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LVMH Watch Division & TAG Heuer Now Headed By Newcomer, Biver Likely Still Calling Creative Shots | aBlogtoWatch — ablogtowatch.com


 LVMH (owner of luxury watch brands including Hublot, TAG Heuer, Zenith, and Bulgari – among others) today officially announced what is really big news for the watch industry. Mr. Jean-Claude Biver, who has for the last several years been running TAG Heuer, as well as the overall LVMH Watch Division, will step down from his daily duties at LVMH. The reason for Mr. Biver’s stepping down is related to his health. Jean-Claude Biver has been recovering from a major operation in addition to other health matters which have prevented him from actively running the brands. Jean-Claude Biver is not retiring but rather taking the role of non-executive chairman of the LVMH Watchmaking Division. LVMH was quick to point out that it (likely referring to LVMH Chairman and CEO Bernard Arnault) and Mr. Biver mutually agreed that he would be stepping down signaling continued professional cooperation. His role as a non-executive chairman means that Mr. Biver’s advice, decisions, and direction will still be called upon, but he will not have acting duty to execute orders and lead projects. A result likely favorable to both parties. On everyone’s mind is the question of who will be in charge next? Who will make the creative decisions? Who will stand in Mr. Biver’s legendary shoes? Replacing Jean-Claude Biver is Mr. Stéphane Bianchi (53 years old) who has just recently joined LVMH after a number of years in mainstream fashion and women’s cosmetics at Yves Rocher. Mr. Bianchi does not appear to have any watch industry experience. His primary expertise appears to be in consulting and management. Stéphane Bianchi will not merely take over the CEO position at TAG Heuer, but will entirely take over Mr. Biver’s role as CEO of the LVMH Watchmaking Division. That means he will be responsible for overall group direction, spending, strategy, and creative decisions. It also means that the CEOs of both Hublot and Zenith will continue to report to him just as they did to Mr. Biver until recently. LVMH included the new’s that group Chairman & CEO Bernard Arnault’s son Frederic Arnault has been given a promotion at TAG Heuer. 23 years old, until recently Frederic has been working as the Head of connected technologies at TAG Heuer. Frederic Arnault has now been appointed as the overall Strategy & Digital Director of TAG Heuer. No further information on planned direction or timelines in regard to the Watch Division where communicated by LVMH. aBlogtoWatch Analysis Of Mr. Biver’s New Role & The Qualifications of Stéphane Bianchi For TAG Heuer Watches For a lot of people in the watch industry today is bitter news as it quite possibly marks the end of the professional career of one of the most innovative and decisive watch industry managers of our modern times. The LVMH announcement included mentioning Jean-Claude Biver’s over 40 year “career” in watchmaking. Adding such a statement likely signals a strong sentiment from Jean-Claude that he will not likely be returning to daily duty in the future. That does not however mean that Jean-Claude Biver is done, in fact far from it. My opinion is that LVMH is far too reliant on Jean-Claude Biver to let him retire this easily. At 69 years old Jean-Claude Biver could reasonably retire now but reports having too much fun to do so. With that said, his health status might dictate his actions more than his spirit. With that said, Jean-Claude Biver’s position as a non-executive Chairman means that LVMH will be tapping him for knowledge and decisions on a very regular basis. “Non-executive Chairman” is certainly a demotion, but it is for the best interest of both the group and Mr. Biver. During his long post-surgery recovery process Mr. Biver has clearly not been able to offer the type of in-person attention TAG Heuer or any of the other brands need. That a manager should step in to make sure these companies are actually being run is logical and important for LVMH to do. Jean-Claude Biver and Bernard Arnault are known for their friendly relations and no doubt discussed various options before coming to this conclusion. My take-away is that Jean-Claude Biver will not only be able to make decisions on a regular basis, but will be able to still lead a lot of TAG Heuer brand direction for several years to come. With that said it will not be forever, and eventually a new breed of watch manager will need to take the helm at LVMH. A major problem in the watch industry right now is the shortage of good managers. And by good I mean managers who understand the product, the production process, the customer, the brand, the marketing needs, and the markets themselves. These people are extremely difficult to come by, which is compounded by the fact that there are no watch industry manager schools or educational programs around. Instead, the watch industry has been forced to hire managers of various aptitudes who usually feel crippled by complicated industry norms that are not echoed in their previous career’s experience. The watch industry is a special beast – and someone like Jean-Claude Biver had an extremely valuable education. Mr. Biver started in the watch industry at an early age and has experience in many positions including a lot of sales. He implicitly understood the delicate emotional dance of seducing a consumer’s