Could TAG Heuer overthrow Rolex!? The INSANE plan to topple the crown with Heuer...
An EXCLUSIVE interview with GWT Branding Expert John Claude Beaver.
TAG Heuer has been on a journey of ups and downs, but over the past decade, it has truly begun to shine. With that being said, we still think there is some room for improvement, so we asked GWT branding expert John Claud Beaver what he would do to improve its position.
The Geezers: Thank you for joining us, John, and welcome to the blog. Imagine you have just been appointed to lead the brand by the LVMH board. What is the first thing you would do? Are there any models you would instantly ditch?
JCB: First of all, thank you for inviting me to the website; it means a lot. There isn't anything I would immediately scrap, as I don't think there is anything that hideous in current production. A few moons ago, that would have been very easy, and I think I would have halved the model lineup. What I would do, though, is immediately separate the company into two parts: TAG Heuer and Heuer. The former would contain the bulk of the watches sold, the F1 collection, Aquaracers, and basically all of the women's watches would be put into here and be marketed as they are now. The Heuer marque would become the focus of the brand moving forward. The company has kind of dipped their toes into this idea with the Monaco and a few limited edition Carreras having the more prestigious and historique logo, but it could and should be taken much further.
The Geezers: Okay, so separate the brands based on the historical significance of the pieces. What other models would be alongside the Monaco in this halo marque?
JCB: Hold on for a second, the separation of the brand wouldn't just be based on history; it should also reflect exclusivity, craftsmanship, and innovation. The Monaco, for example, is probably the brand's most iconic model, but I wouldn't throw every Monaco into the mix; only Monacos that fit this criteria deserve the marque. I would start simple, with Monacos that house their crowns on the left, making the cut. What other models would join the Monaco? I would take a leaf out of Omega’s book from a few years ago. They briefly segmented their website into three core collections (for sports models) with Railmaster, Seamaster, and Speedmaster. For Heuer, it would be Monaco, Carrera, and Autavia. Some Carerras are ready to go, such as the Porsche pieces, tourbillon pieces, and perhaps the glassbox pieces. The Autavia will be a challenge as there is nothing current to put in there, but historically, we have lots to go off.
Autavia, Monaco, and Carrera 3-handers are pretty lame in my opinion, after all, Heuer was a chronograph brand for a long, long time, so I don't think 3-handers will have a place under the new Heuer, for now, but they may live on under TAG and with some development will later be introduced to Heuer. Autavia is tricky, as we’ve seen a few relaunch attempts over the last 2 decades. I think the last attempt was pretty pathetic, with 3-handers resembling generic dive watches, insulting the chronograph roots of the Autavia and not winning over any potential customers, who took their money elsewhere. With these considerations in mind, let me show you my ideas for the initial launch of Heuer in a 5-year plan.
Year 1
JCB: launch time. Launching a brand is bloody expensive. LVMH is rich, we all know that, but to take Heuer to the top, they need to deploy their capital wisely. Leveraging current arrangements will help them get going. Rebrand flagship boutiques in locations such as London, Paris, Shanghai, LA, NY etc, as Heuer boutiques. Instead of the black and bright red colour scheme, I imagine a dark red colour scheme with that lovely vintage logo. Leverage the brand ambassadors and use them to show the new pieces off at global events, such as F1 and red carpet events.
Launch models
Monaco (c1969)
- Steve McQueen on a leather racing strap.
- 11533G reissue on a bracelet.
Relaunch of the proper Calibre 11.
JCB: With the horology community ever aching for Micro rotor movements, Heuer could jump first out of the big brands getting involved with the iconic calibre 11 chronograph movement. I have nothing against the Calibre 02; it's a fairly nice modern chrono movement. But what's crazy to me is that if you look at the Monaco collection, all the 3 register right-hand drive models that are below the Steve Mcqueen in the hierarchy (and pricing structure) have the new calibre 02 movement, but the watch they want you to buy still has the 2892-derived ‘calibre 11’.
A remake of the original Calibre 11 would look odd in the newly spun-off flagship Heuer brand, but with a few sympathetic tweaks that honour the calibre's history, I think it would be a rock-solid movement. I'd up the jewel count from the modest 17 to the mid twenties, it could accommodate. With modern manufacturing, the chronoworks would look a little cleaner. And while we are at it, some extra milling on the top bridges to expose a little more horological cleavage wouldn't go unappreciated. The original calibre 11s beat rate of 19800 would be boosted, at least to 21600, its brother, the calibre 12, had, but perhaps even higher. Blue a couple of screws and colour the engraved text and they are onto a winner!
