The living brand

As much an institution of Swiss heritage as offshore bank accounts, skiing and chocolate, Jack Heuer is a walking representation of one of the most prestigious brands in the world. Honorary chairman of TAG Heuer, great grandson of the company’s founder and creator of the legendary Carrera watch, the 74-year-old is still going strong.

“You’ll have to speak up,” a TAG representative tells me as I put my first question across the table to the starry-eyed, white-haired watchmaker opposite. Heuer is joined by his sidekick and self-confessed sparring partner, Stéphane Linder, the company’s product director.

“We’re number three in Europe, two in the UK and USA and number one in Australia, but for some reason this is not the case in the Middle East — that’s why we are here,” says Linder on why the company chose to hold an internal seminar in Dubai. “We want to gain a similar dominating position in this market,” adds Heuer.

HEUER HOMECOMING Sacrificing his engineering career in 1958, Heuer joined the family business aged 26, as he set up a subsidiary of the company in New York. Rising to the rank of managing director, he stayed with the 146-year-old empire until 1982, when the Piaget Group acquired it. Then, after leaving the watch industry behind to pursue a career in consumer electronics, he was finally persuaded to come home to the family legacy in 2001 by Tag Heuer’s current CEO, Jean-Christophe Babin.

“Jean-Christophe was new to the watch industry, so he wanted to get to know me,” recalls Heuer. “He invited me to lunch and showed me some products, I made some technical suggestions about them and he was quite intrigued.

“A few months later, he invited me to lunch again and asked me if I wanted to be the honorary chairman. I wasn’t sure as there’s an emotional factor in something like that, but they held a country manager’s meeting and the response was so positive that someone could make the connection with the origin of the company — so I decided to do it.” Today, as honorary chairman, Heuer serves three roles in the company: As an ambassador, he is charged with raising brand awareness internationally among clients and staff.

As a “product man” he is a sounding board for new product development. And, as a direct link to the company’s rich vein of tradition, he’s currently working on the launch of a museum to celebrate the forthcoming 150th anniversary of the business. So, where does Heuer’s role fit in with that of the CEO?

“He sometimes calls me his spiritual father. I have no authority over him as I am retired and have no wish for authority. However, when they asked me to approve the redesign of the Carrera on its 40th anniversary, they didn’t make it the way I asked them so I said ‘I won’t sign’. Do you remember? (looking across to a grinning Linder), so I suppose I do have some authority,” adds the honorary chairman.

SUPPORT OF THE STARS


Throughout Tag Heuer’s evolution from a watch making workshop in 1860, to the global superbrand it is today, the image of the business has been shaped by the celebrities that endorse it. From Steve McQueen in the 1970s to golfing superstar Tiger Woods today, the company has an unrivalled track record of joining forces with some of the biggest stars on the planet.

“In the early days, some 40 years back, when we used to work with celebrities it was a case of ‘I’ll give you a watch if you let me take a picture and use it . It was as simple as that,” says Heuer. “Today however, it’s very professional with agents all over the place,” he adds. The company’s current celebrity portfolio includes Hollywood actors Brad Pitt and Uma Thurman, the McLaren Formula One team, tennis star Maria Sharapova and Shahrukh Khan from the world of Bollywood.

While Linder refuses to unveil how much Tag Heuer pays its galaxy of stars for their endorsements, he is keen to explain the selection process. “Firstly we look for celebrities that fit in with the brand and personalities that we think will develop depth, strength and substance, not just beautiful people. Then we see if these people have brand awareness, are well known and positively thought of,” he says.

“We try to build long relationships with our ambassadors, but we will never only rely on one person. Just look at Ayrton Senna, he was an amazing F1 ambassador and when he died it was difficult for the brand, a true trauma in the company as he was so close to us, but then we had to continue our life,” he adds. Linder also denies that seeking the endorsement of sporting celebrities can be a risky business that could jeopardise the brand if stars perform poorly in competition.

“If Tiger Woods fails, this won’t affect our brand because he’s so iconic. If he wins, that’s lucky for us, if he’s not the world champion it doesn’t matter. The only thing that would affect our brand would be if one of our sports stars was suspected of taking drugs.”



