SG watch strap brand Delugs sees surging brand awareness after Ed Sheeran endorsement

Singapore-based watch strap brand Delugs has seen a significant peek in conversations surrounding it after British singer and watch-lover Ed Sheeran donned the strap onstage at his highly anticipated concert in Singapore last week, according to media intelligence firm CARMA.

The couple behind the brand, Kenneth Kuan and Chia Pei Qi, hand painted a case for the singer and prepared a set of specially chosen rubber straps for the singer after he noted in an interview his preference for them. They then released a video tagging the singer, showing off their process and imploring their followers to help them get noticed by Sheeran. 

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"If we can get Sheeran to come to the Delugs showroom, we’ll run the biggest ever sales in our history. Let’s make this happen," the brand said on Instagram. The video got 78,000 views at the time of writing and got noticed by Sheeran who invited the couple backstage to get the box of straps and then later wore one of the straps onstage when he performed. 

"Meeting [Sheeran] backstage once to pass him the zip box I painted was a dream come true," said Delugs in a follow up video. "Meeting him backstage a second time, installing and sizing the Navy CTS on his Patek 5230G Piece Unique, getting a selfie video (with a Delugs shout-out) and wrist shot with Ed, and watching him perform with our strap on his wrist, all on his birthday? There are no words to describe what just happened."

"He was genuinely excited and interested about the straps that we had. As he flipped through the strap folio filled with CTS straps of different colours and as he scrolled through the mock-ups we did of our straps on his watch, he would comment 'Oh this combination looks so good," added Delugs.

"When [Sheeran] first wore the 5230G with our CTS strap, his eyes lit up at how different the watch looked. After getting the strap sized right, he gave his wrist a few good flicks (making sure it would stay in place while performing), and I'm pretty sure I saw a smile creep up on his face," said Delugs.

According to CARMA, the word cloud surrounding Delugs prior to their encounter with Sheeran focused on its strap, how it is a local brand and how they have limited edition straps.

Following Sheeran wearing the strap on stage, conversations exploded with netizens talking about the singer in tandem with the brand and words such as 'backstage', 'patek' and 'meeting' standing out. 

"This surge in awareness of Delugs is a testament to the power of a strong partnership," said Divika Jethmal, head of marketing, Asia, at CARMA. 

She added that the word cloud of the brand following the incident showcases Delugs associated with the likes of Patek Philippe and Ed Sheeran, giving the brand a halo effect of luxury and popularity.

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