featuring P. Diddy, Pharrell

We gon’ tell that brotha
[Pass the Courvoisier]
Everybody sing it now
[Pass the Courvoisier]
Everybody sing it now
[Pass the Courvoisier]
Waah oooooooooooo oh!!
- “Pass The Courvoisier Part 2 (Remix)”
Busta Rhymes
(featuring P. Diddy, Pharrell)
Cognac
By Jeffery Lindenmuth
Urban Market
t doesn’t get much better than leading rap star
Busta Rhymes and pop/hip-hop impresario P.
Diddy writing a Billboard chart-topping song
promoting your spirit brand. The video, which
played in heavy rotation on MTV complete with
bottle-shots, received a nomination for Best Hip
Hop Video 2002. In dramatic understatement,
Stephanie DeBartolomeo, Allied Domecq’s group
marketing director for Courvoisier and Sauza says,
“We were flattered that such a popular icon so
embraced us.”
But was this a brilliantly orchestrated scheme, or
a true case of art imitating life? Both Busta and Allied
Domecq maintain their independence. “There was
no affiliation with Busta or P. Diddy. I think this
recent phenomenon epitomizes how we have modernized a classic in the eyes of urban trendsetters
who now embrace Courvoisier as part of their
lifestyle.” says DeBartolomeo. But Allied Domecq
does accept some credit for their lyrical success. “It
was a culmination, or an outgrowth, of our efforts
for the last 24 months plus of speaking to young
adult tastemakers - that’s what created the buzz in
the marketplace.”
I
and the
What many outside the music industry may not
realize, is that Pass the Courvoisier is indeed a culmination, not the beginning, of the trend. For over a
decade, leading hip hop artists have promoted
Hennessy, Remy-Martin, and Alizé, as well as premium vodka and other luxury brands ranging from
Rolex to Burberry to Mercedes. Even in his seemingly singular ode to Courvoisier, Rhymes goes on
to rap “Give me the Henny, you can give me the
Cris. You can pass me the Remy, but pass the
Courvoisier.”
There is an amazing correlation between these
popular culture references and Cognac category
growth, apparent in statistics from Bureau National
Interprofessionnel Du Cognac, the French trade organization. In 2002 alone, Courvoisier experienced a 20
percent sales increase.
Others believe the trend goes even farther back.
"Cognac's involvement in the African-American community began about 50 years ago," explains Bill
Cherrie, group director, Martell Cognac. "The anecdotal story we hear is that it dates back to WWII when
our soldiers were in France discovering Cognac for
the first time and bringing this back to their commu-
nities." And these groups are
growing fast. "Both the AfricanAmerican and Hispanic communities are over 35 million people the size of a small country. The
urban market has become a huge
part of the business for every
brand," Cherrie adds.
The U.S. is by far the largest Cognac
market, with shipments for the year ending July 31, 2002 numbering 43.6 million
bottles. The next largest market is the
U.K., which received only 10.9 million
bottles for the same period. France themselves reserved only 7.3 million bottles.
Furthermore, U.S. consumption has
shown dramatic growth every year since
1993, growing by 3 million bottles in the
past year alone. Most importantly, the
U.S is the only leading Cognac market
which has exhibited growth at all. Other
leading markets, including the UK,
Germany, France and Japan, all are flat
or significantly down over the past
decade. We represent the great White,
Latino, African-American and Asian
hope, all wrapped into one.
Aware of this singular opportunity in
the U.S. urban market, Cognac marketers have been keen to capitalize on the
spirit’s aspirational image by courting
key urban trendsetters.
“I think it’s clear that there is a
very elite set of urban trendsetting
people who influence not only
urban culture, but popular culture,
and even worldwide culture,” says
DeBartolomeo. “Discerning consumers like to discover the next hot
thing for themselves. They are very aspirational and they embrace luxury brands.
It represents a lifestyle that is premium
and decadent.” To that end, Courvoisier
has chosen to model their print campaign
and overall marketing more like a fashion brand than a traditional spirits brand.
Their new limited-edition packaging
includes bottles reminiscent of Louis
Vuitton luggage patterns. (They actually
are designed by The House Of Field, of
Sex and the City fame.)
Category leader Hennessy commands a whopping 50 percent of the
Cognac market overall, and owes much
of their success to their activity in the
urban market. “We’ve always had a commitment to urban markets, particularly
the African-American community. We
do things that other people
generally don’t do, like setting up scholarships and
getting involved in educational initiatives,” says
John Santos, Hennessy
brand manager. “People
call it multicultural marketing but it’s not a new phenomenon for us
at Schieffelin-Somerset. We feel if
you’re going to do business with people you do what’s right.”
Hennessy posted growth on all
their Cognac marques for 2002,
but VS remained their frontrunner, topping 1.5 million case
sales. In addition, they have
seen double-digit growth in
their VSOP with the proprietary
name
Privilege.
