Martell titillates in bid to attract new market of younger drinkers

TBWA has launched a global Martell Cognac campaign aimed at

revitalising the 300-year-old French cognac brand by attempting to

appeal to a younger market.

To date, Martell - generally considered the No.3 brand in its category

after Remy and Hennessy - has been perceived as a drink for older, more

conservative drinkers.

Cognac has a huge following worldwide; however, the overall category is

on the decline because of the masses of younger people, empowered by

higher disposable incomes, becoming avid consumers of alcoholic

beverages such as beer and wine.

TBWA Hong Kong chairman and strategic planning director Gavin Heron said

the perception of cognac among the younger generation is that "it's for

my father's generation, not my generation".

Because of that, TBWA and Martell opted to break the cognac advertising

mould in a bid to create new excitement around the Martell brand.

The ad campaign, which rolled out worldwide this month, uses a woman to

personify the cognac brand. However, the twist, at least in the TVC, is

that the woman appears to be talking directly at the consumer in a

cajoling and teasing manner.

"It is an encapsulation of French culture and image - independent,

prestigious, chic, sexy, sensual and stylish.

"This aspect of the brand is wrapped up in Martell, the tangible

manifestation of the brand. Everything that Martell the cognac is, is

encapsulated in Martell the girl. She challenges. She titillates. She

induces trial," Mr Heron told MEDIA.

In this way, he added, the advertising strategy represents a radical

departure from the long-held view that cognac ads need to be

traditional, face and status conscious, conservative and for formal

occasions.

The campaign was developed as a global project among TBWA offices in

Hong Kong, London and New York.

Local implementation comes mainly in the form of appropriate

translations of the work in major markets where the campaign is running

such as Cantonese for the Hong Kong and southern China markets.

However, the talent used is the same the world over and Mr Heron said

that this was because the woman had to embody the "Frenchness" of the

brand.

"Martell belongs to the oldest of all the cognac houses in France and so

it has the traditions and heritage that go along with it. We could not

use a Chinese talent for Hong Kong because things Chinese are not part

of the brand value," he said.

However, he stressed that research such as focus group studies in all

the major markets elicited a positive response.

The campaign's main objective is to create a younger, fresher feel to

the brand, but at the same time, not isolating the existing Martell

drinkers.

"We want to effectively target the 25 to 35-year-old age group. But we

also want to keep the premium and prestige values that have long been

associated with the brand.

"The new positioning is that Martell is a young drink - but it is not a

teeny-bopper drink," Mr Heron said.

And to drive home the message about Martell's youthfulness, a website

(www.martell.com) has been established where people can interact with

the brand.

In Asia-Pacific, the campaign is running in Hong Kong, China, Taiwan,

Singapore and Korea.

TBWA Hong Kong general manager Stewart Li said below-the-line activities

accompany the TVC and print campaign including public relations, and

on- and off-premises and direct marketing efforts.

"In order to realise the full potential of the campaign, we even have

devised drink recipes related to Martell such as Martell Ginger (Martell

and ginger ale), Martell Sour (Martell, fresh lemon juice and sugar) and

Martell Apricot (Martell, apricot liqueur and champagne)."