Luxury watchmaker IWC Schaffhausen felt the need to refresh their US Navy licensed TOP GUN collection and make it accessible not only to professional pilots but also to a global lifestyle audience. The solution on the product side was to create five new watches in five unique and contemporary colors directly derived from the visual world of the Top Gun squadron. But how can people experience and get in touch with these colors?

The idea was to make the colors experiential through all the senses. We collaborated with Pantone's color experts who licensed the colors and made them accessible for creators of all kinds. We also collaborated with chefs, artists, and product designers who interpreted the colors. But after all these collaborations, the question remained: Is it possible to communicate colors in a completely unconventional and emotional way through sound? Through music?

We researched and found out about the phenomenon of synesthesia, where people perceive music through colors. The most famous person with this ability is Hollywood composer and Oscar winner Hans Zimmer. We asked him to represent the colors in a composition, as he perceives them.

The composition "The Sound of Color by Hans Zimmer" premiered at a concert in Geneva (concurrently with the most important watch fair in the world). Afterwards, the tracks were distributed through the IWC app, social media, and Hans Zimmer's own channels. The composition became the soundtrack for the collection and the entire brand communication of IWC.

The collection is not only sold out with long waiting lists, but it also managed - thanks in part to the collaboration with Hans Zimmer - to bring the watches into focus for a global, lifestyle-oriented audience. All communication and sales goals were achieved and surpassed.