“Consumers are calling our
brand Privilege, not VSOP,”
says Santos. “We created XO, and there
you have a market that was once owned
by us; it’s now been taken on by others.
We feel why not make sure we continue with that innovation in an ownable
way. That’s the idea behind Privilege.”
Alizé brand manager Adam Gam
says, “When you look at the competition
they all have image-driven advertising
campaigns: Courvoisier is fashion,
Hennessy the man in the suit, Remy the
couple in the tuxedo. Nobody’s talking
about the quality of the product anymore.” Gam speculates that despite the
popularity of mixing Cognac in cocktails, “Half of Alizé is consumed
straight.”
According to Gam, Kobrand has a
long history of dedication to the urban
market, a worthwhile investment considering his assertion that AfricanAmerican males are three times
more likely to be Cognac consumers than Caucasian males.
The greatest rewards of marketing to the urban community
may not yet be reaped. Camus, a
new Cognac entering the market
seeks to capitalize on that. "The ethnic
markets in the U.S. offer valuable growth
opportunities for Camus," says Laurent
Fortin, VP of Camus. "Our products are
very popular in Asian and European
countries and we hope to expand that
“African-American males are
three times more likely to be Cognac
consumers than Caucasian males.“
— Adam Gam, Alizé brand manager
In 1997 the late Tupac
Shakur rapped about a drink he called the
Thug Passion – Alizé Gold Passion
Liqueur mixed with Hennessy. In reaction to this drink and overwhelming consumer inquiries, Alizé launched a
“reverse line extension,” introducing
pure VS and VSOP Cognacs in 2000. The
company now promotes a mixed drink
called the R&B, which is a spin on the
Alizé Red Passion and the blue-colored
Cognac label – as well as being an obvious allusion to the music genre.
Ironically, Alizé seems highly
focused on quality issues and consumer education, particularly following their August 2002 firstplace ranking among VS Cognac by
the Beverage Tasting Institute (BTI)
in Chicago.
popularity in the U.S." Hip hop music,
after all, is considered by some to be our
nation’s greatest and most recognized
global export.
“Clearly our focus is on the mainstay
urban consumer, since that’s where the
growth is being fueled from,” says
Hennessy’s Santos. “The hope is,
other people will rise with the tide. It
trickles into the mainstream, just like
urban fashion and trend sets.” From
Harlem to Detroit and Atlanta, then
onward to middle-America, Cognac
heralds the rebirth of cool.
Ever in search of fine drink, Jeffery
Lindenmuth regularly contributes
reviews and tales of good tipples
to Food Arts,Taste, and Wine & Spirits.
He has also appeared in men's magazines
including Men's Health,Maxim,Stuff,Gear
and Esquire.
Pictured, left to right (seated): Adrienne Nagy,
brand manager, Courvoisier; Robert Beleson, modera tor; Madison Bédard, promotions manager, Courvoisier.
(standing): Shawn Phillips, director of AfricanAmerican marketing for Fedway Associates, Inc., NJ;
Bob Battaglia, district sales, for Charmer Industries, NY;
Helene Creel, president, Tudor Wine and Liquor, NY;
Bobby W. Kumm, Five Towns Wine & Liquors, NY;
Glenn Vogt, Distinct Expressions, Inc.; Moon Lee,
Augustine Wine & Liquors, NY; Anthony Lodati, owner of
Lowery Liquors & Wine, NY.
retailer roundtable
Here are some excerpts
from the discussion:
On Consumer Education…
B
everage Media Group, in collaboration
with Allied Domecq Spirits, recently convened
a highly diverse roundtable of industry professionals
to obtain their insights on Cognac and the urban market.
The roundtable took place at Compass restaurant in New
York City. Robert Beleson, former president and CEO of
Remy-Amerique, Inc., and former president of M. Shanken
Communications, moderated the discussion.
Participants were: Adrienne Nagy,
brand manager of Courvoisier and
S. Madison Bédard, promotions manager for Courvoisier; Shawn Phillips,
who has for three years served as director of African-American marketing for
Fedway Associates, Inc., a New Jersey wine
Robert Beleson
and spirits wholesaler; Anthony Lodati,
second generation owner of Lowery Liquors & Wine in the
highly ethnically diverse community of Sunnyside, Queens;
Helene Creel, president for over eight years of Tudor Wine
and Liquor, in the upper middle-class and highly diverse
Nassau County, New York; Bobby W. Kumm, a buyer for
discount retailer Five Towns Wine & Liquors, which serves
a culturally rich community with large Jewish, AfricanAmerican and Hispanic-American contingencies; Bob
Battaglia, who has twelve years of retail experience and is
currently district sales manager for Staten Island, Brooklyn
and Queens, for Charmer Industries, a New York wholesaler; Moon Lee , VP, Augustine Wine & Liquors in New
York City; and Glenn Vogt, Distinct Expressions, Inc., and
operations advisor for Compass restaurant. Glenn was also
the former general manager for Windows on the World.