CHALLENGING TIMES Of the estimated 1.5 billion watches made globally each year, 30 million are made in Switzerland. “We (the Swiss) are a very small segment,” admits Heuer. “We are automatically in a very specialised market, but we are absolute leaders in the world, value wise (compared to) the Japanese, Russian or Chinese.”

Having been in the watchmaking business most of his life, Heuer has seen numerous challenges threaten the Swiss industry over the years — the crisis of the mid-1970s caused by the rise in Japanese watch sales just one of the many examples. But perhaps the greatest challenge TAG Heuer faces today is overcoming the counterfeiting epidemic that continues to swamp the industry.

“Every two or three days these last six months, I’ve received an email from our owners saying they’ve seized thousands of counterfeit watches in China and Thailand, so we are taking steps, but it’s impossible to find every (illegal) factory,” complains Linder.

Another challenge TAG Heuer is tackling is an impending watch making skills shortage, as Linder explains: “In the 70s and 80s, no young people wanted to work in the watch industry because of the crisis with Japan — at one time there weren’t even any schools for real watchmakers. “Now the industry is booming, so we need more skills and will have to re-invest in education and training.” On a regional scale, the challenge faced by the two sparring partners in breaking the Middle East market is one of raising awareness. “We are less strong here because we are a young brand, but we think the Middle East is important. People are inspired by luxury here and we have great expectations for the region,” says Linder.

“The big challenge is to be more present and to put more energy into raising awareness here,” agrees Heuer.

DEFINING MOMENT


Perhaps the defining achievement of Heuer’s epic career has been the creation of the legendary Carrera Chronograph (pictured) in 1964 — the cornerstone of the TAG collection that was later relaunched in the 1990s.

“During World War Two, chronographs were used to measure the distance of the enemy’s artillery — when you heard an explosion you could measure how far away the enemy were. So it had a military dimension and it really wasn’t good looking,” he says.

“I sat down with my team and created this very clean, clear design of a chronograph. It’s still here today and is one of our bestsellers,” he adds.

“Jack has his own Carrera, it’s amazing,” interrupts Linder urging Heuer to roll up his sleeve. “In all the history of watchmaking, nobody has ever achieved this.” The US $17,555 (AED 53,459) timepiece is the first ever wristwatch to mechanically split a second into 100 parts, with a hand that revolves 360,000 times per hour.

Other recent technological innovations from the TAG Heuer production line include the Monaco V4 — a watch driven by belts instead of gears. “We want to evolve our core series with even more mechanical movement and more skill involved,” admits Linder.

For the company that sells between 500,000 and a million timepieces a year, how has the production process changed throughout its evolution?

“The first objective is quality,” explains Linder. “Some things we have to do mechanically but a lot of things remain handmade because if you rely too much on machines, there seems to be no emotion involved — for example, we do the finishing and polishing by hand because the hands can bring a feeling of prestige,” he adds.

As the company at the forefront of technology hurtles forwards into the future however, can it stay true to the TAG Heuer heritage even after Jack Heuer retires completely?

The honorary chairman seems confident that it can, thanks largely to LVMH Moet Hennessey Louis Vuitton, the group that acquired TAG Heuer in 1999 for US $739 million.

“Ever since LVMH took us over, they’ve built on the strengths and the DNA of the brand and have a good understanding of what our company is all about. They’re pleased to see the brand developing, especially in this market, where it still has the image of a sporty brand but is moving towards the luxury segment.”

While he may be confident in the future success of his family’s business however, the watch making veteran has no intention of taking a step back just yet. And, as Linder explains, he still takes a very proactive role in developing new products for the company.

“He gives us feedback, advice and suggestions and has no compromise. He just says ‘I don’t like this’ and often it’s difficult to achieve what he requires, but it’s good to have that challenge.”

It could be a while before the partnership between Jack Heuer, the elder statesman that has given his all to the business he loves, and Linder, his young apprentice, comes to an end. And long may it continue.

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