Why does Longines still sponsor the Commonwealth Games?

Russell Sheldrake

It’s been over 60 years since Longines began its relationship with the Commonwealth Games, going back to 1962 when they were still called the British Empire and Commonwealth Games and held in Perth. And this year, with the games being held in Glasgow after a last-minute shift from the state of Victoria, I wanted to find out what drives a brand like Longines to maintain this connection and what it takes for them to support such a big undertaking. To get to the bottom of this, I made the journey up to Glasgow to speak with both Christina Hentschel, the VP for Marketing at Longines, and Alain Zobrist, the CEO of Swiss Timing, the Swatch Group company behind all the technology that makes these games possible.

A quick note on the context of these games. This is the second time in just 12 years that Glasgow has hosted the Commonwealth Games after stepping in just 18 months ago to fill in after Victoria pulled out. A logistical and technical nightmare that would have ended in disaster if not for the hard work of many behind the scenes. Thankfully, Longines and Swiss Timing were ready to go, whether they were timing the swimming in Scotland or the athletics in Australia; over 150 team members and over 200 tonnes of kit were put to work seamlessly.

60 years and counting

Not many relationships last 60 years. But Longines has been the firm partner of the Commonwealth Games now for 64 years. To put that into context, when this relationship began, Queen Elizabeth II had only been on the thrown for 10 years, the Cuban Missile Crisis had all of us building bomb shelters, and Wilt Chamberlain had just scored 100 points, with the only official record being a photograph of him holding up a handwritten sign saying “100”. Of course, if Longines had been involved in basketball back then, we would have had much more concrete evidence to go off.

But, I digress. As those of you who would have watched the conversation between Andrew and Matt Hanson will know, Longines has an incredible history when it comes to producing some of the best and earliest chronographs. And so placing these precise pieces of timing equipment at the heart of one of the biggest sporting events in the world made perfect sense. And today, thanks to Longines being a member of the Swatch Group, along with the Swiss Timing company, this partnership continues to flourish.

Better together

While the relationship between Longines and the Commonwealth Games predates the formation of the Swatch Group, there is no doubt that it has been made stronger and more fruitful because of it. Swiss Timing works across the sporting events that are sponsored by five of the group’s brands, namely Longines, Omega, Certina, Tissot, and Swatch, and as Alain points out, this means there “is no overlap in brands or sports”, but the level of collaboration between them all remains high.

Swiss Timing was created in 1972, but it was really thanks to the previous timing prowess of Longines and Omega that led to its creation. It sits at the intersection of multiple brands, combining expertise, learnings, and technology to deliver the most accurate results and a flawless experience for athletes, spectators, and commentators. As Alain puts it, “the goal at the time was to create a company who could serve the brands of the group with timekeeping technologies, television services, to enhance their marketing and communication campaigns.”

And you can see how this approach benefits each brand and the competitions they work with. Learnings from one can lead directly into another. Christina pointed out one clear advancement that has come over the last four years that has made it into this year’s games. “Back in 2022 the camera for a photo finish was capable of 10,000 lines per second, we have now increased that to 40,000 lines.” This is a level of precision that means every race gets a decisive result in the Commonwealth Games, Olympic Games, and any other track event that Swiss Timing is a part of.

Collaboration continues

It’s not just internally that these guys are collaborating. Swiss Timing and Longines are constantly in communication with athletes, coaches, and, something that caught me off guard, commentators. All three benefit massively from the data and the way it is presented by Longines and Swiss Timing at games like these, and they can even make requests of the timing experts. While it’s not a Commonwealth sport, the example that both Christina and Alain gave for this was in skiing. Swiss Timing had developed sensors that attach to the back of downhill skiers’ boots to help track their time as they cross the finish line and pass checkpoints. But after they successfully deployed this technology in the rapid downhill events, other technical skiers came to them and asked if they could extend this to their disciplines as well. Allowing them access to more data that can be used to hone runs and improve performances.

And it doesn’t stop with just the athletes. Swiss Timing provides all the timing information for all the broadcasters of every event, and with each one needing exact results as soon as possible to keep their audience engaged, that requires a mammoth amount of data processing. And it is really felt and appreciated by the commentators. Christina told me that she got chatting with a commentator while in the queue for lunch, and they thanked her for making them look so good thanks to all the timely data they get delivered to them on a platter.

But it’s not as easy as it looks. Alain tells me that athletics can be the hardest event to time. Not because of the speeds reached but because you can have multiple events taking place at the same time. Despite this, they are still able to deliver all the data a broadcaster needs end-to-end in under one tenth of a second. That means we are not left waiting with bated breath once the athletes cross the finish line.

And before you jump to the conclusion that they must be using AI to do all of this. Well, you would be right; in fact, they have been using AI since 2018 in their data process. Alain told me that it was crucial in the instant calculation of optimal jump locations for ski jumpers competing in the PyeongChang Winter Olympics. So they have been making the most of AI long before the rest of us signed up to ChatGPT and Claude.

What does success look like?

While this partnership is based around measuring success for all of these athletes, I was also curious to know what success looked like for both Longines and Swiss Timing during the games. Because a lot of the time, these timing companies are not noticed during the events, with all the attention falling on the athletes. And that, Alain tells me, is exactly how they like it. “No severity one.” He is quick to say. “A severity one is a competition stop, or a measurement of data that is wrong… There is no grey zone. It is black or white.” And so as long as Alain and his team slip under the radar, he is happy.

However, for Christina, that couldn’t be further from the case. During these games, she is looking to raise awareness. “It’s a mix of awareness, and then, of course, sales as well.” And to drive both of those factors, Longines branding is obviously seen across every sporting event, but they have gone a step further at this year’s games and created a physical space in Glasgow to promote the partnership and the athletes they support.

Inside Longines House, there is a wonderful exhibition that highlights the sporting prowess of the brand, featuring timing innovations that Longines can lay claim to, which have been utilised across the 60-year partnership with the Commonwealth Games. Whether that be the first timer that was connected to a camera to capture a finish, or a laser beam that replaced the cotton string at the finish line. These large pieces of equipment were balanced out with watches on display. Whether it was the most recent Commonwealth Games limited edition or a stopwatch from 1912 that ran at 10Hz and was able to time to within 1/100th of a second. There was a lot on display, and it was clear from spending any amount of time in there that Longines has been a master of timing sports events for a very long time.

64 years and counting

So, how does a brand maintain a relationship with a global sporting event for well over half a century? After speaking with the two people who are right in the middle of that relationship today, it’s clear that there have been a lot of consistencies over the last 64 years that have kept things going. Longines has consistently come to the table with the latest and greatest in timing technology, whether that was before or after the formation of the Swatch Group; the drive for the best from them has stayed the same. And at the same time, the games have continued to provide them with the perfect platform to market themselves to the exact audience they are after. Allowing them to display their ability to time the most demanding events with ease.

Having experienced what they have put on for this year’s games in Glasgow, I can attest to just how big an undertaking it is for these games to run. Longines and Swiss Timing had over 150 members of staff in the city, and over 200 tonnes of equipment shipped over from Switzerland in order to make these games happen. An impressive scale, and more than impressive results. Now, you may never watch a sporting event in the same way again.