ENLIGHTENEDTM Swarovski Elements - Swarovski's new elements brand for genuine and created stones - invited designers and creative consumers from all over the world to engage in the watch-design-community. The community creation was based on a design-contest, which was open for designers (e.g. design students) but also for people who are generally interested in watches, gemstones and related topics.
More than 1,650 participants joined the community to showcase their talent and submit their designs. In total, they created over 2,000 watches in different segments ranging from classic to sporty and from abstract to realistic. Altogether, community members placed 147,000 gemstones, made more than 6,000 evaluations and contributed 1,750 qualitative comments. A lively community evolved across cultural boundaries. The contest spread from Austria to the US and created a buzz in countries such as China, India, Russia, Turkey and Iran. Within 8 weeks, the website created more than 7.5 million views. Several websites, amongst others 15 design related communities, magazines and blogs referred to the contest without any advertisement spending for it. The strong viral effects helped promoting the contest and creating awareness for the new brand. The best designs where presented at "Baselworld", the largest watch fair worldwide and are currently realized.