Switzerland?s Baume & Mercier is sharing consumers? moments of success through a new social initiative meant to highlight the brand?s timepieces as part of an achievement.

Baume & Mercier often features moments of celebration in its campaigns to connect consumer milestones to its products, whether the occasion is a promotion, graduation or wedding. For this campaign, Richemont-owned Baume & Mercier focused its lens on millennials who are ?young and ambitious.?

?Any consumer celebrating a special moment in their life and wants to commemorate the occasion with the purchase of a Baume & Mercier is important to the brand,? said Michelle Peranteau, director of marketing and communications, Baume & Mercier North America, New York.

?We especially recognize that there are a few moments in a millennial?s life worth celebrating- graduation, first job, promotion, big raise, significant bonus,? she said. ?Our Classima collection has been purchased to celebrate these moments for many years as these watches are of great quality while offering terrific value given that most of them retail for $3,500 or less.

?So it offers a young professional the opportunity to own a fine Swiss, classically designed timepiece to be enjoyed for years to come.?

Defining moments

The brand has shared its #MyMomentsOfSuccess on social media along with a campaign video that captures today?s world as an ?exhilarating time to be young and ambitious.?

Created in collaboration with creative agency Mazarine Mlle Noï and directed by Emil Moller, an edit of a full minute-long film shows a young professional, likely to be a fresh graduate or in the job market only for a few years, walking into a board room where he is greeted by an older man and a woman.

After sitting at the table, his expression changes from nerves to elation as he is offered a position at the company. During the negotiation text positioned over the scene reads ?That moment when you realize that anything is possible.?

The last scenes of the campaign show the young man enthusiastically signing a contract and exiting the company?s building and expressing his happiness and pride of nailing the job with a fist pump. The final scene takes place in a watch shop where a number of timepieces can be seen within a glass case, but on top of the display a Baume & Mercier box opens to reveal a Classima 10214 watch.

During this vignette, text reads Baume & Mercier?s motto, ?Life is about moments.?

The full version of the film shows the young professional comically exaggerating the terms of his job offering and going with a friend to the watch shop to purchase his Baume & Mercier as part of the ongoing celebration.

To become better acquainted with its millennial consumers, Baume & Mercier has expanded the #MyMomentOfSuccess effort to include a social contest. By sharing their own successes, consumers have the opportunity to attend the Forbes Under 30 Summit as well as win a Baume & Mercier timepiece.

The Forbes Under 30 Summit brings together more than 2,000 top young entrepreneurs and game-changers as well as world-class mentors each year to discuss business and success-related topics through seminars and fun activities such as a music and food festival and bar crawl and ?selfie scavenger hunt.?

Held in Philadelphia Oct. 4-7, the 2015 edition?s agenda includes speakers such as Danny Meyer of Shake Shack, Barbara Bush of Global Health Corps, Michelle Phan for Ipsy and former boxer Mike Tyson, among others.

Submissions for Baume & Mercier?s #MyMomentOfSuccess can be submitted by using the hashtag and the watchmaker?s handle, @BaumeEtMercier, in a post using either video, text or an image. Submissions can be shared across social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+ and LinkedIn, given the contest?s theme.

The winner will receive admission to the Forbes Under 30 Summit, inclusive of airfare and hotel accommodations. If the winner is male he will receive a Baume & Mercier Classima 10214 or a Classima 10226 will be awarded if the winner is female.

?The value to Baume & Mercier as a sponsor of the Forbes Under 30 Summit is tremendous,? Ms. Peranteau said. ?The opportunity to be part of such a dynamic and content rich event like the Forbes Under 30 Summit offers the brand a unique opportunity to actually interface with a significant group of talented millennials and tell the Baume & Mercier celebration story. We look forward to a robust few days in Philadelphia.?

Taking this approach of celebrating professional achievement of millennial consumers aligns with Baume & Mercier?s dedication to its educational partners. Baume & Mercier has recently signed partnerships with prestigious educational establishments, such as cole Hôtelière de Lausanne, London Business School, Hong Kong UST, American University of Dubai and Zurich University of Applied Sciences, to demonstrate its ?determination to accompany the managers of tomorrow on the path to success.?

Honoring identity

Baume & Mercier has used the idea of its consumers? achievements in past marketing efforts.

For example, the watchmaker?s first effort since 2011 aimed to keep Baume & Mercier relevant in the eyes of today?s affluent consumers without tarnishing its DNA by staying true to its mantra of ?Life is about moments.? Instead of reinventing itself, Baume & Mercier relied on timeless imagery that is understood across generations.

Photographed by famed German photographer Peter Lindbergh, the Baume & Mercier campaign features its most iconic watches, the Clifton, Linea and Capeland. Each photograph is meant to show the ideal occasion for gifting, or self-gifting, a Baume & Mercier wrist watch.

For example, the photographs depict a wedding, a birthday, a birth and self-achievement. The images stay true to the watchmaker?s celebratory message in all of its past ad campaigns as a way to reflect back upon its mantra (see story).

Baume & Mercier has also narrowed in on specific occasions in consumers? lives to bring this message home.

For instance, Baume & Mercier continued its ?Celebrate Moments? campaign with an update geared toward Father?s Day gifting in 2014.

To outline that Baume & Mercier timepieces are ideal gifts for the holiday, the brand reinterpreted its ongoing campaign to reflect the relationship between a father and son. Instead of relying on a gift guide format to spark interest from consumers, Baume & Mercier aimed for an emotional connection over the point of sale (see story).

?Baume & Mercier has been a part of special moments in our client?s lives since the brand began in 1830,? Ms. Peranteau said. ?If you were to examine the ad campaigns from the last 50 years or so, there has always been some iteration of celebratory moments so the consumers 40+ know this about Baume & Mercier.

?It is time to bring this message to those millennials and given the many moments to celebrate early in their professional and adult lives, our ad campaign using the line, ?life is about moments,? and projects like this to support Classima, help us deliver this message,? she said. ?And Baume & Mercier knows that millennials love video so we sought to tell the story of a young professional securing his first ?big? job through this medium to ensure appeal to this consumer segment.

?The contest offers consumers the chance to share their very own moment of success story to inspire others.?

Final Take
Jen King, lead reporter on Luxury Daily, New York