Audacity and Inventiveness of Omega: Blurring the Line between the Ordinary and the Luxury
Of all accessories, watches have been neglected for an insultingly long time. Though impressive changes have occurred to fashion in general and fashion for women in particular, there is still enough room for being creating in watches design, and the Omega brand creators know it. By combining the elements that might seem incompatible at first, Omega designers came up with a line of watches that stand out of a range of the ones created by other companies.
When taking a closer look at the assortment that the company has to offer, one will notice instantly that the choice of fonts is very specific. One may notice active use captions, which the Double Eagle line is a perfect example of. Thus, the elements of high-tech design and décor are given the weight that they deserve.
For the most part, however, Omega designers avoid using numbers and prefer marks instead. The given approach allows focusing on the specifics of the form and the color cast. The choice of high-tech elements and a strong emphasis on them clearly shows that in the representation of its product, Omega has chosen the current–future contrast.
Though the emphasis on social values is not quite strong in the given product, the company’s concept of society and their customers’ place in it definitely shines through. For example, the seeming bulkiness and weight of watches, which make the owner quite reputable and trustworthy family person, is leveled with fine lines and edges, therefore, portraying the owner as sociable person with refined manners.
Speaking of metonymy, the watches made by Omega do not exist within a particular context – they create their own one. Such watches can usually be found on the wrists of leaders of entrepreneurships. They are literal – they inform on the person’s status, wealth and chic. Perhaps, it could be assumed that the watches have a certain snob appeal, seeing how they are clearly made to stress the owner’s social status and exquisite taste.
Naturally, it would be wrong to claim that the culture of the producing country has no bearing on the result whatsoever. The Omega production differs greatly depending on the state where a particular line of watches is launched. The given differences traditionally pertain to the means that are culturally acceptable to use in order to promote to the target audience in the state in question.
To be more exact, such cultural norms as gender equality and the role of men and women in the country in question, the markers of social status, social values, and especially “power distance,” or social hierarchy, according to Hofstede’s definition, are used in order to market the product to the target audience. As Hofstede put it, cultural dimensions have extremely complex effects (Deschepper, Grigoryan, Lundborg, Hofstede, Cohen, Van Der Kelen, Deliens & Haaijer-Ruskamp 2008, para. 4).
Naturally, mistakes are unavoidable in promoting products to foreigners, and Omega has also made some mistakes over the past few years. For instance, Omega’s advertisement based on James Bond series showed that the designers had no idea of how a bulled should look like (Omega and James Bond bullet promo fail 2012, para. 1). However, the overall impression that the company has left in its potential customers seem to be quite positive.
Flawless in terms of form and function, Omega watches are among the best, though not the cheapest accessories for women everywhere. Although a few design choices are questionable, the semantics of shapes, colors, textures and forms is truly fascinating. Embracing the elements that might seem incompatible, the creators of Omega watches have clearly made a strong fashion statement.
Reference List
Deschepper, R, Grigoryan, L, Lundborg, C S, Hofstede, G, Cohen, J, Van Der Kelen, G, Deliens, L & Haaijer-Ruskamp, F M 2008, ‘Are cultural dimensions relevant for explaining cross-national differences in antibiotic use in Europe?,’ Health Services Research, vol. 8, para. 1–48.
Omega 2014, Constellation. Web.
Omega and James Bond bullet promo fail 2012. Web.
The OMEGA Constellation Double Eagle 4-Counters 2014. Web.