fascination with a luxury timepiece product. Jean-Claude Biver was also a disciple of the late Nicolas Hayek Senior who co-founded the Swatch Group. Jean-Claude Biver worked under Mr. Hayek most notably at Omega where Jean-Claude Biver launched a number of impactful products and campaigns. After revitalizing and selling the luxury watch brand Blancpain to the Swatch Group, Jean-Claude Biver purchased and revitalized the watch brand Hublot. Jean-Claude Biver formally began his relationship with LVMH when they purchased Hublot from him in 2008 and stayed on at the group for the last 10 years. All of this is to suggest his broad experience and the range of roles he has played in the watch industry. Jean-Claude Biver also likes to point out that he is a watch product lover – and does not like the idea of people running watch brands who themselves don’t appreciate watchmaking. In many ways Stéphane Bianchi is the opposite of Jean-Claude Biver. For example, Biver is well-known for being digitally connected and very accessible. On LinkedIn Stéphane Bianchi has but one connection at the time of writing and only includes Yves Rocher for his career history. He left in 2015 to work for the Maus Group – which owns a few clothing brands including Lacoste and Gant. He now joins LVMH and the watch industry as a newcomer. In some way, a total newcomer. So with Mr. Biver the watch industry had a mouthpiece, a maven, and master of moments. Mr. Bianchi may very well turn out to be excellent but he is comparatively quiet and demure by comparison. Why did LVMH and Jean-Claude Biver choose someone like Stéphane Bianchi to take on the job? On the surface he decision looks ill-conceived. Why hire someone who only has tangential experience and nothing related to something like mens’ (or womens’) watches? My theory is that Stéphane Bianchi was not hired for his experience with watches nor his creative abilities. I believe he is someone who has relevant managerial experience, understands the corporate culture having worked for family run, albeit public companies, and who is someone that can be molded. This latter consideration might be Jean-Claude Biver’s big bet. Can he train someone to replace him that will continue to execute his ideas? Jean-Claude Biver’s legacy may very well be lengthened if Stéphane Bianchi performs nicely as a division and brand manager, as well as a student. The key to running a watch brand effectively is to battle various different fronts effectively and at the same time. Satisfying changing consumer tastes and the relentless need to communicate through marketing is where most watch managers fail. Though creative souls adept at crafting desirable products have often left disorganized messes in their wake as reported by finance and administrative people. Jean-Claude Biver is no doubt aware of what hiring a mere bean counter or “yes man” will do to the brand’s consumer appeal, but he also understands that people with big ideas can also often carry big egos. Stéphane Bianchi has both consultant and management experience. That means he can be both a liaison as well as an executive who understand the deadlines and responsibilities of a company. I am pretty sure that Stéphane Bianchi’s role isn’t to lead creative decisions, but rather to ensure a viable business environment that can foster and executive creative decisions probably made by others. A few missing element of the vast majority of today’s even best watch brands is a creative director. Much of the time CEOs in the watch industry are also asked to be artists. Few people have the personalities to do everything, and they really shouldn’t be expected to. Really the only type of role which can replace what Jean-Claude Biver can offer is a creative director with the will to remain at TAG Heuer for at least as long as Stéphane Bianchi remained at Yves Rocher (a period of 17 years). At TAG Heuer Mr. Bianchi will have not only Jean-Claude Biver to consult with on a regular basis, but also son of LVMH Group Chairman who will be heading strategy and digital direction at the brand. European watch makers are notorious for having vague titles, so in reality is in’t exactly clear what Frederic’s role will be. With that said, the fact that the LVMH announcement made sure to include mention of him is probably a sign that he will have a good amount of executive authority. My theory is that Mr. Bianchi will be there to guide him, service to create a working framework around Frederic’s ideas for what marketing direction the TAG Heuer brand should go. Is this a risky move by LVMH? Certainly. One perspective that some will no doubt take is that LVMH is guilty of both misunderstanding the needs of its own brands as well as nepotism. Misunderstanding in the sense they they appointed someone with little on-point relevant experience for such a major role, and next that the group leader’s young son has been given so much authority at a company whose performance will affect many people’s lives. I see the situation a bit differently. Jean-Claude Biver has long since wanted to be tapped for his mentoring skills and now trades a tiring travel schedule for a crop of students. Mr. Bianchi and Mr. Arnault will no doubt be carefully guided by Mr. Biver for the foreseeable future. If success in his training, Mr. Biver will have his professional legacy continued where he left off at LVMH and TAG Heuer. What do you think?

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