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A Watch to Help People Quit Smoking?
American Time, September 27, 2002
By Keith W. Strandberg
Chicago, IL -- Dr. Neil Perlman, CEO and Medical Director, ElectroMed
Technologies, LLC, was frustrated. In his successful practice, he would
counsel patients on how to quit smoking, they would quit for a short
while, and then they'd start smoking again. "One of the major problems
with smoking cessation is keeping people from smoking again," Perlman
said. "Most people smoke again after quitting. The success rate at six
months is only 25%. The more people attend classes, behavioral therapy,
the higher the success rates are. I was wondering if I was able to give
people daily supportive messages, would that help? The concept we came
up with was a watch, something that people wear every day, which would
send these reinforcement messages."
The result is the Quitting Time Watch, a digital quartz timepiece
manufactured in Hong Kong that has a bundle of smoking cessation
features built in. Not only does it tell time, it displays the
motivational and congratulatory messages, tracks the time since the
wearer last smoked, computes the amount of money saved by not smoking,
and personalizes all the messages, positive and not so positive, using
the name entered into the watch at set up.
The watch will be officially on the market in October of this year
and ElectroMed Technologies is actively looking for partners in the
watch industry and beyond. Dakota Watch Company is selling the watch in
the company's Chicago stores to start, then is planning to roll it out
nationwide. "I just think it's a terrific idea, to be able to wean
yourself off cigarettes with a device on your wrist," said Marty Cooper,
co-president, Dakota Watch Company, himself a former smoker. "I've gone
through quitting smoking and everyone can use the help and encouragement
of this watch. When I first saw the watch, with the messages on the
display and the thought behind it, I saw that they had really put a lot
of work into it.
"You have to market it as an aid, because that is what it is, it is
made to help people quit smoking," Cooper continued. "We hope that we
can get the benefits from the PR, otherwise it could get lost at the
watch counter. Done right, the watch could really do well."
The Quitting Time watch retails for $139.95 and ElectroMed is hoping
to open at least one thousand doors within a year. They are talking to
pharmacy chains and are also selling the watch off their website,
www.electromedtechnologies.com (also at www.qtwatch.com). "We want to
guard against discounting," said Dan Mapes-Riordan, president,
ElectroMed Technologies, LLC. "We have a minimum advertised price of
$124.95, which gives retailers some leeway to do some different things,
promotion-wise. My principle is to get the watch anywhere our customers
can buy it. I'm not only going to go through the watch channel, though
we think it is a good one. Our watch is easy to use, there is a little
bit of set up involved and we feel that the watch retailer, with the
individualized customer service they can offer, will be a good way for
our customers to buy the watch. We are a hybrid product?we are a watch
and a healthcare product. There aren't many others like us so that
provides opportunities but also challenges to finding the right
opportunities."
For more information, please contact Dan Mapes-Riordan, national sales
manager, @ 312 458 9769. |
