Tag Heuer Gains Rights for F1 Indian Grand Prix Circuit

Tag Heuer has tied up with the race promoters for the upcoming Indian Grand Prix, JPSI, to gain access to the branding, logo and image rights of the circuit hosting the race, the Buddh International Circuit.  

The luxury watch brand’s parent company LVMH Group, which has been ‘Mastering speed for 150 years’ as its 2011 communications theme, is hoping that the inaugural Indian Grand Prix will provide a good vehicle to get this message across as it wants to “increase its reach from 26 cities to 35 cities by next year”. 

Manishi Sanwal, GM, LVMH Watch & Jewellery India, told Financial Chronicle: “Since car racing is a very metro city phenomenon in India, our media mix will essentially comprise outdoor, print, digital and on-ground advertising in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. Most of our communication will be around the launch of 200 pieces ‘India limited edition’ watches.” 

The designer label, which has McClaren driver Lewis Hamilton as its brand ambassador, spends around 25 per cent of its annual marketing budget in the motorsport industry.

Tag Heuer India, at present, contributes less than 5 per cent of the brand’s global turnover. The brand generally spends 20 per cent of its turnover on marketing and advertising, but this year it has hiked the budget by almost 30 per cent, the business daily reported.