When I received an email from a the apparent Daniel Wellington marketing manager for the African region I can honestly say I’d never heard of the Daniel Wellington brand before. I turned to my friend at work and was like “ever heard of Daniel Wellington?”… she practically jumped out of her chair in excitement.
Following a quick Google search it turned out I was in good company. Some of the best bloggers in the local business have partnered with the brand. I’ve looked up to Gareth Pon, Anna-Belle Durant from She Said and BrandSlut since I started this blog. They’ve all partnered up with Daniel Wellington. They’re not the only ones: major international Instagrammers have been known to snap the occasional image of their DW watch.
Chiara from Dose of Sass, my go to fashion inspiration, walked past my Macbook and commented:
“Oh yeah, I see those watches on Instagram all the time.”
According to Bloomberg, Daniel Wellington is valued at around $200 million. Most of their marketing spend is on bloggers and instagrammers as opposed to traditional ad spend. My FOMO filter kicked in and I jumped on the Daniel Wellington band wagon. I was sent a watch to check out. Other bloggers who had turned down the offer were quick to tell me the watch was “cheap” and “rubbish”. Never having seen a Daniel Wellington in the flash I immediately went to Twitter to get some feedback. I asked people what their thoughts were on Daniel Wellington watches. These were the responses:
@BelindaMountain @TechGirlZA as a reader, I think they look pretty and would want one. Didn’t know about them before the posts
— claudz (@Claudz) June 17, 2016
@TechGirlZA Would love to own one!
— Chelsea Harvey (@harvswashere) June 17, 2016
@TechGirlZA I would rather get a smart watch
— Priya Rowjee (@prowjee) June 17, 2016
They are awesome. Bought one for my bae & another for myself.???? very happy with that purchase https://t.co/qW6b9WYRXo
— I.G.Browngirlhippy (@Browngirlhippy) June 17, 2016
@TechGirlZA @IAmSamW own one. Gave one. Love them
— IG: andrewfehrsen (@afehrsen) June 17, 2016
@TechGirlZA @IAmSamW super average for that price. I’ll pass.
— Mark (@Stormin_) June 17, 2016
These “Cheap Chinese” watches seem to be much loved by the general public. People want them. Bottom line. My Daniel Wellington arrived and I immediately kicked myself for going for a leather strap. I originally wanted to go with a navy and pink Nylon Winchester Strap but thought it was smarter to go for classic black leather. The decision was also made because I have a gorgeous Blue Guess Watch with gold finishes.
So what do I think of the Daniel Wellington timepiece?
I love watches. Classic beautiful watches. I’ve worn watches my whole life and I’m partial to a good watch. The Daniel Wellington is stylish and simple. It isn’t a fancy piece. It isn’t going to be the watch that people comment on when they see it on your wrist. But it still looks sleek and classy – which is what you want from a watch. It’s an understated simple accessory. In a smart move you can also swop out the straps. So if, like me, you want to go the Nylon Winchester route, it is easy enough to purchase a strap and replace.
They’ve created a simple sexy watch for someone who can’t afford to drop big cash on a timepiece.
And you know what? There is nothing wrong with that. Just because you cannot spend R10 000 on a watch doesn’t mean you should go without. Saying that, I do think the Daniel Wellington watches are a big spend. To help you along, I have a discount code you can use for the online site. If you go to the Daniel Wellington store here and use techgirlDW on check out – you’ll save some moola. They ship the watches from Hong Kong and mine arrived in a week.
So why did I share all of this with you?
My day job consists of helping brands work with content creators in Instagram, YouTube, Facebook and the like. At night, I run this little place. On the regular I see a lot of negativity towards bloggers and others who work with brands. Daniel Wellington chose to work with bloggers when they launched in South Africa a few years back. They’ve recently did an extra push in to the local market. They’re on *nearly* every blog and it is an interesting strategy. It also happens to be one that works. Rather than blowing bucks on fancy catalogues or big billboards they’re only using bloggers and Instagrammers to promote their product.
And $200 million later… its obviously working.
Don’t forget that if you shop for a Daniel Wellington watch on their online site (click here to open the site in a separate browser) and use the promo code techgirlDW you will receive a discount.
Disclaimer: I got sent a Daniel Wellington watch.
