Business

Saturday November 21, 2009

Up close and personal with Jean-Christophe Babin

By TEE LIN SAY


PRESIDENT and chief executive officer of TAG Heuer Jean-Christophe Babin had an enormously tight schedule during his short visit to Malaysia recently. But he still made it efficiently on the dot for the interview with StarBizWeek. It is not surprising considering he is in the business of prestigious timepieces, or to be more exact, luxury Swiss watches that have been around for over 150 years.

Professional timing

Born 50 years ago in Paris, Jean-Christophe Babin has been at the helm of TAG Heuer as worldwide president and chief executive officer since November 2000, when TAG Heuer’s shareholder Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy hired him from the German group Henkel KGaA.

Babin had initially joined the Henkel Group in 1994 as managing director of Henkel Spa, the Italian subsidiary of the multinational German group involved in chemicals, cosmetics, detergents and adhesives businesses.

In less than four years, he grew the Italian operation to the second position on the Italian detergents market and turned the subsidiary into a major contributor to Henkel group profits.

At 39, when he was promoted in 1998 to senior vice-president of Henkel KgaA, he became the youngest executive ever appointed by the German company to that position.

Also responsible for the Henkel business development in the United States, he settled a joint venture with The Dial Corp in Scottsdale, Arizona, which paved the way for Henkel’s takeover of the American company as announced at end-2003.

Running like clockwork

Since becoming head honcho of Tag Heuer, Babin has undertaken a major image, distribution and product assortment upgrading.

Some of the profound initiatives he undertook included convincing leading sports icon, Tiger Woods, to join TAG Heuer’s roster of ambassadors, and associate him to the company product development as well as into the new provocative “What are you made of ?” advertising campaign.

He accelerated product development and innovation with the launch of a full mechanical range of watches and chronographs, including the 36.000 alternances/hour Link Calibre 36 mechanical and automatic chronograph measuring time to 1/10th of a second.

Thanks to close partnership with Formula One drivers David Coulthard and Kimi Raikkonen, he set a new milestone in wrist chronographs’ accuracy with the Grand Prix de l’Horlogerie de Genève awarded Microtimer F1, the first ever wrist timepiece combining chronograph and timekeeping functions, at 1/1000th of a second.

Distribution-wise, Babin increased TAG Heuer’s selectivity by reducing the number of authorised dealers by 30% in five years, and enhanced the assortment image and appeal by streamlining it from 700 to less than 220 products.

Babin increased the research and development budgets of the company substantially, recruiting and partnering with very creative and knowledgeable talents from inside and outside the watch industry.

A series of breakthrough watchmaking innovations came along, including the Monaco 69, Monaco V4, Calibre 360 and Calibre S.

Babin describes himself as an optimist and someone who is passionate and loves life.

His working style is to trust his workers and empower them.

“I set ambitious goals. I give them pressure, but I also provide them with reserves. I want my people to take risks. It is better to take risk and experience failing because breakthrough can only happen when one is daring.

“If we accept risk, then we also accept failure. Ultimately we learn from the experience,” he says.

On this note, Babin describes Tag Heuer as a daring brand. “We’re all about working hard and taking risks. We identify people with talent, and those who cultivate their talent through strong determination and mental strength rather than just initial talent,” he says.

For instance, while TAG Heuer watches have come out with more expensive models, it remains dedicated to serving people without such pricey means.

Its F1 watches, for instance, are still priced reasonably at the RM2,700 range.

“People say accessibility is a big risk. But I felt that accessibility should be our core value,” he says.

The other risk Babin took was to introduce its eyewear range in 2002. Far from diluting the TAG Heuer brand, it has, in fact, reinforced the power of its brand. Today, the brand is a hit with demographics of over 40 years.

Babin’s hunger for risk comes from his childhood influences, which he says, was constantly coloured with splotches of travelling, good food, wine and art.

“Since young, my parents have taken me to exotic countries. This opened my mind and encouraged my intellectual curiosity. Today, my father is 82 and has had a triple bypass. But he’s just as much on the move and lives life to the fullest,” says Babin.

What makes TAG Heuer tick

Commercially, TAG Heuer’s branding has improved over the decade as it attracted the top names of sports and cinemas to collaborate on product development and promote the brand in advertising and on the point-of-sales.

Its ambassadors over the past include Uma Thurman, Brad Pitt, Shah Rukh Khan, Yao Ming, Juan-Pablo Montoya, Jeff Gordon, Kimi Raïkkönen, Maria Sharapova and Tiger Woods.

There are several core driving factors in selecting the brand ambassadors.

In the case of Tiger Woods, Maria Sharapova and Leonardo DiCaprio, they were all born in modest families and their parents were totally supportive and nurturing of their talent. These icons have through sheer hard work and sacrifices make it to the top.

“DiCaprio acted in several different roles which were not stereotypical to just one sort of genre. It shows that he wants to develop himself. Tiger Woods changed his drive at 23 years of age! That’s not easy to do. And initially Sharapova did not speak a word of English but now she communicates so well,” he explains.

An accomplished sportsman himself, Babin spends his free time skiing, sailing, scuba diving and occasionally driving an F1 car at the TAG Heuer Formula 1 racing school in South East France. His passion for sports enables him to better understand true luxury sports watches and its requirements.

Babin lives in Switzerland on the Geneva lakeside, and is happily married with five children.

The family spends weekends on the lake in their sailboat. Babin says the family sails between April and October and skis in the winter.

Travelling is a big part for Babin, who relishes Mogul art in India, the sunny beaches of Sydney and Miami, and is constantly in awe of Shanghai’s architecture and modern art.

“I can be as comfortable staying in YMCA in India as I am in a luxury hotel somewhere in Europe,” he says.

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