How Tag Heuer is evolving to stand the test of time

s or design elements?  Van Mulryan: It’s our seventh boutique in Australia, in Adelaide’s Rundle Mall. It’s been a long time coming. We’ve always had our sights set on South Australia, but we had to find the right location in a luxury retail destination, and we found a home in Adelaide Central Plaza.  In terms of the look and feel, the boutique is 64sqm, it has 3.9-metre digital screens and a unique facade. It’s a new global design, and the first time in Australia that we’ve been able to see this new facade in any of our boutiques, so that’s been quite exciting. The brand stands for high precision, timekeeping and cutting-edge design, and that translates into the boutique design itself. Tag Heuer’s GM of Australia, Van Mulryan. Image supplied IR: What does Tag Heuer’s presence in Australia look like in terms of stand-alone stores, online and wholesale?  VM: We have seven stand-alone boutiques located all across Australia. We’ve got Melbourne – on Collins Street and in Chadstone – we’ve got Perth in Wesley Quarter, we’ve got Brisbane, Pacific Fair [on the Gold Coast] and Sydney CBD on Pitt Street. Sydney is the number one boutique in the world, but all of our boutiques sit in the top 30 globally, which really anchors the importance of Tag Heuer retail in Australia.  Coupled with that, we also have our e-commerce site, which continues to grow. In 2020, we relaunched the website, and that allowed us to accelerate during Covid-19. And then we have our wholesale partners, where we find our clients have a loyal database.  IR: Why do you think Australia is such a strong market for Tag Heuer? VM: Australians really do resonate with Tag Heuer as a brand. We did a brand equity survey to really understand our consumer, and what we saw is that brand awareness as well as trust are high up there. So when you’re looking at buying a luxury timepiece of substantial value, a client wants something that they know will stand the test of time. IR: How do you think the luxury jewellery market has changed in the last few years? We’ve heard a lot about the K-shaped recovery, where some people have had a lot more discretionary income to spend because they weren’t travelling. What have you observed?  VM: We definitely saw increased demand. Whilst people weren’t able to travel, they wanted to really spoil themselves and do something special, and we were able to create those experiences for our clients. So we definitely saw a peak in demand, and we also saw a new audience with our Connected range.   IR: What role do collaborations play in enabling you to reach a new clientele?  VM: All our sponsorships and collaborations are very much about how they relate back to the brand DNA and values. With something like Formula One, Tag Heuer has been long associated with motorsport, and obviously that’s where we started with timekeeping, so it’s a natural and authentic collaboration. We also announced our partnership with Porsche in 2020. Porsche and Tag Heuer both have Carrera in their brand mix, and they’ve both been independently named after the most dangerous race in Mexico, which was the Panamericana.  We’ve also done a collaboration in the last two years with Nintendo, and that was seen as being quite disruptive, linking with Mario Kart, which is all about racing and motorsport. Here, we can be a bit fun and disruptive with it, but also, how does it tie back to our brand values? We’re all about precision, we’re about performance, we’re about innovation and being avant garde.  IR: Can you tell me more about Tag Heuer’s collaboration with Mario Kart?  VM: In 2021, we launched our first Mario collaboration, which was a limited-edition connected timepiece. There were around 2000 pieces available globally, and they sold out in 10 minutes, with a crazy resale value out in the market. Last year, we went into automatic timepieces, so the more traditional timepieces, in the Formula One collection. They had the Mario Kart logo on the bezel as well as the crown, the chequered flag on the dial treatment and some different animations. We had two versions. One was an automatic Chronograph, and the other was a Tourbillon, which was priced at over $30,000, and both sold out within 24 hours. IR: Luxury brands are renowned for their customer service. How would you describe Tag Heuer’s approach to customer service?  VM: When a client steps into a Tag Heuer boutique, we’d like to think they are coming in to speak to someone they’re connected to and have a really great rapport with. It’s like that sort of nice and warm feeling of going to visit a friend – it’s really not pretentious. Whilst we’re a luxury brand, we offer end-to-end service, so whether you’re looking at enquiry, or just want to explore, down to repair services, the key thing is making sure that the client understands the brand, and also that the team understands the needs of the client.  For us, that clientele side and customer experience is really key. We also like to offer our clients money-can’t-buy experiences to thank them for shopping with Tag Heuer. There are so many watch brands in the market, and the market is competitive. What sets us apart from our competitors is our team and our service. You can buy a watch anywhere, but we have an amazing team that is passionate about watches and really cares for our clients. There’s a real passion there and those things you can’t train.  IR: Can you share some examples of those money-can’t-buy experiences?  