After enduring the world’s longest lockdown and a consequent decimated arts industry, we recognised a sentiment shift to one of community, reinvigorating the arts/events/hospitality trades and reuniting Victorians.

To strengthen Piper-Heidsieck’s association as the Official Champagne Partner of the AO (largest global partnership for the brand) for the fourth consecutive year, the campaign seized a unique moment where Champagne could enhance everyday celebrations and rally the community together again, forming the basis of our Melbourne Uncorked campaign (our own idea).

Previously partnering with the Academy Awards and Cannes Film Festival, we capitalised on the brand’s long-standing affinity with the arts to create a culturally-relevant campaign that championed young talent with a focus on “Upper Millennials”, the brand’s target audience.

Objectives:

Earned media: Increase earned social and media value by 10 per cent;

Piper-Heidsieck owned channels: Increase Instagram reach by 10 per cent;

Sales: Increase consumption on and off site.

At the time, Melbourne was still in a strict lockdown with the promise of a summer of freedom on the horizon.

Our arts industry was finally calling lights, camera, action after a two year hiatus and our travel obsessed upper millennial target audience – who had been locked away from the rest of the world – were desperately seeking local experiences wherever they could find them.

We wanted to build on our local heroes campaign of 2021 (Better Together featuring frontline hospital workers) and celebrate our reinvigorated city showcasing heroes of a different kind, providing a stage for emerging actors, musicians, singers, performers, dancers and artists who were deprived of a stage for over a year.

The emotive Melbourne Uncorked campaign was established to provide a platform that brought people together, uniting talented Melburnians and presenting their unseen and unheard talent to the world.

Product insight

Australian Champagne bottle sales were up 70% YOY (2020 vs 2021) and Piper-Heidsieck had its largest sales year on record in this market.

Campaign insight

Upper Millennial target audience lost the ability to travel, dine out and connect.

Key message

Australian Open Official Champagne, Piper-Heidsieck, uncorks the best of the Melbourne Arts at the 2022 Happy Slam.

Target audience

Upper Millennials – digitally native professionals aged 25-45 who prioritise lifestyle and experiences over future wealth; seekers of modern luxury; lifestyle enthusiasts who balance wellbeing with partying; engage with events and celebrities over TV and newspapers; and are driven by travel and adventure.

Assets

Through a full day Uncorked Piper Crew talent shoot, a product shoot and content capture at events and activations, we delivered 415+ pieces of video and still content including a hero video of 1:11 length for social, earned and bought media (Broadsheet and street postering).

To gain cut-through in the COVID-obsessed media world, Melbourne Uncorked showcased Piper-Heidsieck as a brand with clear purpose and commitment. The nation-wide campaign was in market from October 2021 until 30 January 2022.

Key campaign beats:

October 2021: Partnership Renewal announcement media call.

December 2021: Piper Crew announcement.

w/c 10 Jan to 30: Launch of Piper-Heidsieck’s offsite activations in Sydney and Melbourne.

14 Jan: Piper-Heidsieck Champagne Bar media reveal with Piper Crew.

17 to 30 Jan 17: Daily hosting of media, celebrities and Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) at the Piper-Heidsieck Champagne Bar during tournament.

20 Jan: Piper-Heidsieck cocktail party at the Champagne Bar.

10 to 31 Jan: Global social takeover of Piper-Heidsieck’s channels including paid media.

We utilised different spokespeople including Piper-Heidsieck General Manager, Benoit Collard, Piper-Heidsieck Champagne Bar Creative Director, Christian Wagstaff and local Uncorked Piper Crew to attract diverse earned media across news, lifestyle and sports verticals.

Key results by objective

Earned: Total PR value: $24.9M advertising value equivalent x 3 (+25.1% from 2021)

Piper-Heidsieck owned channels: Total Instagram reach: 2.5M (+40% from 2021)

Sales: 30,500 Champagne glasses sold onsite equating to 9 glasses for every 100 AO attendees (more glasses sold than any previous year including 2019 and 2020 which weren’t COVID-affected)

Additional Results:

-Total campaign reach (across social/traditional media): 96.7M (+2.9% from 2021)

-Total media clips: 531 (+14.4% from 2021)

-Total broadcast clips: 285 (+23.9% from 2021)

-Piper-Heidsieck Champagne Bar - onsite activation - achieved 21.3M reach and $14.7M PR value with 346 media clips and AO wants to increase footprint next year

-Uncorked Piper Crew alone generated a 3.1M earned media reach and total ROI of 89.1 based on media and social

-Ash James (saxophonist) and Dagogo Obogo (hip-hop dancer) received extensive national work after performing at the AO

-Of the 531 media hits, 55% of total results were positive in sentiment and the subsequent, neutral

-National reach: 49% of coverage generated in Victoria, 21% in New South Wales, 20% in Queensland, the remaining 10% was the rest of the country

-Hosted a mix of 105 media, talent and celebrities to generate buzz about brand and secure daily coverage

-Gained coverage across all major news publications

-75% of guests invited and hosted by Piper-Heidsieck posted on socials or generated press