This Is Not Your Father's Timex

NEW YORK Timex has abandoned its long-running ad slogan, conceived in the 1950s and resurrected in the '90s, in a Kirshenbaum Bond + Partners campaign that aims to update the brand's appeal to 18-35 year-olds less interested in durability than their fathers.

>" 'Takes a licking and keeps on ticking' is an incredible tagline," said KB+P co-creative director Rob Feakins. "It's the dinosaur on your back, how do you improve on that?"

You don't. Instead, KB+P convinced Timex to ditch the dinosaur and pitched the "Life is ticking" theme that helped it win the business in a late 2002 review. After parting ways with 16-year incumbent Fallon Minneapolis, the client hired New York agency KB+P to transform Timex into a brand that Gen X-ers would choose over Kenneth Cole, Fossil and Swiss Army designs, among others.

"When the original slogan was created, modern technology was in its infancy," Feakins said. "Back then you wanted to make sure that your watch worked. Today everyone expects their watch to work." Instead, the print campaign aims to show how Timex helps make the most out of life, he said.

Each effort in the 12-ad series pairs attention-grabbing photos with a product shot and the new tagline, "Life is ticking." In one ad, a man's hairy, flabby belly protrudes over the waistband of his boxer shorts. Pictured is Timex's Ironman Sleek model, a fitness watch designed for triathletes. In another ad, a similar sports watch is shown with an artery-clogging breakfast.

"There are a ton of ads that show people running," Feakins said. "We decided to say because you look like this, because you've got the fat gut, that's why you need the Ironman. Because you eat like this, that's why you need this heart monitor."

The estimated $5 to 8 million "Life is ticking" campaign broke in September issues of general consumer, fashion, entertainment and sports publications including Marie Claire, FHM, Details, Entertainment Weekly, Rolling Stone, InStyle, Jane, Lucky, Stuff, Men's Health, ESPN, Climbing, Transworld Snowboarding and Powder. The campaign will also appear in online editions of vertical periodicals such as runnersworld.com, backpacker.com, scubadiving.com and bicycling.com.

Outdoor ads will run primarily outside the U.S., particularly in Canada, Feakins said.