Creel: I think it’s time we stepped
up and improved the marketing
toward [the urban market].
The consumer loves information. The more you give
them, the better they like it.
Kumm: My experience is that
it breaks along certain demographics. I notice a lot of Asian people, especially Chinese, are aware of VSOP as
the minimum type of Cognac that they will consume. XO is their regular Cognac if they can
afford it.
Lee: I think we’re at the high point of style over
substance. Consumers care about the bottle. I’m
not selling spirits anymore; I’m selling bottles.
Kumm: The one thing I think a brand like
Hennessy is doing well is developing one of its
products called Privilege, rather than attempting
to develop the category of VSOP. It’s really
digestible for people to say ‘Privilege’ rather than
to know what VSOP is all about.
On Hot Brands…
Lodati: Hennessy is still by far the leader. Sales
are up on the smaller sizes which is good. I think
smaller sizes always bode well for a brand. It
means you’ve made inroads in the right areas.
Lee: I think right now Courvoisier is fairly hot
because they’ve done a good job of marketing, of
understanding who their consumer is and marketing directly to them. In my store sales have doubled and in an inner-city urban market that seems
about right.
U.S. consumption of Cognac has shown
dramatic growth, growing by 3 million
bottles in the past year.
Vogt: Over the last couple of years,
there has been a real cocktail craze
in New York City. And cognac is a
wonderful ingredient that reads really well on the menu as an ingredient
in an interesting cocktail.
Cognacs to Hennessy. We crossmarket other Cognacs of the same
grade at a similar price point or lower.
It makes the retailer look savvy
because you’re bringing new products to the consumer.
On Rap References…
On Premium Brandy…
Battaglia: You’re tying together two
of the most powerful forces you can
put together: one is advertising and
the other one is music.
Lodati: I have not seen any massswitch or volume from the brands,
but it could be down the road.
They have to do more than
make a fancy bottle with a
fancy name on it.
Kumm: I think it’s made an impact
with Jay-Z and Belvedere, not really
mentioning the item, but including it
in the video. It’s almost an editorial
not a paid advertisement. Someone’s
not being paid to smile and say it
makes my clothes cleaner.
Lee: Trends tend to come
NOT from the higher levels of society, but bubble
up from the bottom. So,
with something like urban
rap, because sociologically
it’s caught on with suburban
white kids, you’re reaching a far
wider market.
Kumm: Something that I see [among
African-Americans], if you become
accomplished and a professional you
have to be legitimate – you can’t just
have street credentials. And there has
to be some connectedness to the
urban community.
On Effective Urban
Marketing…
Lee: I think promotions
outside of retail stores
have much more impact
than promotions inside
the store.
Kumm: You hitch yourself to the
leading brand. What we’ve done in
our store is cross-promote other
The high priced Champagnes are all
behind the checkout. I don’t think any
store of size can stop shoplifitng
because they’re good.
Lee: I’ve been discovering a new
breed of shoplifter.... when I catch
them they may have a Joseph Phelps
Bacchus
Vineyards
Cabernet
Sauvignon. It’s a shoplifter taking
orders from people... and then
going shopping.
On Mixing….
Kumm: Don’t be naive:
People will steal anything whether it has
value or doesn’t have
value. It’s not even a price
issue, because I can put out
a $75 bottle of Napa Cabernet
and people won’t think about, but if I
put out a $20 bottle of Hennessy
Cognac, they will try to steal it.
Phillips: I think CV, as a
call for Courvoisier, is
working on premise.
Lee: I’ve stopped women with four
Liter bottles under their dress. It’s
amazing what they will do.
Lee: Suppliers have to get
customers to trade up from
brandy rather than trade down
from Cognac.
Vogt: I think Cognac is still
considered very much an after-dinner, digestif, relaxation, the night is
coming to an end. When you’re mixing with Cognac, you could mix
brandy with a lot of things for less
money and still get the same flavor.
Kumm: Chinese Americans will
drink XO with Coca-cola because it’s
very prestigious, and because they
don’t really like the taste. Some of the
Russian consumers drink lots of it.
And, they drink it straight. They
don’t adulterate because they
believe in the quality of the
product.
On Theft…
Lodati: Anything that’s over
$50 or $60 is on shelves behind the
checkout where you can see it but
can’t touch it, like Remy’s Louis XIII….
Courvoisier’s Limited Edition Designer Series
On Consumer Attitudes...
Lee: I think consumers in general
have changed. It used to be 15-20
years ago consumers had their
brand... but now consumers are
more like the MTV generation - a
five
minute attention
span.
Whatever’s hot, whatever’s trendy.
Bottom line: It all depends on what’s
trendy and what the consumer feels
is cool right now.