185 years later, Watsons is banking on heroes, smiles and feel-good retail

share on

twitter /
facebook /
linkedin /
- email
- telegram
- whatsapp
- wechat
- pinterest
- line
- snapchat
- reddit

Watsons is celebrating 185 years in business with a multi-pronged campaign spanning product discovery, gamified rewards, sustainability efforts and limited-time promotions, as the health and beauty retailer leans into everyday essentials and emotional brand recall.

Running from 14 May to 16 September 2026, the anniversary campaign centres on “185 product heroes”, a curated selection of staples across beauty, personal care and health designed to spotlight items already embedded in consumers’ daily routines.

These include a mix of health supplements, own-brand essentials and skincare staples spanning daily wellness and beauty routines, alongside personal care products such as hair treatments and oral care solutions.

Don't miss: How Watsons turned a debate about mismatched Raya outfits into a festive musical

Watsons said the campaign is designed to make discovery easier, with in-store gondola shelf wings and digital placements on its eCommerce platform highlighting the selected items.

Beyond product curation, the retailer is introducing a gamified layer through “185 big smile rewards”, an interactive feature on the Watsons app available from 18 May to 12 July 2026. The mechanic allows users to activate the feature, take a selfie and receive a "Smile score", which unlocks eCoupons based on performance. Higher scores trigger better rewards, with SG$6 off vouchers tied to perfect scores and tiered discounts for lower scores across two campaign phases.

The initiative positions everyday facial expressions as a trigger for rewards, tying into broader themes of self-care and light engagement within retail experiences.

Watsons is also linking its anniversary to sustainability through a partnership with WWF Singapore. The “Plant 185 trees with us” initiative will roll out tree-planting activities in July 2026 exclusively for members, with participation tied to purchases of sustainable choice products marked with a green label in-store and online.

The mechanics effectively connect purchase behaviour with environmental impact, positioning retail transactions as a pathway to collective climate contribution.

To round out the campaign, Watsons will run 185 "buy one get one free" deals from 14 to 20 May 2026 across health, beauty and personal care categories. Offers include a mix of health supplements, skincare essentials and personal care items spanning daily wellness staples, cleansing products and oral care devices.

The anniversary framing underscores Watsons’ positioning around everyday wellness rather than episodic campaigns, leaning on repeat-use products as its core brand equity driver.

According to the brand, the 185-year milestone reflects its evolution across generations of consumers, from in-store essentials to digital discovery and increasingly social commerce-led shopping behaviour.

“Reaching 185 years is a meaningful milestone, but what truly matters is how Watsons continues to be part of people’s everyday lives,” said Irene Lau, managing director of Watsons Singapore and new markets – Watsons International.

“It’s in the small, familiar moments — the product you reach for on a busy morning, or the simple comforts that carry you through the day — that we find our purpose. This celebration is our way of saying thank you: by honouring those moments, making everyday care more accessible, and giving back in ways that feel genuine and lasting," she added.

Watsons has also been steadily building out its engagement strategy beyond retail and promotions, leaning into more experiential and storytelling-led formats to deepen emotional connection with customers.

In line with this shift, the brand unveiled “The Watsons family” last year, an original character-driven intellectual property designed to strengthen customer engagement across Asia. The concept introduces 16 characters inspired by different MBTI personality types, aimed at turning everyday health and beauty routines into more interactive, emotionally resonant and shareable experiences.

share on