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Luxury brand makes time for choral treat
By David Maguire |
April 17, 2010, Saturday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
THE TAG Heuer watch brand is recognized around the world for its luxury sports time pieces and its pioneering work in chronographs. So it's no surprise that it will have a strong presence at this weekend's Formula One Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai where split-second timing can mean the difference between winning or losing.
"We have been in motor racing one way or the other for almost 80 years," the Shanghai-based Asia President of the Louis Vuiton Moet Hennessy (LVMH) Watch and Jewellery division, Jean-Marc Lacave, says.
"We designed dashboards and instruments in cars in the 1920s before our involvement through watches so it has been a long time," he says of the 150-year-old Swiss brand.
Leading F1 driver Lewis Hamilton is a brand ambassador for TAG Heuer and Lacave will be a permanent fixture at the racetrack for the events and surrounding hospitality.
The watch brand is also behind something that's been added to the festivities and the company boss has a professional and personal stake in it.
As part of the F1 opening ceremony, a choir of 400 children drawn from the British International School of Shanghai (BISS) and the Western International School of Shanghai (WISS) will sing "We Are The World" and the Expo theme song before the flag falls on the race start.
"The plan from the management of the circuit was to create an association between the F1 event and Expo," Lacave says. "I found the choir idea quite interesting and refreshing so TAG Heuer is sponsoring the small costs. It's a nice thing to do and I'm quite pleased to be there.
"My personal involvement is that my son Melchior, 8, is at WISS and he's going to sing," says the proud dad.
TAG Heuer has had a strong relationship with the McLaren F1 team for the past 20 years and has an enviable heritage over many years with Ferrari and as time-keeper for F1 Grand Prix events.
"When we talk about TAG Heuer and our link with motor racing, the best expression of that sport today is F1 so it's our territory," Lacave, 48, says.
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to find the link between the watch maker and motor racing.
"We are specialists of the chronograph and measuring short-times. Naturally motor racing is about measuring short-time so the link is compatible with the company," he says.
"We try to leverage what we are, especially in a market like China. Motor racing and F1 are still yet to be huge but any opportunities to grow a little further by just being on the track and sponsoring things is something we consider."
Lewis Hamilton, who Lacave has known since he was a teenager, attended a TAG Heuer gala dinner yesterday and he'll be on track chatting to VIP customers.
The LVMH Watch and Jewellery division has 220 stores in China and half of them are TAG Heuer special outlets. The watches are the company's best selling in volume in China, retailing from 30,000-35,000 yuan (US$4,394-5,127), and Lacave says the buyers are "young, mobile, cool and sporty."
The 400-strong choir will be conducted by Neill Thacker, head of expressive arts at BISS, who has collaborated with Michael Luevano, executive director of Juss Event Management which co-ordinates F1 activities in Shanghai.
"We have been in motor racing one way or the other for almost 80 years," the Shanghai-based Asia President of the Louis Vuiton Moet Hennessy (LVMH) Watch and Jewellery division, Jean-Marc Lacave, says.
"We designed dashboards and instruments in cars in the 1920s before our involvement through watches so it has been a long time," he says of the 150-year-old Swiss brand.
Leading F1 driver Lewis Hamilton is a brand ambassador for TAG Heuer and Lacave will be a permanent fixture at the racetrack for the events and surrounding hospitality.
The watch brand is also behind something that's been added to the festivities and the company boss has a professional and personal stake in it.
As part of the F1 opening ceremony, a choir of 400 children drawn from the British International School of Shanghai (BISS) and the Western International School of Shanghai (WISS) will sing "We Are The World" and the Expo theme song before the flag falls on the race start.
"The plan from the management of the circuit was to create an association between the F1 event and Expo," Lacave says. "I found the choir idea quite interesting and refreshing so TAG Heuer is sponsoring the small costs. It's a nice thing to do and I'm quite pleased to be there.
"My personal involvement is that my son Melchior, 8, is at WISS and he's going to sing," says the proud dad.
TAG Heuer has had a strong relationship with the McLaren F1 team for the past 20 years and has an enviable heritage over many years with Ferrari and as time-keeper for F1 Grand Prix events.
"When we talk about TAG Heuer and our link with motor racing, the best expression of that sport today is F1 so it's our territory," Lacave, 48, says.
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to find the link between the watch maker and motor racing.
"We are specialists of the chronograph and measuring short-times. Naturally motor racing is about measuring short-time so the link is compatible with the company," he says.
"We try to leverage what we are, especially in a market like China. Motor racing and F1 are still yet to be huge but any opportunities to grow a little further by just being on the track and sponsoring things is something we consider."
Lewis Hamilton, who Lacave has known since he was a teenager, attended a TAG Heuer gala dinner yesterday and he'll be on track chatting to VIP customers.
The LVMH Watch and Jewellery division has 220 stores in China and half of them are TAG Heuer special outlets. The watches are the company's best selling in volume in China, retailing from 30,000-35,000 yuan (US$4,394-5,127), and Lacave says the buyers are "young, mobile, cool and sporty."
The 400-strong choir will be conducted by Neill Thacker, head of expressive arts at BISS, who has collaborated with Michael Luevano, executive director of Juss Event Management which co-ordinates F1 activities in Shanghai.
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