Transforming Cognac's Market Appeal for Global Growth

Transforming Cognac’s Market Appeal for Global Growth

BUSINESS CHALLENGE:

Our top distiller client wanted to broaden the appeal of its cognac brands with high-end spirit consumers across the globe. While the distiller was experiencing strong growth with other spirits, making an impact within the cognac category required a unique approach to shift consumers’ mindsets and catch the attention of today’s non-cognac drinkers.

OUR APPROACH:

We embarked on a global insights-gathering tour, talking with category experts and consumers from the US, South Africa, France, and China. The interviews helped inspire a dynamic range of breakthrough positionings to rejuvenate the business. Key steps included:

Crystallizing foundational category insights by synthesizing a robust collection of legacy information augmented with social listening
Identifying whitespace opportunities through conversations with six global cognac experts who helped identify industry trends and ways to overcome cognac’s barriers
Illuminating six potential targets representing high global growth potential for cognac—both from a demographic and Jobs-to-Be-Done perspective
Developing the six unique positioning territories, then collaboratively optimizing them within a cross-functional work session
Creating Instagram-style stimuli, representing how consumers see brands in the “real world” in order to get a truer read on the positioning options
Identifying the lead positioning territory that drove appeal with high-end consumers for each of the distiller’s four cognac brands

THE OUTCOME:

We discovered uncharted territories for growth by defining a new approach to targets and occasions, and by unearthing compelling product and emotional benefits—illuminating the high growth potential of the cognac category. The resulting insights and positionings strengthened the distiller’s confidence to increase their investment in the cognac segment and created organization-wide excitement around the company’s portfolio of cognac brands.