SUMMER DESTINATIONS
Moët Hennessy also continues to push its off-dry style – Moët Ice Impérial, the first champagne designed to be enjoyed over ice – “targeting summer destinations to catch holiday traffic with our activation of Ice Impérial in hubs such as Ibiza, Palma de Mallorca, Nice, Paris, Singapore and Sydney,” says Laurent Boidevezi, president & regional director at Moët Hennessy. And travelling consumers can discover how “life tastes better in colours” with the Veuve Clicquot Colorama activation featuring Veuve Clicquot Rich, inspired by mixology in Paris, Barcelona, London, Dubai, Hong Kong and Sydney.
“In October 2017 we partnered with Heinemann Australia to launch Ice Impérial Rosé in Sydney Airport, where travellers could discover this fresh rosé champagne exclusively for a time, before being launched in downtown stores. We believe airports are the perfect place to propose exclusive offers to discerning consumers. We continue to see strong growth in airport business, eurozone and APAC-led cruise lines and inflight pouring,” he says. “Our strong results are a validation of our strategy focused on value creation, achieved by driving the mix and avoiding price promotion.”
New ways of personalising purchases, which he sees as “particularly important on the travel retail market”, are being rolled out this year. “First, the Veuve Clicquot ‘magnetic message’, which will be available in key hubs worldwide this summer. This was inspired by Veuve Clicquot’s winemakers, who use a pencil to jot down their notes about each wine before they proceed to the all-important act of blending. Each giftbox of Yellow Label or Rosé features a playful pencil magnet just waiting to be personalized.”
On the same theme, the Moët & Chandon ‘personalisation machine’, which is already in operation at Les Caves Particulières in Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, will be seen in other worldwide hubs in the run-up to the year end, when gifting becomes more prominent. “Consumers can choose a festive message and personalise their bottle in gold script. The service is fun, fast, and the consumer can witness their bottle being dedicated just for them,” notes Boidevezi.
Moët will also launch festive limited editions for brut, rosé, and Nectar Impérial. And with head winemaker Richard Geoffroy retiring at the year end, there’s also the Dom Pérignon 2008 Chef de Cave Legacy Edition, which celebrates the handover of the cellar keys to Vincent Chaperon.
In the prestige cuvée sector of this channel, Moët Hennessy is the biggest player. “Well over half of Champagne’s super-premium market belongs to our maisons; Dom Pérignon, Ruinart and Krug. And these three houses are seeing very healthy growth,” says Boidevezi.
As the third largest champagne brand worldwide, Nicolas Feuillatte has been working hard to gain the same recognition, and become one of the prominent brands, in travel retail. “Our ranking in this sector is now up to third, according to IWSR,” says Feuillatte president Christophe Juarez. “We’ve been enjoying double-digit growth in travel retail markets, with the cruise line category particularly dynamic in the first half of 2018. We’ve been working with Seabourn cruise line on Caribbean and European routes for the past seven years and MSC cruises in Italy. It’s a captive audience, with onboard consumption rising thanks to pouring programmes and a huge increase in passenger numbers.
“The US is our number one priority. It is historically a very strong market for Nicolas Feuillatte and we want to increase our market share,” says Juarez. “Our exclusive contract with the Cirque du Soleil 20-month roadshow across major cities in North America will attract a wider audience, perhaps a younger one too, that frequently commutes by air to the venues. Potential new consumers who will appreciate pouring programmes on American or United flights.”
