Notorious Beam Team

Well done Patron. Good PR for them. Less good for Moet. Being associated with Wayne Rooney probably isn't really in line with LVMH's "luxury credentials".

Moet's idea to set up an Atelier where you can personalise bottles of their champagne with swarovski crystals is a good idea judging from the amount of coverage it is getting online and in newspapers.

Putting the tackiness of the idea to one side, this "innovation" has given people a reason both to buy Moet over its rivals, but more importantly has given people and jouranlists a reason to talk about Moet.

Here's GQ's piece:

"Champagne is always a welcome Christmas present, so the new Atelier Moët store may well be your best friend this festive season. Open from 3 to 28 December (so prime for New Year’s too), Moët & Chandon’s temporary pop-up store on London’s New Bond Street will customise your bottle of bubbly with the name, monogram or indeed date of your choice spelt out in Swarovski crystals. Opt to pay £50 for next-day delivery of a 75cl bottle, or £75 for while-you-wait, with larger sizes up to the 1,500cl Nebuchadnezzar also available. Gives a new meaning to the term “sparkling wine”."

You can see from the map below that this pop up promotion is running in several major cities around the world: Paris, London, Milan, Madrid, Macau and Singapore.



The US version of the Atelier is called My Moet which seems a lot less premium to me. But there you go. Also, because of the crazy booze regulations in the US you have to link out to distributor sites which are disgustingly off brand and lack any sense of class whatsoever. O well.



It's certainly bucking the anit-bling trend that seems to be taking over the world right now. But maybe we all need a bit of sparkle in our lives?

From Luxist:

"As my colleague Deidre Woollard reported earlier, the product tie-ins to the upcoming James Bond flick, Quantum of Solace, are beginning to hit the market.

The latest is from famed French champagne house Bollinger, founded in 1829. Bollinger has been featured in Bond films as 007's favorite celebratory tipple since Moonraker back in 1979.

Conceived by French designer Eric Berthès, the lockable steel bullet-shaped case engraved "Bollinger 007" holds a magnum of Bollinger's Grande Année 1999 champagne.

Packaged in a wooden box, the whole weighs over 50 pounds and costs about $5,800; only 207 numbered Bullets will be produced."

Via Born Rich

From Colette:

"Who blew the first kiss: Dom Pérignon or Sylvie Fleury? The result of the encounter between Sylvie Fleury and Dom Pérignon is a unique limited edition for Dom Pérignon.

The giftbox, edited in 999 copies, contains two large glasses, numbered and signed by Sylvie Fleury, and a bottle of Dom Pérignon Rosé Vintage 1998.

By imprinting a pair of lips on wine glasses, Sylvie Fleury has revealed by this artistic expression the very essence of the legendary wine, which creation is associated to Pierre Pérignon since 1668.

“Dom Pérignon is my favourite champagne”, she declares with a certain mischievious glint in her eye, just as Marilyn has often been know to say."

From Coolhunting:

"Independence Day extravaganzas, election hoopla and Olympic action—'tis the season for Americana and celebration. Joining designers from Milan to Middle America who are touting the red, white and blue as the aesthetic of the moment on and off the runway, Pommery's Pop America Champagne in pint-size packaging makes for a perfect pour and party favor.

Designed with stars streaming across a blue background and red and white stripes leading up to the silver bottleneck, the bottle design (as well as the more candy-apple sweet, less traditional brut taste) is an all-American concept through and through. While it may seem quixotic to appeal to American sentiment, long before the Statue of Liberty, Americans drank the French beverage of celebration. Reportedly, George Washington ordered six baskets of champagne for import during his presidency.

For seasons spent abroad in the French countryside, a visit to Pommery estates is recommended. Beyond the usual vineyards, the fifth annual Pommery Experience showcases L’Art En Contemporain Europe, an exhibition designed to reflect the emerging identity of a changing Europe. The artists created much of the work after they visited the picturesque grounds Domaine Pommery.

Pop America is available at Sherry-Lehmann starting at $15 per mini bottle."

From Luxist:

"On Saturday, renowned French champagne house Veuve Clicquot staged the first polo match in Manhattan in 70 years. The match, between two North American Polo League (NAPL) teams - Ralph Lauren's Black Watch, captained by Polo model Nacho Figueras, and Asprey's Skeeterville, captained by Will Johnston - was played on Governor's Island, the 172-acre former Army base on Manhattan's southern tip. New York is often cited as the birthplace of American polo c.1876, and Army officers played the sport on Governor's Island until just before the onset of World War II in 1941. Black Watch bested Asprey 10 - 6 in the inaugural match of the Veuve Cliquot Manhattan Polo Classic. Veuve Clicquot has long supported polo in Europe, and since last year other parts of the U.S. as well, such as the Greenwich Polo Club in Connecticut."

