Camus, the world’s fifth-largest Cognac house, and the only major player still in family hands, today unveiled a new, upscale brand platform and a range of ‘new generation’ Cognacs.
The initiative is one of the most ambitious moves to ever come out of the Cognac sector. The house, now in its fifth generation under the leadership of Cyril Camus, has repositioned its entire Cognac portfolio.
The Moodie Davitt Report is exclusively tracking the project and will bring you extensive feature coverage of the roll-out programme and the related promotional campaign in coming weeks.
The new-look, repositioned and upgraded line-up – featuring Very Special, VSOP and XO – is being rolled out to travel retail from next month, initially as an exclusive to China Duty Free Group (CDFG) and Lagardère Travel Retail across their individual and joint locations. It will then be introduced to global travel retail at the TFWA World Exhibition in Cannes this year.
It is also being introduced today through high-end on-trade locations in China, France and the USA.
The brand’s price points have been upgraded to be aligned (and in some cases above) category leader Hennessy.
A major promotional campaign, dubbed ‘An instant of intensity’ (linked to Camus’ unique production method*), is being launched to support the programme. A secondary tag line, ‘Independent since 1853’, reaffirms the firm’s family roots.
The Very Special, VSOP, XO are all presented in striking new bottles and packaging (pictured above). They are complemented by a Camus Extra range, exclusive to global travel retail.
Each bottle features the words ‘Intensely Aromatic’ and, uniquely, the product description is on the front rather than back label of the bottle and box.
Camus is also introducing a Single Estate Borderies range (below), featuring VSOP and XO expressions.
Camus is also rolling out new niche expressions, including Camus Port Cask Finish and Camus St. Aulaye, Dordogne, Mombazillac Finish and Camus Caribbean Expedition Cognac. As reported, the latter is a limited-edition Cognac matured first in oceanic conditions (on a sea voyage to Barbados) and then in tropical weather.
Camus is working with some of the world’s most innovative and renowned bartenders to underline the new positioning.
They include:
Christopher Gaglione: Creator of the Soléra bar in Paris; official consultant for Hotel de Berri and a designer of high-end tools for cocktail serving. He is considered one of the key innovators for mixology in Paris.
Alessandro Palazzi: Dubbed the ‘godfather of mixology in London’, he is the head bartender at the iconic Dukes Bar in London. Palazzi is recognised globally for his touch on classic cocktails and is renowned as the ‘King of Martini’.
Sullivan Doh: Rated as the most influential Punch mixologist in Paris and a long-time member of the Experimental Cocktail Club group. Doh has created several successful outlets including Le Sherry Butt, Le Syndicat and La Commune. His Punch cocktails are designed to “create conviviality”.
Patrick Pistolesi: The Italian-Irish cocktail genius created Caffé Propaganda, named the best Italian bar in 2016. He is a Japanese culture enthusiast renowned for creating cocktails with a kick. He is a key reference for Highball cocktails.
Each has created a range of signature Camus-based cocktails to reflect the new positioning.
Camus Chief Marketing Officer Jean-Dominique Andreu told The Moodie Davitt Report that the objective of the new brand platform was to put Camus “top of mind” with consumers and to demonstrate the brand’s “savoir faire” in Cognac-making.
“Cyril has a very specific idea of what Cognac should be,” Andreu said. “He has put a lot of effort into improving the quality of the liquid since taking over as head of the family business 15 years ago. His passion has always been to have the most aromatic Cognac possible. So, all the wines are distilled with the lees – with the sediment.
“It’s a new packaging, a new campaign, a completely new brand platform, a new drinks strategy, new POS, new social media, new PR – everything!” – Jean-Dominique Andreu
“We have very fruity and very floral aromas and are not so heavy on the oak. It is a very specific style and I think the Cognac is absolutely astonishing. But this was not expressed in the packaging, in the marketing and in the price. The brand really lacked to the consumer the premium-ness that it deserved. So, Cyril decided to entirely reposition the main line.
“It’s far more than a re-packaging, because we have changed all the liquid. So, it’s a new packaging, it’s a new campaign, it’s a completely new brand platform, a new drinks strategy, new POS, new social media, new PR – everything!
“The packaging is completely focused on the liquid. It’s very modern, and not targeted specifically to the Cognac drinker, but to all people who appreciate fine spirits. This is a very ambitious restatement of the company DNA.
“Our goal is to be number one in terms of producing the world’s highest-quality Cognac,” said Andreu. “That is Cyril’s aim and we are using all our resources to reach that goal. So, this is a very big step for the optimisation of the brand.”
Speaking of the innovative new expressions, Andreu said that an earlier, limited-edition version of Port Cask Finish, sold only in the French domestic market, had proven highly successful. The new edition will be rolled out in both duty free and local channels.
Camus St. Aulaye, Dordogne, Mombazillac Finish is a particularly intriguing concept. Cognac is mainly produced in the Charente and Charente Maritime areas but Dordogne, which has a markedly different climate and soil, also features some wine-growing areas which produce Cognac. Cyril Camus decided to help the local village to continue to maintain its heritage with the special bottling.
Footnote: The Moodie Davitt Report will publish a full interview with Cyril Camus and Jean-Dominique Andreu next month.
*Background: The Camus family owns 188 hectares (465 acres) of vineyards within the small, historical and sought-after Borderies cru, known for giving deeply floral aromas to the eaux-de-vie. All Camus Cognac blends contain at least some Borderies eaux-de-vie.
Camus uses a patented, bespoke distillation process whereby the ‘heads’ are extracted and tasted litre by litre, and a small portion of them – highly concentrated in aromas – are reintegrated into the heart of the distillate to produce intensely aromatic Cognacs.
