If you are a child of the 80s, you likely remember the Monopoly, Bugs Bunny, or Garfield watches that were all the rage. Getting an Armitron watch with your favorite cartoon character on it felt like a rite of passage at that young age, and it was the first time you wore a watch with distinction. Not only because you loved the watch, but because you also loved lasagna, fought with your sibling, and hated Mondays.
But Armitron went much deeper than that. Born out of innovation from a married couple who survived the Holocaust and came to America with empty pockets, Armitron has always represented seizing every opportunity and embracing the moment. In the first rebrand of its five-decade existence, the company now asks everyone to “Love Every Second.”
We had an opportunity to sit down with Marisol Tamaro, Chief Marketing Officer at the company, who spearheaded Armitron’s rebrand to get a little insight on the path she took to revitalizing the image of a brand from our childhood and competing in today’s watch world. After spending an entire career building and maintaining some of the biggest brands in the world, including Pepsi, J.Crew, and Revlon, she tackled the job of revitalizing the watch brand with new ideas while holding on to the core of its history.
Handling an enduring legacy
Of course, brands that have been around for half a century require a delicate balance when it comes to change. If you hold on to the way you have always done it too hard, you may keep your core customer base happy, but you will lose out on new customers, spelling the end of the brand, eventually. If you swing too hard to the new age and change who you are, you may gain a new and younger customer base, but you alienate your existing base, creating an unstable footing. So, how does Tamaro accomplish the feat?
“There are two ways we approach it,” she said. “From a product standpoint, we have styles that do reflect our heritage. The digital styles. The Griffy is one of our long-time bestsellers. We do vintage drops, so people who have that connection to Armitron from the past or love those styles, that is still part of our portfolio. Then we work with our product team to push it. What is new? What is new on styles? What is new on materials? What is new on trends?” She then went on to connect with the customer from a messaging standpoint. “Finding that universal human truth in your brand that transcends age, ethnicity, and geographic location because it is consistently tied through, and that is what ‘Love Every Second’ did for us. Because it is a powerful message that anyone can relate to in their own way.”
Updating for the future
One of the reasons Armitron became so big was the innovation in the digital watch space. After decades of analog watches dominating the market, Armitron was one of the first to provide an LED watch. While that first attempt had some hiccups, there was eventually a rush on all things digital, and Armitron became one of the worldwide leaders.
In today’s watch world, there is one massive technological advancement that changed the market: smartwatches. One of the must-dos for any watch brand is to decide whether to jump in and compete with the more technologically advanced styles or to hold strong to their work. Tamaro addresses the company’s future in that area.
“You mentioned smartwatches and we are starting to enter that realm from an accessory side, but also from a category side because you can’t stand still. It is part of our mix; just another offering for those who want that. Armitron is also there for you. We recognize that need and we’re doing it in a way that is affordable. We’re not an Apple Watch and we’ll never be an Apple Watch, nor do we want to be. But there is a way we can play in that marketplace to meet a different consumer segment.”
Finding the niche
When you have a brand like Armitron that’s accessible to virtually everyone, your range can get a little too wide for the purposes of the target audience. Any entrepreneur will tell you that you need to define your target demographic. So who is the Armitron watch for? Is it the entry-level watch for the guy looking to buy his first Griffy or Ridgemont? Is it for the guy who loves pop culture with a vintage Garfield or a Ross and Rachel? Or is it eventually going to be for the guy with a desire for luxury?
“We don’t really see that being the area for Armitron,” Tamaro said about entering the luxury market. “I think it is important to remain true to who we are, even though the affordability range has expanded a bit. But there is a threshold, and we know what that threshold is for our consumers, and we want to stay true to that.” She also dispelled the myth of the need to compete with luxury brands. “You know what I have found? You will have that guy who has the Rolex, but you will find he has an Armitron, too.”
Loving every second
We spend much of our time on a daily basis working, driving to work, thinking about work, dreaming about work, and doom-scrolling to forget about work. The purpose behind Armitron’s rebrand is more than just revitalizing the brand and capturing a younger audience. It’s about revitalizing our relationship with time and capturing the moment. Remembering who we are and who we want to be, and realizing that every second of every day is a gift to be cherished.
“Watches play a role, and our strategy was to remind people about the value of time and our relationship with it. I think we get so lost today in the scroll. How much time is wasted just lost on these devices? It is because it’s easy. They have become more of a distraction in many cases. Watches play a different role. It is more about making sure you are present. You want to bring people back into focus. A lot of time watches are linked to memories and experiences. So we really took that emotional high ground, and that is where ‘Love Every Second’ really came into play.”
As you are probably reading this article on your phone (always thankful for that), remember that the moments you long for will be the moments you let pass you by. Put down the phone, strap on your Griffy or Ridgemont, and get out into the world and rediscover what you have to do in life to “Love Every Second” of it.
