Sensory Marketing

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1. The brand

Hennessy is a French brand of Cognac. Based in Cognac, the company was launched in 1765 by Richard Hennessy, an Irish officer engaged in the Louis XV's army. He decided to stay in Charente in 1745 and created the Hennessy house 20 years later. Soon, the house becomes a reference and provides the greatest courts of Europe, from the Czar of Russia to the king of England. In 1794, the brand is increasingly known and products began to by selling in the United States. The company operates from father to son and the tradition continues.

Today the brand is present in 130 countries on 5 continents: Russia, Mexico, South Africa, Australia ... Renowned for its know-how, the brand murged with Louis Vuitton in 1987 and joined later LVMH. 3rd World luxury spirits producer in the world, the brand is the first producer of luxury spirits. In 2012, Hennessy has annual sales of 954, 2 million dollars .The brand sells about 50 millions bottles a year worldwide and represents more than 40% of the world’s cognac. Today USA represents 40% of the sales and China more than 40%.

1. Products

Today, the range contens ten that Cognac references. The brand offers only specific products, luxury with a story. This is particularly the case for Very Superior Old Pale. In 1817 the Prince of Wales, later George IV of Great Britain, is a lover of cognac. He asked to M. Hennessy to create a brandy "Very Superior Old Pale". The abbreviation becomes a reference in the sector. This product is still today one of the flagship products of the range.

1. Marketing Strategy: targets and objectives

Today, the brand is in a niche in the market as a luxury product. With a sales price which varies between 30 and 100 €, this product isn’t accessible to all customers. The target is a manager, a director… a CSP+ who likes spirits. But to increase its number of sales, the brand has also decided to be present in the night club, few years ago. The brand wishes to keep its authenticity while getting to know the many.

The graphic chart uses two colors: the Black and the Gold. Black refers to the class side,the serious and the glamor. The gold color reminds more about the prestige and luxury and exceptionnal. The logo is simple, using only the gold color.

Product names are evocative: Paradis, private, they all have a link with luxury and want to give the consumer a sense of importance, the one who drinks Hennessy is not anyone.

The packaging is also very important for Hennesy. That’s why the company uses recognized designers to draw their bottles. The bottles look like the old bottles, like smokehouse bottle,  with a retro side. To pay tribute to the son of the founder of the house, Hennessy called the Australian designer Marc Newson, one of the most expensive on the market to design the bottle.

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1. The shop : Sensory Marketing

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From the outside we can see that the shop is not constituted as another liquor store, it’s very sleek and very stylish, the designer of the shop using wood that gives authentic side at all the shop. All the shop was designed by the architect Jean-Michel Willmotte, a French designer who notably designed the new football stadium in Nice. The atmosphere remind both regions of the terroir of the vineyard: Cognac and Champagne. In the window, instead of as usual a lot of bottles we find in this kind of stores, we only have a few bottles developed. The brand uses a simple concept: the rarity creates value. Hennessy uses rarity to see the value of its products to prospects. The shop is design in black and the graphic is simple and uncluttered. The goal of this design is to stay sober with less color than other shop. Hennessy wants to be different than others shops. This shop is in the biggest airport in France : Charles de Gaulle in Paris.

This is a place with a lot of traffic and travelers. The brand wants to touch people of all nationalities. The goal here is not only to sell products but to implant the image of the brand in the customers mind.  

When a person enters the store, it’s not the view that is used, but smell. Indeed, the brand uses a perfume pomander. Thierry Wasser, from Guerlain, has created for the brand a unique fragrance named "Fleurs de Vignes". The goal here is to use the smell of vines to give to the visitor an impression of being at the heart of the south france landscape. The recall to nature, to the southern smells out its daily user and makes him an exceptional experience. This agrees with the exceptional product that we have inside the shop. This shop is in the Charles de Gaulle airport, it is an invitation to a unique experience and this location allows the brand to be visible by people from the 4 corners of the world.