VM: We do Porsche ‘drive the range’ days, we have events at the Melbourne Grand Prix, and we do other exclusive events like [the opening of the Adelaide boutique], where we had [Euphoria star] Jacob Elordi in Australia, and customers were invited to come and enjoy the experience. Euphoria star Jacob Elordi at the opening of Tag Heuer’s new store in Adelaide. Image supplied IR: What do you see as some of the biggest growth drivers for Tag Heuer in the Australian market at the moment? VM: Over the last three years, we’ve been going through a transformation and a bit of consolidation. So for us going forward, it’s all about acceleration with a big focus on more Tag Heuer retail doors. We see a big opportunity for our Connected timepieces. We know there’s definitely a segment in the market [that is interested in] smartwatches, and we continue to see the growth in that within our business. There’s a big focus on omnichannel retailing. Our goal was to lead omnichannel retailing in the watch industry – between wholesale, retail and e-commerce, to make sure that no matter which channel you’re shopping in you get the same elevated experience.  IR: Can you tell me more about that period of consolidation? What did it entail exactly? VM: Back in 2018, we had 93 points of sale, including wholesale and stand-alone boutiques. We’ve now consolidated that down to around 69 points of sale. Despite the fact that we closed over 20 doors, we’ve seen that productivity has increased, to the point where sales over the last three years have exceeded 2019 sales. The strategy is there in terms of creating demand, and each point of sale that we have is benefiting from that. IR: Are there any challenges on your radar?  VM: It’s definitely getting competitive in the market, but we try to take a first-mover advantage. Tag Heuer is the first luxury watch brand to enter the Adelaide market with a stand-alone boutique, but now we’re seeing other watch brands that are starting to open their own retail doors, which wasn’t the case previously. Another challenge for us is that our demand has been extremely strong, and similar to many other brands, we’re facing some stock constraints. IR: Prior to Tag Heuer, you spent nine years at Calvin Klein. Can you tell me a bit about your career journey and how you ended up in your current position at Tag? VM: I started my career in retail, and my first proper job was as a boutique manager at Sportscraft. At the age of 20, I was leading one of the flagship stores in the city. It was an amazing brand to work for, and I learned a lot. I was nominated for Young Retailer of the Year, and we were the best-performing store [at Sportscraft]. I transferred to Olga Berg in a customer service role, knowing that I wanted to work in retail, but on the back end of things. Then, I jumped over to Calvin Klein as a national sales manager, looking after watches and jewellery. My dream role was always to be general manager, and within three years my boss at the time was promoted, and I was offered the job. At the age of 28, I was appointed general manager at Calvin Klein. I was the youngest GM in the global network. And today, I get to work in my dream job at Tag Heuer in the LVMH Group. It’s an amazing brand and I’m very lucky to have a great team. IR: What do you think has helped you achieve so much so quickly?  VM: I’ve always been the kind of person who has taken every opportunity and tried to create opportunities. But there was a point in my career, especially coming from a marketing background, where I realised that I work for brands, but I am a brand myself. That is how working in sales has really transformed my career, because a lot of what I do is branding myself, whether I’m building rapport or networking. It’s about doing it in an authentic way and making sure that the human element is there. My upbringing has really shaped that.  IR: Can you tell me more about how your upbringing shaped your approach to the way you do business?  VM: My parents are Vietnamese immigrants, and they got divorced when I was young – my brother was only 7 months old – so as a child, I grew up quite quickly. It was all about doing the best I could to make my mum proud because she fought so hard for our family.  Looking at my business degree, that was my inspiration. How can I do better than the day before, and how can I continue to motivate myself? At the end of the day, everything has a solution, that’s really my philosophy, and it’s very much a case of what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. That builds a bit of resilience. My mum is such an inspiration – and raising two young kids was definitely hard. At the time, we felt no hardship whatsoever, even though I’m sure that wasn’t the reality.  There’s also a whole cultural diversity element – eating different foods and having a different background and feeling the need to fit in. I realised after a while that I can really be myself and still make a difference. I think those things and my upbringing really shaped how I lead and the culture I try to create within the business. IR: You’ve created a lot of opportunities for yourself; looking back, did you have any mentors who helped you in your career?  VM: Most recently, when I was at Calvin Klein, I had a manager who was really supportive and allowed me to be myself. That was probably the first time in my career when I felt that I could be quirky or sort of random without being judged. That was something that allowed me to grow within my own role, but also to reflect on how I wanted to lead others.  Outside of that, within the LVMH platform, I’ve been able to have an unofficial mentor who has tremendous experience and a different way of thinking, which challenges me in the way that I think. On the flipside of that, LVMH has a great platform in Australia called Mentor Me, and I’ve been fortunate enough to partake in that two years in a row, mentoring two individuals from two different brands. And whilst I’m mentoring someone, I still feel that it’s a learning opportunity for me.  IR: Do you have any go-to pieces of advice or lessons that you rely on as a leader?  VM: For me, being authentic is really important. Be authentic, be curious, seek opportunities and continue to network. That has helped me get to where I am today.