Our Client, Tag Heuer, Honoured For Its Internet Strategy

Our client Tag Heuer has been honoured for its Internet strategy in a recent study conducted by New York University.

This distinction highlights the numerous efforts undertaken by the luxury watch brand in order to position themselves effectively online.

Among the strengths indentified by the author of the study, search engine optimization, which is managed internationally by IC-Agency, was a crucial factor. In fact, the strategy not only includes Google, Yahoo and Bing but also search engines such as Baidu and Yandex, which are leaders in China and Russia, respectively.

The development of rich multimedia content and the proactivity of the brand on social networks have also contributed to Tag Heuer’s ascension into the top ranks.

Download the case study here.

Read the press release (Reuters).

Why TAG Heuer selects IC-Agency ?

Buyers of luxury goods are increasingly using the Internet to evaluate their purchases, a growing trend that is confirmed year after year by the WorldWatchReport, a market study published by IC-Agency that analyzes dozens of millions of client searches for luxury watch brands on the Internet.

TAG Heuer, a company at the cutting edge of innovation, is fully aware of this trend and has decided to reinforce its visibility in the international search engines so as to make its products more widely available and to increase brand awareness.

"Our objective is to escort our customers throughout their online experience - an experience that generally starts with a search using a search engine such as, for example, Google. This is a strategic means of access for a brand such as TAG Heuer and we want to take advantage of it in the best way possible," says Frédéric Layani, International Internet & CRM Manager for TAG Heuer.

The strategic search engine optimization assignment taken on by IC-Agency covers more than 10 markets and is not restricted to the Google, Yahoo! and MSN trio. As Marc-Olivier Peyer, Senior Innovation Specialist at IC-Agency says, "Our objective is also to achieve strategic positioning in China and Russia through Baidu and Yandex, two search engines that generate more traffic than Google in those high-growth, and increasingly online, watch markets."

According to the search engines market shares in China and Russia, the optimization of a website visibility on Google only is not enough :

 

The implemented strategy is based on an in-depth analysis of search intentions associated with the TAG Heuer brand. This approach enables the evolution of interest in the flagship models and TAG Heuer brand ambassadors-Leonardo DiCaprio, Lewis Hamilton and Maria Sharapova-to be measured.

IC-Agency has exceptional proficiency in understanding the online behaviors of "high-net-worth individuals" and is once again strengthening its position as a key player in luxury digital marketing.

"IC-Agency's strong international expertise in emerging markets, as well as their understanding of the complex world of luxury professions, particularly watchmaking, reinforced our decision to work with them," concludes Frédéric Layani.

For more information on our international search engine optimization (SEO) services, contact us.

Read the full press release.

They wrote about it : Europa Star, Worldtempus, Montres-de-luxe, LaRevueDesMontres, The Time TV, Interactive Luxury, TrustedWatch, Romandie.com, Yahoo! Finance, MSN Money, etc.

Tourism, Internet and Customer Loyalty

Yesterday, Yves-Alain Schwaar, Consulting Director for IC-Agency, hosted a workshop about the impact the Internet has had on the rules of customer acquisition and loyalty. Organized by Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne (EHL) and its research department, this event incited a great deal of interest from the audience, which consisted of directors and executives from EHL’s Alumni Enterprises.

The key players in online tourism: comparison sites, search engines, travel agencies like Ebookers, Expedia and TripAdvisor were reviewed in order to better understand their impact on a traveler’s online behavior before, during, and after their trip. It is important to note that Kayak, leader in tourism search engines overseas, has extended into Europe: further proof that things are far from stagnant.

To discover more, we invite you to consult the presentation from this workshop:
Tourism: How does the Internet Change the Rules of Customer Acquisition and Loyalty?

Luxury Watch Brands and Facebook

With more than 150 million users worldwide and 60,000 new registrants per day, the social network Facebook is gaining popularity. What marketing potential can this represent for luxury watch brands?

Social ads, sponsored groups, news feeds or even fan pages, pages dedicated to the promotion of brands, products or services are only some examples of opportunities for marketers to capture the attention of an elusive audience.

With extensive knowledge in Social Media Optimization, IC-Agency focused on the Facebook presence of 12 luxury watch brands by analyzing the popularity of their fan pages and the level of interactivity for each:

 

Published in the current edition of Europa Star magazine, the article entitled "Watch Brands and Social Networks: a Focus on Facebook" describes the success factors and pitfalls for brands who want to integrate Facebook into their marketing strategies.

You can read the full article here.

In less than 3 months, the number of registered Fans on most of these pages has doubled. This represents a huge potential of viral communication and brand exposure that cannot be ignored, especially since every day, more than 2.5 million new users join Fan Pages.

To learn how to strengthen the impact of your online communications by optimizing your presence on social networks like Facebook, YouTube or MySpace, please contact us.

Luxury Watch Making Publication: New Technologies and Strategies

IC-Agency had the honor of being invited to the Journée Internationale du Marketing Horloger, organized by Club Swiss Marketing in Chaux-de-Fonds, the Swiss capital of luxury watch making.

This was an opportunity to meet over 300 industry professionals primarily from France and Switzerland united by a main theme: “Luxury Watch Publications: New Technologies and Strategies”.

The event took an interesting look at certain efficient trends and news on watch making publications. From the importance of blogs and product placement in videos, to the analysis of campaigns linking the arts to luxury watch brands, the topic of e-marketing was covered by David Sadigh around the theme “How to use the internet to gain efficiency in you rmarketing strategies”. Some of the more notable subjects he discussed are:

• The WorldWatchReport and the myth of counterfeiting
• Positioning among search engines
• Consumer Generated Media and social networks
• E-Reputation Management

The round table, hosted by Grégory Pons around the captivating topic of the future of luxury watch making press, welcomed editors from the main Swiss publishers including Jean-Philippe Arm from Watch Around, Didier Pradervand of Montres Passion, Eric Othenin-Girard of Movment, Peter Braun of Armbanduhren and Philippe Maillard of Europa Star.

 A side note on Europa Star, an IC-Agency partner, who brought forth more than 10 years of experience with regards to integrating the internet into luxury watch makers’ marketing strategies. By pointing the “Actualities” section of the magazine towards the website, Europa Star has succeeded in adapting its publication to the most relevant media channels.

Will Yahoo! revolutionize SEO?

Since his return as head of Yahoo!, Jerry Yang has been continually repeating that his company’s strategy since its beginning, in 1994, has been based on openness.  An openness towards standards, mobile platforms, to mobile developers and third party applications.  An openness that allows Yahoo! To reinforce its status of “front door” and “hub” for its millions of users’ digital life.  This strategy of openness – which still remains closed to Microsoft's billions – also includes Yahoo!’s search engine, which is in for significant changes in the coming months.

Yahoo! recently announced that it will open its search engine results pages.  This means its page descriptions will be updated, as shown in the following example:
 

(source : Yahoo!)

The most interesting aspect of this announcement is the fact that this evolution will be made possible due to the support of semantic web languages and microformats.  To gain visibility on this search engine, an appropriate content structure of one’s web site will be necessary.

The development of semantic content will also lead to easier broadcasting and aggregation by different sources through RSS feeds.  For example, in the illustration above, a user searching for this restaurant’s phone number no longer has to click on the link to find it.  This new feature clearly reinforces the cachet of search engines.  However, they will have to closely monitor the impact these enriched search results will have on their sponsored links.

For marketers, the broadcasting of their web content above the « traditional » limits of websites will certainly have them modify certain performance indicators used to measure campaign peformance. Yahoo! will soon be detailing the precise functionality of its Open Search platform.  We will definitely keep you posted.