Movado Brand president Margot Grinberg on reintroducing a legacy watch company to younger shoppers

"Everyone said that millennials were never going to buy watches," said Margot Grinberg, president of the Movado Brand and svp of e-commerce at its parent company Movado Group. The going theory was: "They don't need them to tell time, they had a phone; watches were dead after the cell phone came out."

But that didn't happen. In fact, timepieces have never been more popular. According to a recent survey from the Boston Consulting Group, between 2021 and 2023, 54% of Gen Z and younger millennials increased their spending on luxury watches.

Grinberg joined the Modern Retail Podcast and spoke about the state of higher-end watches, as well as its evolving marketing playbook. For her, it's a family affair as her grandfather founded the company.

But even with its long history, Movado has been intently focused on attracting younger shoppers. Despite being over a century old, the watch brand -- which also works with top names like Coach, Tommy Hilfiger and Hugo Boss -- has been figuring out ways to introduce itself to younger shoppers. This has included a revamped logo, soon-to-be redesigned packaging as well as updated messaging.

While the products have remained relatively consistent, Grinberg said what makes shoppers -- especially younger shoppers -- more amenable to higher-end brands is in messaging. "I think in today's world, a lot of it is about marketing and how you're communicating to customers," she said.

The other part of the equation is being available on multiple channels. Movado's watches are sold in most any store that sells time pieces, but it's also available on marketplaces like Amazon as well as its own website.

"There are so many new elements that you can offer consumers from an e-commerce experience that we didn't even have five, 10 years ago," Grinberg said.