Planning & Execution

Planning

• Insight 1: “Night Economy” and F&B industry lead economic recovery
  In the first half of 2020, the F&B market took the lead in the post-COVID19 recovery, and “Night Economy” has become one of the driving forces of economic recovery in China. According to the report about night economy and night owls released by Alimama, nearly 200 million consumers are active from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. every day. People are inclined to order food online after dinner, and those born in the early to mid 90s are more inclined to consume after 10 p.m.

• Strategy 1: Explore new consumption occasions - midnight snack pairing
  Based on insight 1, Hennessy combined "night economy" and "cuisine" with its "Hennessy rediscovers the Chinese flavor" campaign. Collaborating with Tmall Super Brand Day, Hennessy targeted midnight snack paring as a new consumption occasion and launched the theme "Hennessy Illuminates the Mid-Summer Night".

• Insight 2: Target new potential consumers by data support
  Comparing its consumers’ data with the database of Tmall food consumption, Hennessy found out that the characteristic of premium food (such as salmon, steak, etc.) consumers are similar to the brand's core target audience (young/senior white-collar workers), which indicated that Hennessy has great opportunities of turning the gourmet group into its new potential target group.

• Strategy 2: More precise tagging and targeting
  Based on insight 2, Hennessy adopted different communication strategies for different audiences. For the original consumers’ group, Hennessy stimulated the re-purchase by communicating benefits according to their purchase behavior. For gourmet and other potential consumer groups, the brand focused on maximizing the visibility on public channels to generate consumer interest and desire.

• Insight 3: The low-alcohol trend of social drinking
  Chinese Consumers' drinking preferences have changed over the years. Most excessive drinking has been abandoned by young people, their preference is to consume alcoholic drinks to slightly elevate the atmosphere. Low-ABV drinks are gradually becoming the new trend among young people, which is indicated by the popularity of cocktails, craft beers and low-ABV beverages in the market.

• Strategy 3: Attract young target audience by innovative product packaging
  Based on insight 3, Hennessy launched innovative product packs specially designed for the Chinese market during the Super Product Day - Hennessy Golden Night Limited Edition Gift Box. It includes a 350ml Hennessy Cognac, which is smaller than the regular bottle, and a trendy luminous coaster. The limited editions are suitable for a midnight gathering with friends. In addition, Hennessy has launched a series of creative cocktails based on Hennessy V.S.O.P., lowering the drinking threshold of cognac and catering to the current trend of low alcohol preference.

Execution



• Creative Big Idea: Hennessy Illuminates the Mid-Summer Night
  Midnight snack means far more than a meal to Chinese consumers. When night falls, people often hang out with their friends and enjoy their favorite food with alcoholic drinks. These fantastic midnight gatherings are the “highlight moment” of the day. Based on this special midnight culture and lifestyle in China, Hennessy proposed a creative idea for its 2020 Tmall Super Brand Day, "Hennessy Illuminates the Mid-Summer Night", aiming to deliver the authentic, creative delicious midnight experience to consumers.



• Leverage rich content and an innovative approach to create an immersive online experience
  Due to the specificity of alcohol, many consumers make their purchase decision based on experience, so creating an experience to attract and convince consumers online became the winning point of the Super Brand Day campaign. During the campaign, Hennessy took several innovative approaches and created rich content on different media channels to craft an immersive experience for the consumer and trigger their desire.



• Launch (Aug 10): Three midnight stories to build the mindset of the new occasion
  As a new occasion, Hennessy needed to quickly develop its linkage with nighttime snacking. So the brand chose three classic scenarios among young consumers during nighttime snack occasions and made them into three social videos.
  Film 1: When invited to a night snack gathering where you know nobody but your friend, a glass of Hennessy is the ideal the ice breaker.
  Film 2: When tired after working overtime with colleagues, a nighttime snack paired with Hennessy is rejuvenating.
  Film 3: When two generations meet at a table, your good taste about a nighttime snack paired with Hennessy could be the mutual language bringing you together.
  
  The videos established emotional bonding with the target audience as they triggered consumer’s own memories of their nighttime snack experiences as well as naturally educated consumers about the different drinking opportunities for Hennessy during night snack occasions. The videos gained 1m+ views on social media.



• Boost (Aug 10-20): Midnight snack tour livestreaming series
  As customs for late-night snacks vary in different parts of China and each place holds strong local pride for their foods. We leveraged this and created a midnight snack tour around six cities (Chengdu, Xiamen, Guangzhou, Ningbo, Fuzhou, Xiamen) which are all Hennessy’s main key business markets and famous for their night snacks in China. In each city, Hennessy invited a local KOL paired with a professional gourmet chef to visit the most authentic midnight snack destination there. The livestreaming aroused great interest among midnight snack lovers and contributed as a digestible and entertaining educational approach. The series livestreams accumulated 48k+ views.



• Climax (Aug 21): Initiative immersive show on Super Brand Day
  We built a "Hennessy Midnight Snack Tavern” on Super Brand Day and invited national famous celebrities and gourmet chefs to prepare and test the menu for the tavern. While showcasing the diverse ways of enjoying Hennessy cognac with midnight snacks, they also shared personal midnight snacking memories with the audience. The whole livestreaming was like a "tasty" reality show which triggered consumers’ emotional resonance and desirability for Hennessy as a pairing for late-night snacks. Consumers could also order Hennessy products on Tmall while watching the show. The livestream show gained 2m+ views.



Effectiveness / Results






• E-commerce Sales Ranks Top in the industry
  Achieved several Tmall industry number one rankings, including Tmall top new store sales revenue in foreign spirits industry and Tmall top sales volume in the brandy category. The limited gift boxes crafted for Super Brand Day were a hot selling item as soon as they were launched and Hennessy V.S.O.P became the number one best-selling foreign spirit on Tmall.



• Remarkable increase of new consumers
  Hennessy's Tmall flagship store membership has grown by over 100%. Compared to 2019 Tmall Super Brand Day, nearly 40% per cent of consumers who purchased Hennessy on Super Brand Day 2020 were under 30 years old, which showcases another outstanding achievement of brand rejuvenation and upgrading.