Here is the latest deisgner collaboration between Karim Rashid and Veuve Cliquot. Setting the standard in the drinks world for collabroations that are both practical/functional as well as being visually stunning and PR worthy. Who wouldn't want a pink champagne bucket/chandelier.

As pointed on Where's the Sausage in relation to previous collaborations:

"Secondary packaging. Snore, right? Boring boxes. Catatonic cartons. Well, not if you're champagne brand Veuve Clicquot.

They have turned secondary packaging into an artform and this has played an important role in making the most stylish champagne. More importantly, its also helped them become the world's number 2 premium champagne, with a 23% share of the all-important US market.

On New Year's eve I tried out the box that turns magically into an ice bucket, and it actually works! A remarkable bit of packagaing design, with plastic seals to make it watertight. The Paint Box has four mini bottles in a funky yellow ice bucket that looks like a paint can. And the limited edition version of La Grande Dame by Andre Putman would make the perfect present for someone (very) special."

Here's some quotes from the Media Kit that Nourinda sent me:

"Veuve Clicquot Rosé inspires Karim Rashid:

Globalight is an innovative and unique reinterpretation of a chandelier. For a moment… so romantic… so rosé… so Veuve Clicquot

Created by Karim Rashid, the limited-edition Veuve Clicquot Globalight is an invitation to romanticism. This ultra contemporary chandelier creates a soft pink halo of light and a dream like atmosphere wherever it goes. It transforms an intimate candle lit dinner between partners or friends. It keeps Veuve Clicquot Rosé at the ideal temperature for 2 hours.

Veuve Clicquot Globalight is a state-of-the-art technology and design piece. The highly sophisticated system provides light without warming the lamp and transferring heat to the bottle of champagne. Zumbotel, a world expert in lighting, has conceived and manufactured this unique and complex technology. The pink light is the heart of this unique piece and it creates a romantic ambiance wherever it goes.

The wine has a luminous colour with an attractive pink hue. The wine works its magic - this delectably full champagne can be enjoyed as a true delicacy. A deliciously fruity wine in early bloom, this is a wonderful aperitif to be shared as a twosome or simply with friends. Its superb rosé colour adds a daring, contemporary and romantic touch!

“When Veuve Clicquot asked me to design a new project for their champagne, to continue the sensual integration of the immaterial and the material as I had done with the Loveseat, I immediately drew an elliptical scribble around the VC rose bottle as if to denote the intent – this is what I must do – and thought how could I bring light and champagne together? – and suddenly realized that my scribble was the idea in itself – ‘surround the bottle with illumination’ – embrace the bottle with a dynamic energetic magnetism – encapsulate the bottle with warmth, so I literally made an elliptical object and designed Globalight – like a purse, or a handbag, the ovaloid vignettes the champagne – lights it, glorifies it, and embraces the fabulous pleasurable experience of drinking my favorite champagne."



And here is what Veuve say about Karim Rashid

"A world renowned designer, an iconic creator of design and light pieces, and a source of daring, playful, minimalism and sensual inspiration – Karim Rashid collaborates with the House of Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin for the second time. Following the release of the “Veuve Clicquot Loveseat”, Karim Rashid drew inspiration from Veuve Clicquot Rosé to create “Globalight”, a multi functional design object representing modern romanticism.

An award winning English-Egyptian artist living in New-York, Karim Rashid is a leading figure in the fields of product and interior design, furniture, lighting and art. His work is in the permanent collections of 15 Museums world wide including MoMA in NY."

It's a win-win-win-win for Rashid, Veuve, the trade and consumers. It premiumises Veuve, gains awareness and desire for their trendy rose and gets a lot of talkability. Coolhunting is covering it so chances are it will appear in Sunday Supplements and so forth in the run up to Spring and Summer. Perfect.

From Coolhunting:

"Limited to a run of 500 (only 50 of those will be available for the U.S. market), the Globalight will be available on Eclicquot in May for $4,000."

In addition, tactically Nourinda's emails were very clever. The story was embargoed until Wednesday. But a few bloggers broke this just because bloggers like to break rules. Much better to say not to do something because bloggers are likely to do the opposite. So then she sent an email out lifting the embargo and opened the blogging floodgates. Very clever online PR.

Bloggers were sent 5 key visuals shown in this post as well as a "media kit" featuring a beautfully presented rationale for the design. Good learnings for everyone at Beam about how to do online PR and luxury marketing.

For other Veuve designer collaboration posts click here for the Porsche design work and here for the Karim Rashid loveseat.

And I've just noticed that there is a proper review of the Veueve design theme on NotCot - so take a look.

