5 minute read
Interview – Benoît Collard Executive Vice President, Piper Heidsieck
Drinks Trade talks to Benoît Collard, Executive Vice President of Piper-Heidsieck about breaking the rules and a potential never-ending love story with Australia.
Drinks Trade: Tell us about your personal journey within the world of champagne and your role at Piper-Heidsieck?
Benoît Collard: Champagne is a unique industry combining luxury, prestige and excellence and [it] is a universal and worldwide industry. I’ve been fortunate enough to work in the wine and spirit industry for my whole career and I’m very honoured to be running the House of PiperHeidsieck for more than three years now.
DT: Piper-Heidsieck is breaking new ground in terms of champagne marketing. Cocktails? Throw in a chilli? Bubbles and BBQ’s? Sacré Sauvage indeed. Tell us a bit more about the philosophy behind these bold strategies.
BC: Piper-Heidsieck is the most awarded Champagne House of the century, thanks to the unique expertise of Régis Camus, our Cellar Master. Since 2002, Régis has been recognised for his genius and more importantly, his ability to innovate and express the quality of our champagne through new Cuvées. Régis created five out of the eight Champagne styles that Piper-Heidsieck offers. More importantly, he has always been very curious 72|drinks trade and open to partnering with experts from different backgrounds. For example, a bit more than a year ago, a young and very talented bartender asked Régis if he would allow him to create a cocktail that pays tribute to the unique personality of Rosé Sauvage. Régis agreed, and we are very proud to now serve at our House, Sacré Sauvage to some of our guests. Sacré Sauvage is a long drink that combines Rosé Sauvage with some Triple Sec, a dash of orange bitter and a zest of grapefruit. In 2006, Piper-Heidsieck released a unique serving ritual in France called Piper Piscine to ensure that consumers could enjoy Piper-Heidsieck served on champagne ice cubes. This inspired Régis to launch Piper-Heidsieck Riveria, a unique Cuvée to be enjoyed neat, but it’s even more enjoyable by the pool or by the beach.
DT: You pioneered a Dash of Seduction campaign. How was that developed to specifically target millennials and why are they so important as a demographic for the brand?
BC: Piper-Heidsieck has presence in more than 100 countries and is recognised as one of the most international Champagne Houses. As such, we feel it is our responsibility to recruit new champagne consumers. The values of the upper millennials perfectly match with the identity of Piper-Heidsieck. This generation is looking for brands that share with them authenticity, craftmanship, excellence and brands that differentiate themselves by having their own personality. In this context, Piper-Heidsieck, with more than 200 years of history and its outstanding wine recognition, has always been associated with seduction. FlorensLouis Heidsieck created his Champagne House when he fell in love with Agathe [Perthois, the ‘first lady’ of Piper-Heidseick] and our history is filled with such anecdotes. Our recent campaign aims at showcasing our identity in the context of the millennial lifestyle. I am very grateful for Karen Rosetzsky [the campaign photographer] for capturing Piper-Heidsieck’s emotion in the Dash of Seduction campaign pictures.
DT: Despite its playful persona, Piper-Heidsieck is this century’s most awarded winning champagne. What about Piper-Heidsieck’s heritage and rich history and the quality of the champagne itself?
Piper-Heidsieck announced as the Official Champagne of the Australian Open 8
BC: Piper-Heidsieck is the most awarded Champagne House of the century and Régis Camus has been awarded eight times as the best sparkling wine maker of the year, since 2002. For us, this is not so much about a sign of recognition. We instead take this as an invitation to push forward our quest for quality, and we are committed to providing all consumers with an offering that continuously improves. This leads Régis to work on new Cuvées that we will soon be releasing in Australia.
DT: Big news for Australia is Piper-Heidsieck has partnered with the Melbourne Australian Open to bring glamour to the Grand Slam. Describe the strategy behind this huge investment and what we can expect to experience courtside.
BC: More than a tennis event, the Australian Open has become a major lifestyle experience in Melbourne. It now attracts more than 700,000 visitors who can appreciate a unique array of food experiences, great tennis and even a music festival. All this in the very centre of what I consider to be the worldwide capital of bistronomy, Melbourne. Being the partner of such an event, allows us to showcase our champagne in a unique setting, towards a large and premium audience and in the most prestigious environment. Together with Australian Open, we aim to provide our guests with immersive and memorable experiences.
DT: Piper-Heidsieck has other major glamorous international sponsorship properties. Tell us a bit about them and how they successfully contribute to the brand’s current burgeoning success in key markets.
BC: The history of Piper-Heidsieck has always been linked to the world of cinema - at least since it
Clint Stanaway & Richard Heaselgrave
existed. This led Piper-Heidsieck to be the official champagne of the Cannes Film Festival for over 20 years as well as the only champagne at the Oscars since 2015. Every event we partner with reflects our ambition to showcase the quality and relevance of Piper-Heidsieck for each prestigious event’s local audience. I am convinced that Australians will welcome Piper-Heidsieck into their lifestyle as much as Hollywood has done.
DT: And finally, what does Australian market mean for Piper-Heidsieck?
BC: Australia recently became the number one market for Piper-Heidsieck. The wine knowledge of the Australian consumer and its growing tourism perfectly match with the personality of Piper-Heidsieck and I am sure that, thanks to the Australian Open partnership, this is just the beginning of a never-ending love story.
