Citizen is debuting a new brand campaign, a limited-edition watch, and a hashtag-focused fundraiser as a reminder to millennials and eco-minded consumers that it sees sustainability as more than a buzzword—it is one of Citizen’s core beliefs, and has been for decades.
With the Purposeful Power campaign, Citizen said Monday, the watchmaker is putting its values front and center for people who want businesses to display what they believe in. One target is younger generations, says Jeffrey A. Cohen, president of Citizen Watch America, noting that the brand is asking its customers to think about power differently.
“It’s a new way to talk to consumers—a new language,” Cohen says. “The phrase ‘Purposeful Power’ is shining a light on the values that our brand wants consumers to connect with—and it has [our] Eco-Drive [technology] and consumers at the forefront.”
While Citizen has used the phrase occasionally on social media and other places, the idea of purposeful power has roots that go back to 1976, Cohen says. That is when Citizen invented its proprietary Eco-Drive technology, which eliminates the need for watch-battery replacement and is at the center of almost all of Citizen’s timepieces.
Eco-Drive watches are powered by rechargeable solar cells, eliminating the need for batteries—and saving millions of them from ending up in landfills. Fully charged, according to Citizen, an Eco-Drive watch can run for months, even in darkness
The Purposeful Power campaign will be promoted nationwide through a blitz of broadcast, print, outdoor, digital, and social media advertising, in media outlets such as The New York Times, Hulu, CBS, YouTube, Time, USA Today, Apple News, GQ, InStyle, and Men’s Health, the company said in a statement.
To help boost the campaign’s message, Citizen is working with influential names such as sustainable stylist Cassandra Dittmer, professional basketball player CJ McCollum, and Emmy-nominated Uncharted Waters host Peter Miller to highlight the importance of Purposeful Power.
Citizen also said in a statement that it will continue to work with 60 Second Docs to profile lives of everyday people changing the world in extraordinary ways. Recent mini documentaries have featured fashion eco-brand designer Gina Stovall, creative conservationist Asher Jay, and sustainable designer and architect Alejandro D’Acosta.
In conjunction with the campaign debut, Citizen is releasing a pilot’s watch from its Promaster series: the Limited Edition NaviHawk. Powered by Eco-drive, the timepiece is available in black ion–plated stainless steel with a cobalt blue dial and bright orange accents. The watch includes synchronized Atomic Timekeeping technology, which allows it to keep accurate time in 26 time zones, as well as a chronograph, perpetual calendar, 12/24-hour time, power reserve indicator, and day/date.
This watch is limited to 1,500 pieces. It has a retail price of $850 and is part of a larger collection of new NaviHawk timepieces for 2021. It comes in a collector’s box that includes two clocks: One features local time with a gradient dial and horizon line intended to represent a pilot’s runway view and is reminiscent of the watch itself; the other features a world time display with 24 world cities and times zones.
The campaign rollout also includes an Instagram hashtag promo aimed at raising funds for a cause Citizen has long supported: solar power. When people share moments with the hashtag #mylight to the watchmaker’s Instagram account, Citizen will donate $5 to its partner Everybody Solar. The goal is to fully fund a solar-installation project in spring 2022, Citizen said in a statement.
This is the second project Citizen has embarked on with Everybody Solar. Recently, the watchmaker’s donations helped Everybody Solar complete its new 35 kilowatt solar array at Glacier National Park’s headquarters in Montana. The partnership, which started in 2020, supports Everybody Solar’s works to protect the environment and strengthen U.S. communities through solar energy projects.
Top: In conjunction with the Purposeful Power campaign rollout, Citizen is releasing a pilot’s watch from its Promaster series: the Limited Edition NaviHawk. (All photos courtesy of Citizen)
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