An hour before the grand opening of the latest TAG Heuer boutique in Singapore’s Raffles City Shopping Centre, Brice Tchaplyguine, managing director for TAG Heuer in Southeast Asia, South Korea and Australia, exudes calm, a stark contrast to the usual pre-event jitters.
Tchaplyguine’s composure stems from his confidence in his team and the TAG Heuer brand, a confidence well-founded in his experience overseeing sales, marketing, and after-sales across 18 diverse markets — including South Korea, Australia, and Southeast Asia. His vision is to leverage the brand’s strength to achieve regional growth by fostering collaboration with his team and key partners to enhance TAG Heuer’s presence and reinforce its position in the luxury watch market.
This begins with the opening of the new 61 sq m space, marking another milestone for the brand. It joins its other locations, such as ION Orchard, Marina Square, The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands and Jewel Changi Airport.
In the new boutique, surrounded by the TAG Heuer DNA, Tchaplyguine explains that the boutique “demonstrates the brand’s ambition and vision to expand through retail and enhance the customer experience. Upon entering, you feel a strong connection to Formula One and motorsports, a crucial element resonating with our customers. Here, we can also properly showcase all our collections, supported by the right team and staff to welcome our customers”.
Asked if the boutique’s proximity to the Singapore Formula One race at the nearby Marina Bay circuit was related to TAG Heuer’s appointment as the official timekeeper for next year’s races, Tchaplyguine only offered: “While I can’t elaborate on this all I can say is our connection to motorsports will be significantly strengthened through this partnership. Further details will be released next year.”
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Prior to his appointment in Singapore, Tchaplyguine served as general manager of TAG Heuer’s Middle East region. He joined the company in Dubai in early 2020 as a sales manager, quickly advancing to general manager by October 2020 and expanding his responsibilities to Africa and India within a year.
During his tenure, he oversaw the establishment of the subsidiary, implemented a transformative business model resulting in profitability, and spearheaded a collaborative retail strategy focused on premium distribution and high-end positioning — achieving three years of sustained growth. A graduate of EDHEC Business School, Tchaplyguine’s career began at Mondelez International before a six-year stint in L’Oréal’s French luxury division.
Drawing on his extensive experience, Tchaplyguine shared with Options his approach to managing the luxury brand across 18 markets, including his methods for navigating cultural nuances in each country.
You were based in Dubai in 2020, during the height of Covid-19, before joining the Singapore office. What lessons have you learned from that experience?
During that period, we learned a lot. First, I gained insight into thinking outside the box, being flexible and agile, and shifting the business to digital e-commerce. We sought ideas to continue raising awareness around the brand and to maintain our presence while all the stores were closed.
Secondly, communication was key to keeping the channels open between our team, myself, and the staff, who were stuck at home. We needed to maintain communication with our retailers and partners because they were also suffering. We continued to have calls to discuss a bright future and how we could emerge from this situation collectively.
Finally, we had to think about our customers and how to maintain relationships with them when their primary concern was not shopping. We had to find digital solutions and new ways of communicating to keep those connections alive.
What motivated you to take on the role of managing director for TAG Heuer in Asia Pacific?
For me, this represents a new challenge in a region that I don’t know, and I’m very excited to discover new cultures, countries and habits. This is personally interesting and, of course, beneficial for my future career. I’m also excited and proud to draft a strategy to elevate the brand in the region, continue expanding through retail and raise the brand’s desirability.
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That’s why we are particularly careful about the partnerships we establish with ambassadors, the media and retailers. It’s very important and also exciting because it involves a new team. You need to onboard people with your vision and strategy and make things happen while following the international guidelines and the global vision of a CEO. This involves understanding the unique characteristics of various markets, as Asia Pacific is diverse, encompassing 18 countries with different habits and cultures. This motivates me to adapt our strategy and onboard people accordingly.
TAG Heuer has been around for over 100 years; does this make your role easier or more challenging?
Having a heritage like TAG Heuer’s offers us legitimacy as a leader in the chronograph segment of sports today. We have been associated with sports legends, such as Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher, all well-known sports figures. Over the years, we have established this legitimacy. We are recognised as a reputable watchmaker, and the craftsmanship of TAG Heuer continues to evolve.
Today, the storytelling aspect of the brand is absolutely key, especially for our customers. They are looking for experiences in-store, not just products to buy. They want to hear stories. Customers want to understand why they should choose TAG Heuer, and this narrative is crucial when engaging with someone entering the boutique.
On the other hand, the challenge lies in continuously building the brand’s desirability. The brand has a long story that has evolved over the years, and we need to keep building it up. We must continue to select the right ambassadors and further develop our presence in countries where we are already established, especially where competition is entering aggressively. Therefore, we must always reinvent ourselves. It’s a daily effort that our team engages in to find solutions, explore new selling methods, and innovate in terms of products and communication at the HQ level.
