In a two part article ThoroughbredNEWS explores the history of Longines branding in international racing world-wide.

The performance of Criterion (NZ) in Sunday’s Hong Kong Jockey Club Group 1 QEII Cup feature at Sha Tin for a third place behind Blazing Speed (GB) and the Japanese runner Staphanos (JPN) was another step in the continuing rise of global thoroughbred branding.

The next step comes on Wednesday when the David Hayes trained Sebring entire flies to England to take up residence at John Gosden’s stables in preparation for the Royal Ascot week in June.

While Criterion did not win on Sunday, he performed with credit after a quick back up from his dominant win in the Group 1 Longines Queen Elizabeth Stakes over 2000m at Randwick on April 11th to take on another international field at Sha Tin.

While for years it was considered a rare venture abroad when Australian sprinters such as Choisir, Takeover Target, Miss Andretti and Scenic Blast went to the Royal Ascot meeting, and won, it was never considered the territory of middle distance Australasian-bred runners to take on the might of European breeding in their speciality.

Further in 2003 when Choisir won the then Group 2 King’s Stand Stakes over 1000m up Ascot’s straight there were no formal international rankings published by the IFHA.

Now, however, there are international rankings published each quarter as the Longines Worlds Best Racehorse Rankings and trainers can see where their own and potential opposition runners fit in. It encourages an expanded thinking that anything is possible with not just the adventure of travel, but also unlimited benefits for entires and mares for winning in international competition.

Behind the development of the public recognition of the world rankings, and the heroes it creates such as Black Caviar (AUS) and Treve (FR), has been the quiet and subtle backing of the world brand of Swiss watchmaker Longines.

Their announcements during the Sydney autumn that they were expanding their Sydney sponsorship to include the world’s richest two-year-old race, the Golden Slipper, and the three days of autumn racing at Rosehill, seemed a natural progression such is their involvement now in thoroughbred racing.

Longines also announced a game-changing development for timekeeping and tracking technology in thoroughbred racing, after unveiling the Longines Positioning System (LPS).

There is a very long history by Longines in equestrian sport dating back to 1878, when it produced a chronograph engraved with a jockey and his mount. This was seen on the racetracks as early as 1881 and it was extremely popular among jockeys and trainers as it enabled its user to time performances to the seconds.

“Our first timing was in 1881 at the racecourse in New York and at the next Belmont Stakes we are still the time keeper of the Belmont racecourse,” explained Juan-Carlos Capelli, Vice President and Head of International Marketing of Longines during a recent interview with ThoroughbredNEWS in Sydney.

Nevertheless that history does not fully explain the decision to place the full world brand power of Longines behind the then scattered racing jurisdictions of the world, who largely held their own meetings and carnivals aimed at their local audiences as they had done forever.

It helps when the head of international marketing for a brand actually looks out from his office at horses in the surrounding countryside, which Capelli does from the Longines Headquarters in Saint-Imier in Switzerland.

“From my office for example I can see horses during the day. This is something fantastic that I can watch from the window during the day and see horses so we have a real association,” he said with obvious enthusiasm.

As such the racing industry did not have to actually link the Longines executive team to the physical thoroughbred in the first place, that appreciation was already there.

However, there were still disciplined strategic decisions that were made seven years ago that has ultimately pulled the international racing industry together in a manner that it was highly unlikely have been able to do itself.

Capelli explained the history behind the company’s decision making.

“Show jumping is very popular in Europe and we started an association with show jumping in 1912 and all of this sport required timing, this is what we do, and it is part of our DNA. To give credibility to the sport through timing is part of our heritage,” he explained.

“In the Longines story you have two main sports. It was Formula 1 and equestrian sport.

“Seven years ago we had a big meeting and we said what is better for Longines, what should we focus on, motor sport, Formula 1 or equine sport. We did a big study and we saw that our public was much more for equestrian sport than for Formula 1.

“Why, Longines are doing ladies and men’s watches with 50% of the business is for ladies and in Formula 1 and motor sport 80% or 90% of the public are men. It was not fitting very well in our strategy.

“In Formula 1 for example there might be 100 different brands and perhaps 10 watch brands with the driver, the car, with the organiser, the team and at the end of the day when you watch a race nobody understands who is what.

“In the watch industry you have a watches for 50 Swiss Francs to 500,000 Swiss Francs in the same place and it is a very big mix and not comprehensible.

“So we decided equestrian sport is our roots and also we share the same public, we share the same values, it is a traditional sport, and Longines is a traditional elegant brand.

“I think it is the only sport where people dress up to go to either see the races or the show jumping, and you enjoy an experience from the morning to choose what you dress. You start with a glass of champagne and talk with the people go to see the horses, to assist with the competition, and when you win you are the king of the world.

“You can enjoy a global experience in one day. This fits with the global public, with our public, and for that we decided to focus on that seven years ago now.

“For sure for the Melbourne Cup it is 20 years that we are doing it (the timing) so it is not a new strategy, and we always had this association with show jumping, but we decided to focus seven years ago on horse racing,” he said.

Today Longines’ involvement in equestrian sports includes not just racing but its continuing association with show-jumping and eventing competitions as it ties its key brand values of tradition, performance and elegance to these global sports.

Longines is also the Official Partner and Official Watch of the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA) and lends its name to the Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings and the Longines World’s Best Jockey Rankings.

This massive international marketing investment must be accounted for, horses or no horses outside the executive windows back in Switzerland. Capelli has the answer as to when Longines knew that crucial strategic decision seven years ago was correct.

“How to know if it was correct or not is a good question. I can tell you that our turnover is increasing in two digits in the last seven years,” he said.

In Part 2 of the Longines and racing industry branding partnership - how the company established a global link of heroes for the industry, developed a global media policy and a new World Race Award for next year.