Reply With Quoteinteresting ploy - a sensible one albeit given there marketing to approach the majority and gain market share, not sure if the Monaco and Carera fans will see it as such
This is interesting it seems TAG is heading in a new direction. Over the past few years they have been pushing themselves upmarket putting their prices up and bringing out Carrera's in the 4k category and a few other models above 5k+ etc
It seems their focus is going to move way to cheaper watches (maybe hoover up the middle class 1k to 2k price brand that Omega has left behind after all TAG are one of the most predominant and well known Swiss brands)
Its also a smart move by LVMH as they can use Zenith as more expensive dressy watches and Bvlgari as jewellery ,Hublot as more expensive sport watches etc. Leaving their most well known brand to focus on a large market
http://www.ablogtowatch.com/dont-cra...any-direction/
interesting ploy - a sensible one albeit given there marketing to approach the majority and gain market share, not sure if the Monaco and Carera fans will see it as such
Rightly or wrongly, Tag have always seemed to be the poor relation in that family. Nothing wrong with that though. They appeal to a wide market, with a name people have heard of. They'll do very well I'm sure.
For LVMH business point of view this makes sense but is disappointing, out of the brands they own Tag Heuer are the most innovative and best designs.
Hublot and Bulgari are just vile, Zenith a name from the past that have been revived and trying to live off their old name and reputation.
There does need to be an entry point into the luxury watch marketplace as more brands attempt to go upmarket.
It's a nice idea but I can't see how they're going to be able to take their current range downmarket.
Even the F1 is now so far removed from the original that it's never going to be cheap.
Maybe they'll introduce a new model or two below the F1.
Is that the case? I didn't realise that Zenith had gone bust at some point...?Originally Posted by christech81
But they are already heavily discounted - I have one of the current F1 models and I think the list is £1500 or so and I paid £750 new (or something like that) - so it might be simply bring the RRP more in line with the actual selling price.
That's true but there's a big difference between discounting and reducing the RRP considerably.
This is no bad thing, the current Tag lineup is very dependent on the Carrera range, which seems to have endless models to choose from. It's been quite a while since they brought out a new model that was a little different like the Kirium shown below.
Hopefully they can produce something good at the right price.
Walked past a Mappin & Webb at lunch time today and looked at their window display of Tags there was 1 carrera chrono but part from that really was nothing else worth looking at. That may be Mappin & Webb rather than Tag but at the time I thought I can't see that drawing anyone into the shop, the Longines display was way better.
Maybe they should split the brand and make Heuer the more Motorsport orientated and higher priced brand side and Tag the blingy rubbish.
"Best designs" is an opinion. But where do your comments regarding Zenith come from?
The real problem is the products and design of most of the range don't match the price tags. Take the Aquaracer vs either the SMP or the Longines Hydroconquest. The Aquaracer is a good watch, but only at a little less than the SMP and not really a match in terms of quality. Then match it against the Longines, and there not much between then as watches, but the Tag is nearly £1K more, so someone walking in to a shop selling all three will probably choose either the Omega or Longines.
I wonder whether it might be possible to put more ignorance combined with snobbery in a single sentence!
Outside of a GS thread I'd say yes.
Are you serious. Have you looked closely at Bulgari and some of the work Daniel Roth has done with them?
So true, I can only second that. The Aquaracer is a beautiful watch, but absurdly priced. Quality wise Longines niveau--and only if Longines would use plastic movement spacers. :)
PS: Was so underwhelmed by the Aquaracer in person, does not convey premium or luxury at all, more like a low end ETA 2824-2 run of the mill diver. Still, I like its design.
Last edited by JMH; 16th September 2014 at 23:09.
Not to mention a certain M. Genta...
I read that piece; it was merely hypothesis and opinion that TAG-H would move into lower priced watches, so how did that end up as accepted fact on tz-uk?
It rather goes against the reports you read everywhere else of Sellita prices going up and ETA being unavailable altogether, whereas the author of this opinion comment suggests that falling prices of automatic movements (the quartzes are still cheap) means more affordable watches. I can see them baulking at the $8-10k range where Omega dominates but it seems a shame to delay their new in-house movement. (Not the 1887 born as a Seiko)
It could also be that they'll introduce a lower-priced line below the F1. They may have to as in any event, TAG has just launched a new F1 range at the same $2k-odd entry range as the old one, and $2.5k for an automatic. Not very low range pricing.
Last edited by andrew; 16th September 2014 at 23:54.
...but what do I know; I don't even like watches!
