First he focused on Connected in TAG Heuer’s portfolio, increasing the smartwatch’s share of total sales for the brand to 15%.
Now his attention has turned to the core mechanical offering of the LVMH-owned brand and how to market it through a more focused, and smaller, network of authorised dealers.
Quite a baptism for the incoming CEO of TAG Heuer, Frédéric Arnault, who joined the company in 2017 before becoming CEO in 2020, just weeks before the start of the pandemic.
“Today, Connected watches represent 15% of our sales, and that’s a good ratio. Traditional watchmaking is doing very well, so this segment has had to really grow to increase its internal market share,” Mr Arnault says in a recent interview with Europa Star.
An early focus on Connected watches was a natural step for Mr Arnauld, who joined TAG Heuer from a spell in Silicon Valley where he worked in artificial intelligence R&D at Facebook.
Two years after accepting the CEO’s role, he says his strategic priority today is “a gradual repositioning and move upmarket in traditional watchmaking … and integrating innovative technologies into these lines, like the Plasma or the Solargraph”.
Overarching the product development is a relentless drive to improve the way the brand is sold and perceived.
This has led to 25% of its global point of sales being culled, bringing the total down to under 3,000.
“At the same time, we are strengthening our partnership with the points of sale that we have kept,” Mr Arnault describes.
“The cornerstone of this whole strategy, our permanent obsession, is the desirability of the brand. TAG Heuer must appeal to new generations and strengthen its relevance in the decade to come,” he concludes.
Well done and in contrast with the Jean-Claude Biver decision to position TAG-Heuer as the ‘Cash-Cow’ of the Watch Division, changing the path of the Director he fired, and making his Hublot (to which he was an Owner, the Brand he focussed on re-positioning to the Apex in the LVMH stable, this bizarrely concurrent with TAG-Heuer’s 1/1000 Second Release among others. To Mr. Arnault, there are many challenges with-in the competitive landscape, TAG-Heuer has all but ceded the Sea to competition, both real and pretenders, from Omega, Breitling, Tudor to B&R, Bremont, Oris, Alpina a confused Panarai and IWC etc., they should immediately prepare to re-introduce the Aquagraph in SS, Titanium, Bronze, Black DLC and a Ltd. Blue DLC, this time w/Calender and a Zulu Hand (the Unidirectional Bezel will be Dive oriented and if a 24 Hour a Track is deemed necessary, placed with-in the Crystal on the Minute/Second Track, but the wearer will always know his reference). Re-introduce the 1000 Collection, to compete with Pelagos and Black Bay, in Automatic w/solid link Jubilee type, in Black Coral, Bi-Color, SS/Blue, Black Dials initially. Return the Uni-Directional Bezel to the Link (S/el), but offered in Leather and Rubber as well depending on Function, Sea, Racing etc.. Discontinue immediately the practice of pirating Design Cues from one Collection and placing on another, whether Homage or whatever, it erodes the Higher positioned Collections Status. Think about 6000 Collection and 2025. Most important, become “Disruptive” again!
Hi I would like to become a supplier in the near future