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)."
