From a resale platform to an engaged global community

Overview

Subdial is the UK’s highest rated luxury pre-used watch reseller. The business believes that the old way of collecting watches is broken, and have successfully used technology to disrupt an established market by introducing a data platform to track global sales and value watches accurately. We worked with the founders to position them out of a copycat sector, clarify their USP and help them shift the emphasis — from being seen as simply a resale platform, to becoming an online community. A club for watch lovers to share knowledge and build their collection.

The new luxury customer

We started by getting to know their audience — a new breed of global watch enthusiasts; younger, aspirational and digitally-savvy. Unlike previous generations, Subdial collectors feel comfortable purchasing and selling online, and are often happy to share their collection with other like-minded individuals and groups.

Following our strategy workshops we helped cement that Subdial was born out of a desire to reimagine the world of watches and to bring transparency to the watch market.

Creating standout

Like many sectors, the watch resale market is rife with uninspiring copy-cats, with competitors harking back to outdated ideas of ‘luxury’ — monotone and conservative. We were inspired by the simple geometric shapes within watch faces, and used Bauhaus design influences for the bold use of colour which ensures the mostly monotone watches have stand-out.

Data driven decisions

To redefine the brand, we needed to reinvent the digtal product experience. We worked with Subdial to reinvent its entire digital presence as well as creating on-brand visualisations of data. This visual language translates from the website through to the Bloomberg Subdial Watch Index, an index made up of the top 50 most-traded models on the global pre-owned market.

Introducing motion and playfulness to the brand

Subdial ‘drops’ its latest timepieces every Thursday, just like demand-driven high-end streetwear brands such as Supreme. Echoing the motion in the logo, a numerical countdown accompanies the anticipation of each drop. The industry references a number of archetypes; the astronaut, diver, scientist. The suite of bespoke illustrations brings to life these characters and others that watch fans will recognise — a bat girl for instance. The team at Subdial is constantly looking for smarter ways of doing things and always in motion like the watches themselves. The ticking of the logo elegantly references the link back to the product and the sense of never settling is echoed throughout the brand.