What challenges do you anticipate while managing operations across 18 diverse markets?
At the moment, I am travelling a lot because, of course, I am new in this role. I want to emphasise that the strategies we have drafted with the team are a collaborative effort with my leadership team.
I didn’t do this alone. Our primary goal is to make TAG Heuer the most desirable brand in Asia Pacific. This is our motto and our objective. We have three pillars. The first pillar is conquest, the conquest of market share in some countries where we need to gain positions.
For example, we are establishing a subsidiary in Korea this year. Next year, we’ll have 24 boutiques in Korea, which represents a massive network for TAG Heuer. This will give us the largest presence in the world, marking a significant improvement for the brand. When I say conquest, it involves acquiring new customers. How do we reach the younger generation? This also pertains to our communication strategies.
The second pillar is desirability, which is one of our chairman’s mottos. I believe he has built a legendary company focused on desirability. We must continue to ask ourselves how we can make the brand desirable not only today but also in 10 years’ time. What are the right choices? Who are the right people to serve as ambassadors? What should our staff look like, and where should we locate our boutiques to ensure long-term success rather than just short-term gains?
Finally, I would say transformation is equally important. As the brand evolves, the environment changes and the geopolitical landscape is constantly moving. We are daily faced with news — both good and bad — that impacts the world, and we need to transform our business model accordingly.
That’s why expanding our retail presence is crucial while maintaining strong relationships with our key retailers. They know the market very well and have had this expertise for a long time, even during periods when we were not present. Therefore, we must respect that experience.
Also, there is a need for transformation within the team. If you shift your business model to a retail-focused approach, your team must develop the expertise and skills in retail that they may not have had before.
How do you deal with the different cultural sensibilities in each of the countries you oversee?
First, I try to stay authentic, honestly. I’m the same person whether I’m in Australia or Korea. However, of course, you must address the unique cultural aspects of each country.
I don’t conduct the same meetings in Korea and Australia with landlords or key stakeholders; we must adapt accordingly. Like the brand strategy, there is a core part of that strategy that we implement everywhere. We aim to elevate the brand and increase desirability across all markets. As I mentioned before, we want to capture market share everywhere.
However, our approach varies by location. Different countries have very different communication channels from one country to another. For example, in South Korea, we utilise Kakao, which is an instant messenger and online services platform. In Australia, however, Kakao is not recognised at all.
This aspect makes my job very exciting and the strategy interesting. You must have a deep understanding of the local culture. If you don’t show curiosity if you don’t engage with people, or if you lack the humility to ask someone already in the country, “I don’t understand this habit; could you please explain it to me?” you will not be successful. You have to respect local knowledge and recognise that you won’t know better than someone who has been in the market for a long time.
How would you describe the impact of your background in consumer goods at Mondelez International and L’Oréal on your current leadership style?
Those two experiences were the main ones prior to my time at LVMH, and they significantly shaped my career and my leadership style. I started in mass consumption at Mondelez.
I learned a great deal about the commercial side of the industry and the importance of being performance-driven. I had to navigate a high-pressure environment, as mass consumption and FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) are extremely results-oriented.
You face numerous performance metrics on a daily basis, and you must deal with this pressure, which was a significant learning experience for me. I truly enjoyed my time at L’Oréal, just as I did at LVMH.
For me, L’Oréal is all about collaborative team spirit, cross-brand synergy and agility. I worked in the luxury division, and in both experiences, I encountered many inspiring people and leaders.
There are two or three names that I always remember and remember daily. They continue to inspire me. When I draft a strategy, lead a meeting, or think about any issues I need to tackle, I often reflect on their influence, as they have inspired me at different points in my career.
This year, the TAG Heuer Monaco Split-Seconds Chronograph is the star, representing a fusion of tradition and innovation in Haute Horlogerie d’Avant-Garde. What does Haute Horlogerie d’Avant-Garde mean?
There are two components to consider: Haute Horlogerie and Avant-Garde. What I appreciate about TAG Heuer is its ability to build a bond between the brand’s heritage and its modernity. We take iconic pieces, such as the Monaco or the latest Carrera Panamericana, and honour these legends while modernising them.
There is a storytelling element that emphasises how these pieces were relevant in the past. We change their look and feel, and we improve the mechanisms to align with contemporary trends while still paying tribute to the brand’s heritage. This is what Haute Horlogerie d’Avant-Garde signifies, taking a Monaco Split-Seconds Chronograph that has a very modern aesthetic while recognising that the split-second feature was not launched this year at Watches and Wonders; it was actually introduced in the 1960s.
It started as a stopwatch, not a wristwatch. So, it’s a very old piece, not a new watch or movement, in that sense. I truly appreciate this interplay between modernity and heritage.
