For decades after entering China, Cognac was perceived as a western spirit and appeared on tables at night clubs. But in this country of 1.4 billion people, 9 out of 10 spirits are consumed at another table – the dinner table. And at the dinner table, the idea of pairing Cognac with a meal was not yet established.

Since Cognac is seen as a clubbing drink, it does not generate good sales performance in eCommerce, which is extremely popular among consumers in China. The drink is also perceived as traditional and conventional, which does not appeal to the younger generation.

In June 2019, Hennessy launched the Hennessy Foodie’s Lab campaign to change that and to boost online sales.

Objectives

• Establish dining norm of Cognac pairing with Chinese food for all occasions.

• Cultivate Cognac consumption in China and boost online sales

We launched #WouldYouPickMe# Hennessy Foodie’s Lab, turning everyone’s dinner table into a Hennessy’s lab.

Hennessy launched a fun & interactive #WouldYouPickMe# online challenge. Three popular but very different celebrities were invited to dramatically create buzz to engage different consumer groups. With individual themes, each created their own ‘food and Cognac’ experiments and competed against each other. Consumers voted for their favourite celebrity.

Pairing experiments were replicated at a Foodie’s Lab pop-up restaurant in Guangzhou. Consumers, KOLs and media were invited to experience their creativity. Top three special menus voted by consumers, will be rolled out in 60 restaurants nationwide this year

eCommerce game-changer collaboration

Consumers can select different food ingredients and Cognac at the Hennessy eCommerce store, to create their own experiments at home. This was the first time for a cross-category partnership promotion on JD.com for the Alcohol X Food sector in China.

• Existing and new consumers

• Younger generation (celebrities’ followers, videos-streaming, online purchase)

Social and Viral Storytelling

Leveraged three powerful endorsers and three famous chefs in a captivating competition. Taste, Human Touch and Fun demonstrated the surprises that can be discovered through the ‘chemistry’ between Hennessy and Chinese cuisine.

o TASTE: Xiaoqing Chen, director of renowned A Bite of China gourmet documentary

o HUMAN TOUCH: Sean Zhang, actor, top model and former chef.

o FUN: Victoria Song, actress and singer

Content to eCommerce

• Integrated digital multi-touchpoints and KOLs’ influence to attract consumers, and direct to Hennessy’s online store for celebrity-menu packages of Hennessy and Chinese food ingredients.

• Upgraded BTL experiential events and ATL communications to be more engaging and user-friendly.

Experiential Program to Stimulate Trials

• A large-scale promotion of the top three celebrity menus was rolled-out in regional restaurants throughout the year.

7 June 2019

Social and Viral Storytelling

• Hennessy Foodie’s Lab: Who Would You Pick?’ Four viral videos and key visuals were launched across digital and social platforms (Weibo, WeChat, OTV, OTT)

Content to eCommerce

• Hennessy Foodie’s lab eCommerce site on JD.com opened.

Consumers inspired by the celebrities and their stories could immediately select food ingredients and Hennessy in one package for DIY at home.

• “Vote for your favorite” mini-apps went live

14 June

Hennessy Foodie’s Lab pop-up restaurant was launched in Guangzhou.

• Media, Gourmets, KOLs and consumers participated to experience Chen, Song and Zhang’s Hennessy dining experiments.

18th June onwards

• The top three Hennessy + food menus selected by Chinese consumers were announced

The selections will be rolled-out in an experiential program nationwide in 60 restaurants including Guangzhou, Shanghai, Hangzhou and Chengdu throughout the year.

Within three weeks

• No.1 in record-breaking sales performance of Hennessy. 1000% above sales target.

• 300,000 eCommerce store followers recruited.

• Social media reached 190 million.

• 148+million Weibo engagements; 14 million video viewers.

• Media and KOL: 187 articles; earned PR value: RMB15 million.

• Spontaneous reporting and highly recognized by top three marketing media (Adquan, Socialbeta, DIGITALING) and widely studied as a successful marketing campaign. Shortlisted as Best Case Study of the Week.

• The campaign successfully reached different consumer groups: public, foodies, existing customers and younger generation.

Client

“We are delighted to see the strong creatives successfully translated into coherent consumer journey, and the carefully crafted 360 brand experiences fuelled up the conversion funnel. The results not only exceeded our internal KPIs, the expressions of the campaign ideas have refreshed the food marketing of the wine& spirit category."

Li Cheng, Brand Director, Moet Hennessy Diageo