Start Line: Celebrating the partnership between TAG Heuer and Porsche

SHOW developed the idea for Start Line for TAG Heuer in response to its desire to promote a new, formal partnership with Porsche.

SHOW proposed the creation of two publications – a magazine and a newspaper-style supplement – that would tell the story of the two brands and explore their shared history.

The publications would also provide a platform for TAG Heuer CEO Frédéric Arnault to announce the new partnership and would mark the launch of a new TAG Heuer x Porsche Carrera Chronograph (the first watch collaboration between the brands).

The different formats allowed for different distribution methods. The magazine was distributed by TAG Heuer in-store and mailed out. The newspaper supplement was produced in two qualities of paper stock. Newsprint copies were distributed with select copies of The Sunday Times, while a premium paper-stock version was made available for wider distribution by TAG Heuer, and was also included with select copies of cult motoring magazine The Road Rat.

Start Line chronicles the long-standing relationship between TAG Heuer and Porsche, looking at how both adopted the Carrera name in the 1960s, inspired by the notorious Carrera Panamericana Mexican road race, and how they have rubbed shoulders over the years, not least through Steve McQueen, who famously drove a Porsche 917 and wore a Heuer chronograph in the 1971 film Le Mans.

The Start Line publications look at the past, present and future of TAG Heuer and Porsche and include contributions from eminent horology and motoring journalists such as Nicholas Foulkes, Robin Swithinbank, Jason Barlow and David Green, as well as from fashion, technology and design commentators Teo van den Broeke, Jeremy White and Stephen Bayley.