Passionate time for Cup racers

By IRENE CHAPPLE

TAG Heuer president Jean-Christophe Babin often wears two watches.

He is not concerned the company's goods are faulty and need backup; it is his personal market research.

Usually, one watch will be from a current range, the other from an outdated line.

"Some raise lots of questions - if they raise tens of questions I go to my manager and they do some market research and we see if the line needs to be reproduced."

French-born Babin, 41, was in Auckland during the weekend to visit the Oracle Racing team that will compete in the Louis Vuitton Cup challenger series between October and February.

TAG Heuer has sponsored the team in a deal Babin - with the same passion he has for his watches - describes in the terms of a relationship.

He calls the TAG Heuer brand "daring and passionate, and we wanted a team consistent with that image. We have a long-term commitment.

He says TAG Heuer represents prestige and accuracy, and the company's sponsorship of the America's Cup challenge by the Oracle syndicate, owned by software giant Larry Ellison, is evidence of that.

A breakup, he says, would occur only if "you no longer trust your partner. If at a certain point the trust is lost there is no point being together any more."

Even if Oracle lost, TAG Heuer would remain enamoured, muses Babin.

"I think in sport and in business, you accept you cannot win all the time. We have put in all the ingredients and theoretically we should win, but even if they lose we would still support them. This is not a piggyback or hijack - it's the right partnership."

The relationship has cost TAG Heuer millions - how many, Babin wouldn't say, except that it was between US$1 million and US$10 million ($2.3 million to $23.3 million).

That is peanuts for a company owned by luxury goods conglomerate LVMH (Louis Vuitton, Moet, Hennessy), which turned in a €722 million ($1.5 billion) profit for 2000.

The luxury market suffered last year, partly because of the terrorist attacks in America, and the company's net profit dropped to €10 million.

But Babin hopes the sponsorship deal will return $3 for every $1 spent.

The 123-member Oracle crew will wear TAG Heuer Link Searacer watches and Sport Vision sunglasses, which went on sale early this year and will be available in New Zealand in June.

Babin concedes the race may be screened on television while much of Europe and America is in bed, but believes keen followers will tune in during the night.

And, he says, having the race in New Zealand will fuel interest.

"It is a country that is less known, it is like a dreamland, and is seen by Europeans and the Americans as some kind of lost paradise."

TAG Heuer calculates up to 15 per cent of viewers can afford its $6000 to $10,000 timepieces (the $466 to $932 sunglasses are more affordable).

Sponsorship value is not a bean-counting exercise, says Babin. The value lies in the branding.

The Sport Vision range, TAG Heuer's first venture into sunglasses, was created after four months of discussion with Oracle crew, who advised on details such as lens colours and filtering.

The launch of the sunglasses has given TAG Heuer a new goal, says Babin. "First we wanted success in watchmaking , now we want to be the world leader in prestigious sunglasses."

nzherald.co.nz/americascup