Tag Heuer shakes up its European advertising

Tag Heuer, the Swiss luxury watchmaker, has appointed Jean-Marc Lacave as its managing director, and has called a review of its European advertising business.

Lacave joins from Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy’s (LVMH) wines and spirits brand, Pommery, where he was head of marketing. Lacave will be based in the UK and replaces Neil Duckworth who has left the company without a job to go.

A spokeswoman at Tag Heuer says: “Duckworth has left the company to do his own thing.”

The luxury watch brand was bought by LVMH in 1999 for £485m. The group is divided into different divisions – including watch & jewellery, fashion & leather and champagne & wine.

Tag Heuer parted company with ad agency Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH) last year and returned its account to TBWA Worldwide. The account is worth an estimated £2m in the UK.

The account is managed out of Paris by agency BDDP@TBWA, which handled the Tag Heuer business for seven years before losing out to BBH in 1997. It is believed that the review is being led from the Paris-based office of LVMH Watch & Jewellery.

Tag Heuer is planning to open its first flagship retail outlet in London in September this year.

LVMH Watch & Jewellery also includes Ebel and Maurice Lacroix watches brands.