International Marketing Study Program 2004
Piper Heidsieck
15 January 2004
Thursday saw us journey to Reimes, home of Piper Heidsieck. Reimes is another small French town, about 40 minutes north of Epernay.
Piper Heidsieck (or Pipers as it is affectionately known) is a relatively small Champagne House, with 2.5% of the global Champagne market. Pipers is sold in over 60 countries and is one of the fastest growing Champagne brands of the last five years.
Our visit began with a tour of their cellars. In contrast to our visit to Moet and Chandon, Pipers' cellar tour was more of a interactive journey through the history of Champagne and the process of Champagne making. Automated cars traveled through the cellars, with five group members in each car. There were many fantastic photo opportunities and the tour provided the opportunity to consolidate the Champagne knowledge gained the previous day.
The tour concluded in Piper's display area, which featured magnums of champagne, each one specially created for the Cannes Film Festival. Each year, the festival's stars autograph the bottle as a permanent memory of that year's festival.
We then heard from Virginie Dhante, the Senior Brand Manager for Piper Heidsieck and Charles Heidsieck. Virginie took us through Pipers' brand history, including how Pipers' undertook consumer research to reposition the brand towards ‘non-ritual, personally initiated drinking experiences'. Her honesty in discussing the pitfalls of adopting a value strategy and the examples of both the international and domestic advertising campaigns, provided the group with fantastic insight and initiated some probing questions.
Virginie's presentation concluded with the exhibiting and discussion of the different varieties of Piper's Champagne, including the Jean Paul Gaultier specially designed corset bottle and the funky pink (The Rosé) and purple (The curvéé Sublime) bottles.
We then headed to taste-test a number of varieties of Piper's Champagnes, including the Piper Heidsieck Brut, The Piper Heidsieck Rosé and the Charles Heidsieck Brut. After the previous day's tasting, this only cemented the group's liking for fine French Champagne, ensuring the impact of fine wine will stay with us for many years to come.
Naturally, the visit finished in Piper's gift shop, with almost all members of the group taking the opportunity to purchase a small taste of Pipers. A number of the Jean Paul Gaultier bottles were purchased, along with many ‘Baby Pipers'. Many thanks must go to Virginie, Dominique and all at Pipers for their fantastic hospitality.
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