How do you make sure that the latest news about your luxury watches makes the news? Buy time, of course! Legendary watchmaker Cartier is sponsoring a new feature show on CNN that will showcase up-and-coming stars in the arts, along with the latest lines from one of the most famous names in timepieces.
The lines between news, entertainment and advertising have been blurring over the years, resulting in reality TV and infomercials. The latest example is a feature show called “CNN Ones to Watch,” which made its debut on CNN International on October 10. The show, sponsored by Cartier as part of its global branded content campaign, can be seen on CNN International, CNN US, CNN en Espanol and CNNArabic.com.
“CNN Ones to Watch” will mix artist vignettes, digital components and advertising in hopes of luring luxury watch customers, especially men. The launch of the show was timed to coincide with the Watches & Wonders expo in Hong Kong.
The show is designed to feature rising stars in artistic and cultural fields like music, dance and filmmaking. A luminary in his or her craft who will explain why the chosen artist is “one to watch” will headline each episode. Artist Jonathan Yeo hosted the first show, which showed him creating a portrait of Tamara Rojo, the acclaimed artistic director and lead principal dancer of the English National Ballet.
This sounds like highbrow stuff aimed at a moneyed audience, an opinion pretty much confirmed by Petra Malenicka, Vice President of Ad Sales for EMEA. “Integrating Cartier’s association with ‘CNN Ones to Watch’ with traditional spot advertising, vignettes and digital elements will maximize the impact that Cartier has amongst our unrivalled upscale audience. Luxury is proving to be an increasingly important sector for CNN as more brands see the benefit of aligning with our high quality content to reach an engaged and valuable global audience.”
It’s hard to argue with that, since you’re not going to sell watches costing thousands of dollars by running ads on “Duck Dynasty” or “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo.” You attract a wealthy clientele by going where the ultra-rich go, which is likely to be a network like CNN, even if the moguls are only checking on their stocks or the unrest in whatever country they’ll be jetting to this week.
New episodes will air monthly and be supported by the “CNN Ones to Watch” microsite, which will offer additional online video content and interactive features. This means that viewers who had their interest piqued by the most recent show can check out more on the subject and of course, more on Cartier watches.
This sounds like a smart, if expensive, move by an old and respected brand to attract a younger and hipper audience. Why not convince the newest crop of millionaires that they should purchase a luxury timepiece by Cartier rather than one from an equally prestigious competitor?
Zegarek
Cartier is very nice watch!