Rendez-Vous

TISSOT

What is your global outlook and prediction for this year ?
For the first part of this year the watch market is negative in Americas. In Europe it remains positive for many countries except two, Spain and Italy. The middle east and the far east are positive except Japan. We still believe that 2009 for Tissot should be as good as 2008 and even better.
 
Tell us about your global performance for 2008? What are the targets for 2009?
Our performance for 2008 was excellent as most of the Swiss watch companies and has been confirmed by the Swiss watch export which for the first time have broken the barrier of 17 billion Swiss francs. The target for 2009 is that for the first semester many watch companies are down compared to the first semester of 2008 which has been extremely high. The expectation for the second semester is to recover and to improve figures for the last 3 months compared to the negative 3 months of October, November and December of 2008.
 
What has been the result of the economic slowdown on your brand?
The economic slowdown luckily did not affect Tissot. Most of our products are in the middle range price segment.  We keep growing in most of the markets especially in the new merging markets, like India.
 
What are the design and other horological trends you have witnessed at Baselworld 2009?
Basel 2009 saw the presentation of a lot of novelties, such as the brand’s new collection Couturier which comes in different versions;  Quartz Chrono, Valjoux and one version with the new Automatic movement ETA CO1.211. This new movement  developed by ETA with origin from the Tissot Astrolon Cal 2250 and the Lemania Cal 5100 from 1970-1980 will make it possible for Tissot  to make Automatic  watches to a very attractive price. In the Ladies Collection we have a new model called Glam Sport for elegant sporty women and the My-T Tonneau with a unique design, two T-shaped elements attaching the bracelet to the tonneau shaped case.  Last but not least we launch the Sea Touch, a new tactile product in our Touch Collection which celebrates already 10 years anniversary in 2009. The Sea Touch is water resistant to 660 feet (200m) and enables the diver to record all his dives and check the different levels when swimming down and when swimming up again.
 
Could you comment on the fabulous new booth of Tissot at Baselworld 2009.
We are very proud with our new booth that provides Tissot with what we deserve and confirms that Tissot is an important brand among the Swiss watch industry. For many years we have been suffering from not enough space and even with our new booth we were fully booked this year, especially for the first 5 days. To the point that we had to postpone some appointments with our different partners.
 
How have you performed in India in 2008-2009?
India is still an important market for Tissot where there is an important potential growth for our products. We also believe that our new ambassador, Deepika Padukone, catches the eyes of the Indian consumers. Not only because of her beauty but also because of the beautiful products she is wearing.
 
What is the marketing, distribution/retailing and strategies for India?
In marketing of course we continue to have events with our ambassador, Deepika Padukone. We will enlarge our network of distributors but we want them to represent our brand in a qualitative manner. We will implement some shop-in-shops in some new malls and strategically speaking India is a market in which we believe and for which we want to implement some priorities.
 
Tell us about the impact of taxes and levies? How does this affect your pricing in India?
We still suffer as our colleagues about impact of taxes and we also expect that very soon the authorities will realize that when they will lower the level of taxes this will stop grey market. Important watches which do not come the official way and by consequence provide security for the honest traders who will be more motivating and generate more profit. This local profit will compensate easily the missing taxes. Nobody should forget that today with internet access and easy traveling we have an open world of economy and end consumers are not ready to pay 40,50, 60% or more any product due to heavy taxes. Automatically they will look for other sources to get the product they wish.
 
What are the trends witnessed this year in terms of design, technology and product development?
We can see that watches with complicated features, big sizes and colorful remain attractive. But we also see that more and more end consumers discovering the beauty of the watch industry and especially the savoir-faire of the swiss watch industry are attracted by mechanical watches. For Tissot, technology and design are always important so as to remain in line with our claim Innovators by Tradition and this is why our product should reflect both : Innovation and Tradition.
 
Your personal favorite watch for 2009
My personal favorite in the world of today is the extraordinary and unique watch “Sea-Touch” which benefits of the latest tactile technology and is the perfect watch for swimming across the economic difficulties…  

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