I think they'll dominate the lower end market a lot more! Good on them :)
This is absolutely true. We have all three brands in house, same kind of type divers: I have Omega SMP (quartz) and Longines Hydroqonguest (auto) and Mrs. wears TAG Aquaracer (quartz, gents model) and If I compare these; TAG is "nice" and good watch for its price range it was a six years ago, but if I was going to buy it now with same price tag than Omega, no way in hell...and if we compare quality; Longines beats TAG hands down with half of price.
Besides TAG's quality has never been following their price increasing, so this is very healthy move for them. If I could get classic, clean Aquaracer style diver with 1K I might be interested about brand again. How about you?
(Of cource first they need to teach their embassadors how to wear watch. Oh my gosh it looks stupid...)
-OD
Tag heuer are just riding the same gravy train as Omega, rolex et al.... Keep putting up the prices and people keep buying!!!! They are probably the second most recognizable Swiss brand to the man on the street which will always keep them ahead of Longines regardless of vfm....
My wife's Aquaracer (mens model) has been lying at the bottom of her wardrobe for a couple of years, forgotten - I have decided to replace the battery and found the receipt from August 2007 in the box. It was in an Austin Kate sale reduced from £650 to £350!!! - even 7 years ago it was a cheap watch, reminds me how crazy the price rises have been 😨
I find this very interesting and can see the logic (although not totally sure how it will be executed)... I also see parallels with how Heuer played with pricing/ranges/promotions eg the Viceroy Autavias and Easy Rider models.
Let's bear in mind, yet again, that to 99% of watch-wearers £1000 is a huge amount to spend on an ornament.
I remember buying an original F1 (actually I bought a few!) back in 1987 for £79 - plastic case on rubber - and £99 - steel case on bracelet. Even then it wasn't expensive - I remember a mate saying 'wow is that real' and replying something asking the lines of 'of course it is, not much more than 4 Swatch's' - all my mates had them and we were only just out of school in our first jobs - they certainly weren't an aspirational brand commanding £000's (remember this was tag, none of us knew about the original Heuer models, they went well with my Don Johnson wardrobe!
Tags were THE brand to have a fake of when I was a student in the early 90s - I stuck to my Sekonda.
^ this is very true.
It appears to me as though Tudor have just beaten them to it!
Tudor's always been for sale everywhere else though, they never went away, they just got pulled for a decade from the UK, America and (at one time) Australia. Having said that the new automatic F1s are almost the same price as the entry-level Tudors - not the BB, Pelagos etc, the Date/Date-Days that no-one here is going to buy!) so I agree that Tudor is stiff competition, and pretty compelling.
...but what do I know; I don't even like watches!
I wonder if Tudor will have more luck in the UK this time around? I'm pretty sure your average non-wis will prefer a 'proper Tag' to a 'cheap Rolex' - even the old big blocks etc were slow sellers
It's a WIS point of view, I accept, but I've always found the vast majority of the Tag range totally uninspiring and I'd rather wear something from a micro-brand than a £500 Tag. I own a Monaco and I wouldn't say no to one or two of the GCs if someone threw one at me but that really is it. Big yawns all round.
SGR
I don't think the original article has it right. I had an interview with TAG's CEO on Friday to cover the latest on the Calibre CH80 (as expected, not happening any time soon) and the question of whether he was pushing the brand down-market. In short, they are aiming to hold the average selling price constant over the next 3 years. Yes, they are bulking up their lower priced models, but from what I heard, talk of a major brand re-positioning are off the mark. There will still be El Primero models and most of the range will be positioned where it is today.
dc
Besides the Monaco, Silverstone, Carrera - as in, the re-releases of classic Heuers - then TAG does little for me.
I think the strategy posited by the thread isn't bad at all - TAG seems to score very well with non-WIS in terms of brand recognition. They could do well in the middle class 18th, 21st birthday market with a bit more realism re: prices.
In the early to mid 90s I bought a second hand tag for £160 think it was a 2000 I had put wanted notice in the leicester mercury long before the days of ebay the guy I bought it off was a elderly retired jeweller and watch maker at the time tags were the watches everybody wanted he offered me a vintage speedmaster pro moon watch for £350 as well but I just wanted a tag and at the time £160 seemed a lot of money for a watch and I didn't like the idea of having to wind the omega up not the best decision I ever made I must say
This part of the article made no sense to me whatsoever:
"One of the major reasons that TAG Heuer is able to offer lower-priced watches is reportedly greater availability of base movements from third-party suppliers such as ETA and Sellita"
Since when?
Last edited by seikokiller; 21st September 2014 at 21:12.
Exactly. This article is just a load of cack, really ("TAG might do this, or then again it might not, it might cure Alzheimer's, and by the way, automatic ETA movements are freely available at low cost"), will be read by someone new to The Internet shortly and looking for an opinion to recycle, then regurgitated as gospel
...but what do I know; I don't even like watches!
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