I was aimlessly flipping through several magazines at the doctor's office the other day, when I had a sudden epiphany. No, my name didn't get called at the time of my actual appointment. On this particular day, I noticed something I never noticed before. Every single advertisement for luxury watches had the time set at 10:10, give or take a minute. Truly every very single advertisement featured the time 10:10—Gucci watches, Raymond Weil watches, Longines watches, you name it, it was 10:10 and I wanted to know why. I was so curious and intrigued by this observation that I made that I decided to do some research on the internet about it. There must have been a reason why every single advertisement I saw set their watches to ten minutes past ten o'clock.
It turns out that there's this theory that's been created by the general population, not officially confirmed by advertisement specialists, about this watch phenomenon. The hour and minute hands form what seems like a smiling face with the purpose of evoking feelings of happiness in the viewer, with the hope of the viewer will feel more inclined to purchase the featured watch. In addition, 10:10 is symmetrical and thus, more aesthetically pleasing. Of course, this theory is just a theory, but when I continued reading more about this, I became more and more convinced that this clever marketing tool is not only true—but actually works.
According to a 2008 New York Times article, because the name and logo of a watch brand is typically placed on the upper half on the faces of fine watches, the time ten minutes past ten o'clock frames the brand nicely. Susanne Hunri, head of Ulysse Nardin's advertising and marketing, accredits that 10:10 has the aesthetic characteristic of a smiley face and that her company opts for their watch advertisements to read that time. You could even say that this "unwritten rule" that both companies of luxury watches and the general population have created has become a general understanding that watches should and need to be photographed at 10:10, even if you don't realize it.
If you're in just as much shock as I was, believe it. Uncovering this phenomenon makes me wonder about all the other marketing tools that are out there. If something as simple as displaying a specific time on a watch evokes subliminal messages of happiness from viewers, then what else are we exposed to every single day, and how much of our feelings are influenced by what we see? It's hard to say, but when it comes to luxury watches and their advertisements, it seems like they're doing something right.
Author Resource:-
WatchesAndBeyond.com is your source for fine luxury watches by all the top brands, including Philip Stein, Longines, Raymond Weil, and Gucci watches.
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