Business Project: Champagne Armand de Brignac

Thèmes abordés

Business Project. Business Plan. New Market Development. Champagne Brand. Armand de Brignac. Luxury. Luxurious. SWOT Analysis. Positioning

Résumé du document

Armand de Brignac is champagne produced by the award-winning Cattier family, which has owned and cultivated vineyards in the Montage de Reims Terroir in the French Champagne region since 1763. Armand de Brignac Brut Gold is pressed from a perfectly balanced blend of three distinct vintages of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier; the three varieties of grapes allowed in genuine Champagne. All grapes are selected from Premier and Grand Cru-rated villages in the three historic terroirs of Montagne de Reims, Vallée de la Marne and Côte des Blancs. While many producers of Champagne are increasingly using larger, valve-driven presses, Armand de Brignac employs a traditional Champenois Coquart which ensures a slow and high-quality yield from carefully hand-sorted grapes. Only the first pressing of the harvest is used, classifying Armand de Brignac as a Prestige Cuvée. A prestige cuvée contains the richest wine from each harvest, enabling the Champagne to become more complex and delicate at it ages.

This product was originally intended for the American market, though the sales of Champagne Cattier to our trans-Atlantic neighbor declined. At that time, the management had thought that a more distinguished and "old fashioned" French name could help raise sales. However at the end of the 80s the brand practically disappeared because of unpopularity and a poor communication policy. How then, may we explain the success of Armand de Brignac today?

Armand de Brignac Brut Gold is the champagne of choice of the hip-hop superstar Jay Z, and the instantly recognizable bottle became a luxury status symbol in the rap community after the mogul featured it in his music video “Show me what you got”, “Blue Magic” and “Roc Boys”. Jay Z made the switch to Armand from Cristal Roederer, which once appeared frequently in his music videos and lyrics, in the wake of a scandal surrounding a statement made by the chief of Roederer Frédéric Rouzaud, in a profile in the Economist. When asked about the effect that its Hip-Hop associations might have on the Cristal Brand, Rouzaud told the magazine “We can't forbid people from buying it… I'm sure Dom Pérignon or Krug would be delighted to have their business”. This quote appeared in the Economist under the heading “Unwelcoming Attention”, and was received as racist by Jay Z and several other artists, who spoke out against Cristal brand in the press, and took their business elsewhere.

Performers, who have since featured Armand de Brignac Brut Gold in videos and lyrics, include Fabulous, Beanie Siegel and Jamie Foxx. Today, AdB has taken its revenge from the past, and has just been rewarded “Best Champagne of the World” by the Fine Champagne Magazine. Furthermore, it is an innovative product coming from a limited domain, which encapsulates the perfect combination of quality and presentation at the same time. The packaging is also original, thanks to a gold bottle and a logo featuring the Ace of Spades (symbol of power, wealthy and leadership). All these characteristics are used as a competitive advantage and help attract consumers.

Tags: Armand de Brignac, Champagne

Extraits

[...] Today, AdB took its revenge from the past and has just been rewarded “Best Champagne of the World” by Fine Champagne Magazine. Furthermore, it is an innovative product coming from a limited domain, which at once encapsulates the perfect combination of quality and presentation. The packaging is also original, thanks to a gold bottle and the Ace of Spades (symbol of power, wealthy and leadership). All these characteristics are used as a competitive advantage and attract the consumers. II) SITUATION ANALYSIS INDUSTRY ANALYSIS Consumption In this part, we are going to answer to the following questions: What is the general consumption of champagne in the world? [...]

[...] Many other tests has also judged Armand de Brignac Champagne as the best in the World according to many criteria. CUSTOMER ANALYSIS Profile - Demographic characteristics: 20 to 75 years old, healthy - Economic characteristics: Student, young professional, businessmen, stars, earning more than 30 per year - Social characteristics: Upper-middle class. - Geographical area: North America, Australia, Northern Europe. Trendy places in famous cities - Special interests: Sport like and sea like. : Need to show that they can afford the best CONCLUSION The Armand de Brignac elaboration is realized by the “Maison Cattier”. [...]

[...] So what is the explanation for Armand de Brignac success today? Armand de Brignac Brut Gold is the champagne of choice of hip-hop superstar Jay and instantly recognizable bottle became a luxury status symbol in the rap community after the mogul featured it in his music video “Show me what you “Blue Magic” and Boys”. Jay Z made the switch to Armand from Cristal Roederer, which was once appeared frequently in his music videos and lyrics, in the wake of a scandal surrounding a statement made by Roederer chief Frédéric Rouzaud in a profile in the Economist. [...]

[...] A perfect world with products of exception, ideal for a marketing which does not know limit and this is the high sphere within Armand De Brignac evolves. The effervescence for Armand De Brignac champagne is because, nowadays, all the passions from sports to music or Cinema, etc . has something to do with brands, because people need to identify themselves to brands(for example the brand Rolex in golf tournaments). Strengths Competitive advantage Firstly because Armand De Brignac Champagne is a prestigious vintage elaborated with three Millesime when other champagne such as Cristal Roederer, its main competitor is made with only one. [...]

[...] Brand recognition Moreover, In a blind taste test conducted in 2007 in Rheims, the most prestigious district of Champagne, Armand De Brignac came out tops, surpassing more popular mainstream brands in the market .Moreover the World's Number One-2009, saw the world's most respected wine critics and sommeliers conduct a rigorous blind tasting of more than 1000 brands of champagne. The results were published in ‘Fine Champagne Magazine', the only international publication devoted to champagne and an authority on the industry. Each champagne was rated on a 100 point scale. The process was so strict that, if judges' scores were more than four points apart, the champagne would be re-tested and re-assessed. [...]