Is It Time to Change? The Bold Call to Rethink Seasonal Promotions in the Watch Industry

The watch industry traditionally takes off specific months of the year, particularly during the holidays and summer; this sums up to a staggering one-third of the year. As we embraced 2026, the promotional activity in the watchmaking industry seemed particularly sluggish, raising concerns about this seasonal approach to sales. Watch brands cannot afford this on-off approach if ’time is truly money’. To sustain growth and support industry’s lifeblood - retail watch sales, momentum needs to be maintained throughout the year. Brands that remain stagnant or regress are potentially missing out on lucrative marketing opportunities with this strategic downtime.

Proposing a radical change, the article strongly advocates that reallocating this critical advertising capital to supporting watch media can resolve this issue rapidly. The idea is to have a marketing person or founder communicate directly with media, instead of wasting precious capital on a publicist. It suggests that the largest watch companies with robust internal communications teams, who are well-positioned to manage high-volume daily inquiries, are less prone to this issue. The core takeaways from this assertive stance critique the inefficiencies in the watch industry, calling for a robust transformation to align with the changing times.