There are those in every profession who are in the mindset that their brands have to appeal to all segments of the marketplace. Their logic is that as one segment of the marketplace moves into another economic strata, their customers will remain loyal to their product line or services. This is what is known in the marketing world as Brand Extension.
The same goes for real estate firms who appeal to luxury clients, over 55 communities, first time home buyers, commercial, industrial, investment real estate, and so on and so forth. You name it, they have it, and if some new branch of real estate is invented, they will add it to their firm!
Pictured above (below the title) is the latest brand extension of a well known Champagne House, Veuve Cliquot. Veuve Cliquot's marketing has been a favorite of ours, because it always has been innovative and creative. They definitely understand innovative packaging as pictured below.!
We even wrote a post about their then latest packaging in November of 2017, which they continued this year adding new cities. Below is the packaging for 2018 adding these three cities to their marketing.
As lovers of Champagne, we were intrigued by the label and promptly researched this new product, the Rich line! The target market of the Rich brand is the cocktail drinkers. According to the Veuve Cliquot website, champagne that can be poured over ice, or have an ingredient or two added to the glass. Below is a link and and the explanation from their site:
Created expressly for mixology, VeuveClicquotRich and Rich Roséare our most versatile Champagne designed to allow anyone to create their own playful drinking experience. Known for audacity and innovation, the Maison VeuveClicquothas introduced an entirely new way to drink champagne : It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3 !
Furthermore, this Champagne edition is sweet champagne. Veuve Cliquot explains that in the olden days of Russia, Tsars and other noblemen and women would add sugar to their champagne to make it more palatable. (My Russian grandparents (A) would have had an apoplectic fit, if I would have added sugar to my Champagne)
The branding for this line extension is to appeal to the HENRY(High Earners Not Rich Yet, aka affluent millennial) psycho-graphic. This is also known as the aspirational set. A large percentage of this category, follow what is cool and in based on social trends and derive their identity from owning and purchasing specific brands that they feel reflect who they are or what they stand for.
Just for fun, I showed the "Rich" image to other Champagne loving friends. Some of them felt that it lessened the Veuve-Cliquotbrand image, some did not like the label, some thought it was fun but they would never buy it, as some felt the word "rich" was pretentious and unappealing! What do you think?