Carerra (c1963)
- 2447 manual wind white dial
- 2447n (with tension ring) black dial with white tension ring track
- Both on leather straps
Relaunch of a manual chrono like the Valjoux 72.
JCB: How and why Heuer does not make a manual chronograph movement is beyond me. I've said this about many brands over the years. Give the people what they want. Omega obviously has theirs, the 3861 and 321. Breitling has theirs, the B09, JLC make a Reverso chronograph, but not Heuer, the famous chronograph company.
If you're thinking this would take millions upon millions of pounds and half a decade to get started, you are wrong. Take the Valjoux 23 as the template. The movement is over 100 years old! China is exporting half-decent, manual wind column wheels [movements] for less than 100 quid! I don't need to discuss the 23 and 72 calibres in detail, that's been done enough, because they are in some ways the best manual wind chronographs we've seen. Many iconic watches from the middle and latter half of the last century used this movement, including dozens of Heuer's. The 72 adds the hour counter and other variants, include complications such as triple calendars and moonphases.
Similar to the calibre 11, the technical bosses at LVMH could throw a few more jewels in there and some over-optimisation in materials technology to ‘improve’ it even more. This effort is probably fruitless, but necessary as with the over-obsession of in-house movements in today's scene, they would need a way of padding out the press release material and maintain the illusion of innovation for all the meet riding journalists to sink their teeth into!
The geezers: …. Well, erm, thanks for the insight there on technical development. To complete the trinity, we look to the Autavia. Which past models will you draw your inspiration from?
Autavia
- (c1962-1965) First Gen Autavia 39mm case rotating bezels. One 2 reg another 3 reg
Uses the heuer versions of the Valjoux 23 on the 2 register and 72 calibre for the 3 register.
JCB: Autavia won't have the most exciting launch models with just the two versions here, but that is because it will have so much development over the next 10 years. You see, this is because the Autavia had many evolutions and quirks and charms that we will explore. I believe there is an Autavia for anyone, but that could easily be said about the Carrera, too!
|Year 2
The Geezers: So John, after a busy and expensive first year, how would they follow up and keep momentum? Would we see more product launches, or will year two see other avenues explored to bolster the new brand image?
JCB: It's going to be a tricky year. after spending all that money in year one on new movements, designs, and rebranding, they would have to start pulling more levers to deliver on their mission, but without draining daddy Arnault's wallet too much. I think one of the more impactful examples of leverage will be on the £150m F1 deal secured with TAG Heuer.
The Geezers: Hold on for a second, John, do you not think Heuer hijacking the F1 deal from TAG is a little aggressive and wasteful, as TAG is the bigger producer of watches?
JCB: If you didn't cut me off, you would see how that would be avoided. my plan is not to hijack the F1 deal but to integrate Heuer alongside TAG, allowing both brands to benefit from the spectacle.
Heuer timing (which i can't tell if it is actually dead or alive) will be brought back to its full glory and be the technical timing partner of the sport, using their specialist equipment all over the tracks and along the pit walls. For select races, the TAG Heuer F1 track clock will be replaced with a current Heuer model, such as a Heuer Monaco and Monaco GP, and in later years, the Heuer Monza at Monza and the Heuer Silverstone at- blah blah you get the idea. So, most of the year, TAG gets most of the attention, but occasionally fans will notice Heuer.
JCB: We are taking another leaf out of Omega's book here. They effectively utilize the Omega partnership and the specialist timing equipment that comes with it to advertise their timepieces to the world. Although Heuer could never steal the Olympics from the Swatch cartel, they can emulate the practice through different sports and events, starting with F1 and possibly into golf and other events.
Clocks
JCB: Another division of LVMH to leverage. Last year, LVMH bought clockmakers Leppee, who produce low-volume, high-margin clocks, usually with a focus on exciting designs. Their expertise and manufacturing capacity should be exploited to produce some pieces from Heuer's routes in the coming years. As the Autavia was probably the most neglected model at launch, its presence can be boosted with an absolute classic, the Autavia twin-dash clock.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nulla euismod condimentum felis vitae efficitur. Sed vel dictum quam, at blandit leo.
Year 3
L
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nulla euismod condimentum felis vitae efficitur. Sed vel dictum quam, at blandit leo.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nulla euismod condimentum felis vitae efficitur. Sed vel dictum quam, at blandit leo.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nulla euismod condimentum felis vitae efficitur. Sed vel dictum quam, at blandit leo.
©Copyright. All rights reserved.
We need your consent to load the translations
We use a third-party service to translate the website content that may collect data about your activity. Please review the details in the privacy policy and accept the service to view the translations.