1.29.2010

Davos, Wine and Globalization

(More wine news on www.vitabella.fr). Davos Forum had just begun and a beautiful tasting of wines from Château d'Yquem and château Cheval Blanc was proposed to some delegates heading to the World Economic Forum. Located in an airport hotel in Zurich, this wine tasting started with a Krug Champagne (also part, like the 2 other wines, of the successful French Luxury group Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy). Globalisation has made this kind of events very important. To be seen where the world meets became extremely important for luxury wines.
Placing fine wines during an evening like this particular one is key to create intimacy between brands and people. In fact, for those invited people, talking about politics, finance or strategic management is their day-to-day business. Doing the same while having a glass of expensive wine and making great connections is a "social thing".Being served old vintages becomes a privilege. Expect those participants during the next days to talk about their experience of having a 1959 Château d'Yquem to delegates from India, China or Brazil. There is nothing better than a great ambassador of your brand talking to the world about how great is your wine, isn't it?
These invited people may not be the super-rich but they have top level responsibilities, travel a lot, talk to top level management and politics and spend some times in restaurants. They are influent and therefore luxury wine estates should make sure they know about their brands. But serving wine was not sufficient during that night,
people were expecting more. For this specific community gathering at Davos, all is about knowledge. In fact, Davos Forum is about sharing knowledge. So these people who are leaders
themselves, or who are used to listen to and talk to leaders, expected a famous wine expert to make the show. On that night, Jancis Robinson provided key information and gave explanations.
So next time you have dinner with someone returning from Davos, don't forget to read first about Krug, Cheval Blanc or Yquem. Otherwise you may feel at least a little embarassed or, even worse, end up excluded from his/her Facebook community ("No, you are not my friend")... Marketing is everything. Dom Perignon applied the same strategy for a long time and showed how successful it might be. Now millions of Dom Perignon bottles are sold all over the world. Dom Perignon...a Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy's brand. (More wine news on www.vitabella.fr).