting insulted by humor is mark of intelligence Humor is what divide us from animals There is so much liberty and rights in this world no one is free anymo...
In the end...
The question is if IWC gained from or lost out as a result of the adds, or if they made no difference. If the former, than it was a sound business decision. If the latter two, well...
I have this poster at my home office ...
This is from a time that IWC motto was "Engineered For Men". Today, they make smaller watches and also targets the ladies. I don't think that was a great movement and I believe that this is prior Georges Kern took the helm. Cheers, Nilo ...
Clarifying question...
You do not think it was a sensible idea to decrease the size and go after ladies (not quite sure if that is what you meant)? If that was your statement, I agree since they really face an uphill battle and have few unique selling propositions when it comes...
I think ...
That it was a sensible idea (to have ladies watches), based on my personal experience. Since they released those watches, my wife got some and she is very happy with her IWC pieces. Cheers, Nilo
Interesting...
Good to hear your personal experience. Otherwise difficult to judge (unless one has access to company figures), as they seem always a bit lost in the Boutique display here. And judging by the amount of female to male models offered for sale on Chrono24 I ...
:)
But do you own an IWC? Or would the adds not make a difference regarding your purchasing decision one way or another?
It was very nice and I regret (at times) letting it go.
But it gave me stress keeping it sound all of the time. I have our Planetary System to guard already and thats more than enough responsibility for me ;-)
Difficult to set or temperamental?
At this stage the simpler watches work for me best, as I do not really bother putting the automatics on a winder and I only rotate a handful frequently enough to either manually keep them wound or that they do so themselves
Pretty funny and I remember them
My wife didn't take it too seriously, but she did mention that they were pretty crazy to be working on ads like that as women made a lot of decisions for their boyfriends and husbands when it came to making these purchases and a lot of deals would have fa...
Now that you mention it...
More than half the people back in the day that I knew had an IWC were single
Was not a good move for IWC
Even if it had a positive effect, it wouldn't have boosted any sales because a humor can never be a decisive factor in purchasing a product. However, in negative effect IWC could have lost potential customers or at least gave the brand a chauvinist image....
Thanks for your opinion AlbertJ
I\'m wondering if there are some light cultural differences at play here, too. Namely not sure they used the same advertising everywhere - they did in Switzerland and Germany but not sure about the rest. Not trying to brand German speakers more chauvinist...