New gold watch for sportsmen goes on the market
New gold watch for sportsmen goes on the market
JAKARTA (JP): For a sportsman, gold is the ultimate goal, especially when he competes in the world's most prestigious arena. The Olympics.
The quest for supremacy in the world of sport began in 776 BC, during the ancient Greek period. Starting as a religious ceremony, it became an arena where sportsmen competed for superiority, as an expression of their respect for the Greek gods. Supremacy and victory were the acknowledgement of their hard work. There was no reward for those who finished second or third.
An Olympic gold medal is the ultimate challenge in the life of a sportsman. An Olympic gold requires professionalism, complete commitment, a zealous approach to training and dedication to sport. It demands innovative modern design and the evolution of techniques and technology to create equipment capable of aiding a world class performance.
But who would think that a sportsman needs a sports watch?
You probably would not think so, but not so the watch companies. A justified argument, at least for certain types of sports such as diving.
A professional sports watch, they argue, has to perform in certain conditions and environments, whereas a "sporty" watch just has to look the part. A professional watch requires six main features to ensure the highest standards of safety and precision.
In the first place, a sports watch must be water resistant to 200 meters to satisfy the most demanding of a diver's safety requirements.
It should have a screw-in crown to provide extra protection because when screwed tight, there can be no involuntary changes of the time or of the date. Double gaskets guarantee water resistance to 200 meters.
A double safety clasp is a must to prevent unintentional opening, while a unidirectional bezel ensures precise dive-time settings. The unidirectional bezel will only turn anti-clockwise, thus ensuring that dive times are never dangerously lengthened.
The sports watch is also scratch resistant and the hands and markers on the dial and bezel should ensure maximum visibility.
TAG Heuer, one of the big-five watch producers from Switzerland, with an output of 650,000 pieces a year, claims that its watches adopt all six requirements.
TAG Heuer possesses a unique company history, one which has evolved and developed in the world of sport and sports timing. In the 1920's, for example, Heuer -- now TAG Heuer -- was appointed official timekeeper of the Antwerp, Paris and Amsterdam Olympic Games.
In 1916, the company, established by Edouard Heuer in 1860, created the world's first 1/100 seconds chronograph. In 1969 it founded the first automatic chronograph and in 1983 quartz analog chronograph.
In 1994, with over 130 years of timekeeping experience and product knowledge, TAG Heuer took on the ultimate sporting challenge and launched a new type of gold watch, the Series 6000 Gold, designed by Hykes, who also designs for other brand names such as Cartier and Tiffany.
Series 6000 Gold
The design of the Series 6000 Gold began with a function, which, in turn, created the form. Similar to the Series 6000 but distinctly different, the Series 6000 Gold is TAG Heuer's first all gold sports watch.
The watch case consists of a satin finish setting, a raised unidirectional bezel and a lens, complete with magnifying properties, to enhance visibility of the day dial.
The dial is unusual in design and instantly identifiable. The two level face is enhanced with different finishes. The indexes are treated with tritium to ensure visibility in the dark and are available in a wide choice of colors -- select from champagne, slate and rhodium.
The gold bracelet is the most complex, sophisticated and highly crafted bracelet ever made by TAG Heuer. It consists of more than 200 separate elements, all of which are individually checked and hand-finished before being assembled.
The semi-matte crocodile skin straps of the Rp 26 million gold watch (around US$11,818.18), are of exemplary quality. Each skin has been carefully finished and the strap lined in calf skin for extra comfort. Furthermore, the folding buckle allows for easy adaption of the strap length, guaranteeing a perfect fit and maximum security.
And, in a bid to enhance its image as a prestigious sports watch, TAG Heuer launched last month its new worldwide advertising campaign under the theme Success. It's a mind game, replacing the old theme of Don't crack under pressure.
"In 1990 we emphasized the sport, but now in 1995 we want the image of prestige to be as powerful as the image of sport for our watches," Philippe Champion, sales and marketing director of TAG Heuer S.A, said in a press conference recently.
The campaign was developed to achieve a twofold objective; to further enhance the perceived prestige of TAG Heuer in the sports watch category and to assure continued avant garde leadership of the TAG Heuer message.
"In 1989, TAG Heuer caused a revolution with its Don't crack under pressure theme, which focused on the personal power of sport people," Champion explained.
The idea has been copied by other brand names, which have chosen their own sports. Sport becomes a common thing, no longer a particular element which makes things different.
TAG Heuer then decided to change its target market to the upper class, its philosophy changed slightly, from a professional sports watch, to a prestigious sports watch.
New campaign
"The change needs a new advertising concept, although sports is still the focus point of our theme," Champion said.
By turning sports into a symbol of life, TAG Heuer has a chance to deliver the message of prestige indirectly and mildly. It wants to be a status which can be achieved only through success.
"Therefore, status here is not merely a symbol. It runs deeper, it is the way a sports person should behave, he or she should know how to use his or her brain to win. A sports person who knows that success and failure depends strongly on oneself," Champion said.
The campaign tries to capture an attitude that is aspirational and fits within a sporting context. As a result, a platform of mental strength was developed, based on the recognition that the difference between success and failure lies within oneself. Winners create their own, imaginary, pressures in order to win. TAG Heuer associates itself with such an attitude, presenting it in a prestigious way.
To produce the new advertising campaign, which has been run by some print media and television stations, TAG Heuer has spent no less than US$1 million and used renowned photographers such as Nadav Kander, Russell Porcas and Russell and Connie Guzman for the campaign's visuals.
Its new advertising film, representing a production value of $2 million, was shot by Tony Kaye, an Englishman living in Los Angeles, who also directed the previous Don't crack under pressure television execution and became world famous for his unusual, imaginative style and film direction, which often relies on black and white images.
The campaign has been launched in over 40 markets around the world, including an advertising investment of $40 million in television, cinema and print media.
For Indonesia alone, where its watches sell in the range of Rp 450,000 (about $204.54) to Rp 26 million ($11,818.18), TAG Heuer will spend Rp 800 million (about $363,636) to launch the new advertisement.
TAG Heuer, which earned 340 million Swiss Francs from its consolidated sales last year, has made Asia, including Indonesia, its main market since this continent currently contributes to about 55 percent to the company's sales income, 25 percent of which is gained from Japan. (als/lem)