And you have to have a look at their design workshop microsite which is very slick - and seems very genuine. Reminds of the Audi design studio.

Dom Pérignon has unveiled a limited edition 1995 Vintage White Gold Jeroboam commemorative champagne for 2008.

From Elite Choice...

"Featured above is this exclusive gold-plated bubbly that was offered to the rich and renowned during their exploit and adventures on the periphery of the Côte d’Azur. It gained significant importance at the gala ceremony attended by superstars, models, and tycoons.

"Annotations of brioche and sugar, blended with fresh almond and apricot make for the deep, obscure aroma of the champagne. The recent drawing of the bottle has an etching of the Dom Pérignon crest, enfolded in a sheath casing of white gold. Counted 100 bottles are available globally with the jeroboams available at The Matsuzakaya Department Store in Nagoya’s Sakae-ku and is retailed at $11,005 a bottle. The sales are being embarked from Matsuzakaya and another 20 bottles are expected to be sold in Japan while remaining cost $40,000 plus in nightclubs in the U.S."

Hotel Byblos in St. Tropez has 10 bottles for sale. For a mere €12,000, the champagne will be brought out to the “James Bond” theme, accompanied by fire and sparklers. Just make sure you don't knock the bottle over!

Great idea from Veuve Cliquot and Porsche Design to create the ideal storage unit for Veuve Clicquot champagne. Bound to generate talkability for both Porshce and Veuve.

They have offered people the chance to win one by submitting the three people you'd like to share a bottle of champagne with. Probably a good way of doing a bit of casual research too.



From Cool Hunting:

"Champagne house Veuve Clicquot today launched Vertical Limit by Porsche Design Studio, a stainless steel cellar tower of superb design (at right, click on image for enlarged view). Measuring over six feet tall, it holds 12 magnums of Clicquot's most prized vintages and only 15 were made worldwide. In celebration of this special release Cool Hunting is giving away your choice of two potential prizes. What do you want? A pair of rare vintage Veuve Clicquot champagnes (1988 and a 1985 Rosé) encased in the Pablo Reinoso Cellar Box (below left) OR Veuve Clicquot's limited edition La Grande Dame 1996 vintage with special Emilio Pucci casing (below right). La Grande Dame is Veuve Clicquot's Haute Couture Vintage Champagne.

Each Vertical Limit is fully handmade and each of the 12 vintages are housed in its own compartment with the temperature set at a constant 12 degrees celsius—ideal for tasting and the same climate as the Veuve Clicquot cellars in Reims, France. Of the 15 produced worldwide only two will make it stateside and they will be showcased at the Porsche Design Stores in New York and Los Angeles during the month of November. Each cellar containing the 12 vintages is approximately $70,000."

From Not Cot:

"On sleek furniture designs… i fell for the Karim Rashid Veuve Clicquot Loveseat this morning over at Luxist. There’s something about the infinite curves, yet a nice separation of space (with a bottle of bubbly as the border?) that's enticing, and the photography for the piece is beautifully surreal."





Great design. Something worth talking about. Great site from Verve as well. We should be doing things like this for our luxury brands/upper marques and ensure they are featured on sites like This Next and Luxist.

From the Fallon Planning Blog:

"Ugh. I won't even begin to try and recap the history on this Jay-Z vs Cristal feud.

But months after boycotting Louis Roederer Cristal, Jay-Z has found a new bubbly to enjoy. According to reports, the rap mogul is close to signing a deal to endorse Ace of Spade, an Armand De Brignac champagne featured in the rapper's video for the song "Show Me What You Got." Jay-Z also mentions Ace of Spade in the hit single and in the video, the rapper is seen opening a brief case during a card game. The brief case contains a bottle of Armand de Brignac, known for its solid gold-plated bottle and Ace of Spades shaped label.



Although the deal isn't official, Armand de Brignac president/CEO Brett Berish welcomed the attention his brand has received from Jay-Z. "Jay-Z has always demonstrated the highest standards and finest taste, and we're honored to see Armand make an appearance in 'Show Me What You Got,'" Berish said.

A Google search nets a lot of press release matter about how Armand de Brignac has been produced for "centuries" and is only now being imported stateside after enjoying success in France. But wait...Armand, who?

Further Google search reveals a story on Gawker, who calls bulls**t.

According to Gawker and HipHopGame, Armand de Brignac is a new stealth brand created by Cattier Champagne, to all appearances exclusively for its cameo in the Jay-Z video (and likely subsequent appearances and distribution in his clubs, etc.). Perhaps the best part: The Cattier bottle and vintage ("Antique Gold") that likely matches the relabeled "Armand de Brignac" sells for around $60 tops. "Armand de Brignac" reputedly goes for $300."