In 2014, Motorola launched Moto 360, a smartwatch that would finally appeal to those outside the tech crowd. A thoughtfully-designed, classic-looking timepiece (with a round face) that also delivers notifications and useful information at a glance of your wrist.

We too saw Moto 360 as more than just “wearable tech”. We saw it as ‘A watch for our times’. So we created a campaign that called out the cliched world of luxury watch advertising, with a series of short online spots, which featured some of the heroes often overused in high-end watch advertising - including a high-flying businessman, a glamorous concert pianist and a pro-golfer - before an update from their Moto 360 brings them back to the real world.

First, we eliminated the word “smartwatch” from our vernacular. Moto 360 was not a smartwatch, it was “A watch for our times”, brought to life in six films that call out the cliched world of luxury watch commercials. The films combined qualities of a modern timepiece with a cultural truth around how people live their mobile lives, bringing purpose and humor to a traditionally stale tech landscape.

“A Watch for Our Times” broke through with earned media from major press outlets including key tech sites like BGR and CNET. The campaign generated over 2 million views on YouTube alone. Moto 360 was the best selling Android based smartwatch of 2014. The company literally could not make enough to meet demand.

Stat 1 2.5BN impressions from social conversations surrounding Moto 360

Stat 2 Nearly 4.5M views in total with 97% of the audience responding positively

Stat 3 Campaign drove over 3.8M visits to the site