Reporter | Shi Chunlei Edit | Yan Zhijun
The first China International Consumer Goods Expo (hereinafter referred to as the "China International Consumer Goods Expo") was held from May 7 to 10, 2021 at the Hainan International Convention and Exhibition Center, with the theme of "Opening China, Hainan First", focusing on the positioning of Hainan International Tourism Consumption Center, gathering global consumption resources, and creating a global display and trading platform for international consumer boutiques. According to the "Overall Plan for the Construction of Hainan Free Trade Port", overseas exhibits enjoy tax exemption policies for import and sales during the exhibition period.
The total exhibition area of the CICGF is 80,000 square meters. Among them, the international exhibition area of 60,000 square meters, divided into fashion life, jewelry and diamonds, high-end food and health products, sojourn life and service consumption of five professional exhibition areas, 648 exhibitors, 1365 participating brands, from 69 countries and regions.
Among them, Moët Hennessy represented the lvmh Group, one of the world's largest high-end fashion boutiques and wine retail enterprises, to participate in the expo.
As the first lvmh brand to enter the Chinese market, Moët Hennessy dates back to the 19th century. Wu Yue, President of Lvmh Group Greater China, paid great attention to moët Hennessy's participation in the first CICGF on behalf of lvmh Group, saying: "Hennessy has been ahead of other brands of LVMH Group since the reform and opening up, and it is also very important to be able to participate in the CICGF first. ”
Moët Hennessy has been in the Chinese market for many years, and its development path is closely related to the growth of China's consumer goods market. At this year's CICG, Moët Hennessy showcased a wide range of exhibits, including spirits series: Hennessy Cognac series, Granger single malt whisky, Champagne series: Moët, Triumph, Tang Peilinong Champagne, wine series: Ao Yun, Step, Cloud Bay, Earth, Mouton Jiadi, Butterfly Orchid, and XiaTong sparkling wine from Xiatong Winery in Ningxia, China.
When talking about the expectations for the Expo, Wu Yue is very optimistic about the national policy of building a free trade port in Hainan, and hopes that the entire Chinese market can move towards more avant-garde and exquisite retail.
It is reported that during the 4-day exhibition, Moët Hennessy presented as many as 14 professional tasting courses, covering its Hennessy Cognac, Xia Tong sparkling wine, Veuve Clicquot Champagne and other brand products.
With the continuous improvement of China's gross national product, China has also entered an era of consumption upgrading. In the past, a foreign brand entered China, Chinese had a natural demand for luxury goods or high-end alcohol consumption, but now, consumers are no longer stuck in the price of expensive, but also pay more attention to the quality of products.
Wu Pengkai, president of Moët Hennessy Hennessy Giogo China, attributed one of the reasons for this phenomenon to consumers' deep awareness of brands and products, pointing out: "Consumers are not as sensitive to price as before, and they don't think it's necessarily better to be expensive." Because after more than ten years, they have become more and more aware of each brand and each kind of wine, so their current requirement is that you can be expensive, but you must be good. ”
In view of the increasingly delicate research and experience of Chinese consumers on quality, Moët Hennessy is also adapting to this change, hoping to produce high-end international products in the interaction with the Chinese market. Nowadays, Moët Hennessy implements brand localization and builds Xiatong Winery and Ao Yun Winery, which is of great significance to adapt to consumption upgrades.
"In the context of China's continuous upgrading of consumption, we will combine the advantages of Hainan's policies, increase investment in The Hainan Free Trade Port, achieve omni-channel layout, build a full-scene shopping experience, expand the offline retail territory, bring more high-quality wines and spirits to consumers, and arouse the deep resonance of Chinese consumers with brilliant French culture and lifestyle." Wu Pengkai pointed out.
Nowadays, young consumers have gradually become the main force of market consumption, and the liquor market is no exception. According to the "Analysis Report on the Development status and competitive situation of China's liquor industry from 2020 to 2021" released by Ai Media Consulting, the average age of consumers of beer, foreign wine and wine in China in 2019 is 34 years old. With the rise of the younger generation, the post-80s and post-90s generations have gradually become the main body of alcohol consumption.
In this regard, Wu Yue believes that the rejuvenation of the market is the trend of the times, not the selective rejuvenation of categories, which is particularly prominent in China's high-end consumer market.
With the growth of young consumption power, Moët Hennessy is also focusing on promoting the development of brand rejuvenation. According to Wu Pengkai, the current interaction between Hennessy and young consumer groups is mainly reflected in two aspects, one is cooperation with artists, and the other is cooperation with NBA.
For example, this year's CICG will feature Hennessy v.s.o.p Hennessy v.s.o.p Special Edition Gift Box with internationally renowned media artist and director Ryfik Anadore, where artists use three-dimensional data mapping to transform intangible sensory experiences into tactile and perceptible works of art. At the same time, the artist has created an illusory "infinite space" in which the data images collected by the artist in the Cognac district are presented in the form of projections, and the floating light and shadow bring a futuristic, fully immersive art experience. Previously, Hennessy had also invited Chinese artists such as Cai Guoqiang and Liu Wei to collaborate.
In addition, not long ago, Hennessy officially became the nba's global official spirits partner, and the two hope that through this cooperation, the brand culture and sportsmanship of both sides will be passed on to consumers, and young people will be inspired to brave challenges and bold breakthroughs.
On the occasion of the first China International Consumer Goods Fair, Interface News conducted an exclusive interview with Wu Yue, President of LVH Mooss Greater China, and Wu Pengkai, President of Moyët Hennessy Diageo China, who shared their expectations for participating in the Haikou Consumer Expo, the development direction of the Chinese market, and the rejuvenation and localization of the brand.
Andrew: First of all, in the more than 40 years of China's reform and opening up, the lvmh group has 75 international boutiques behind it, and we have benefited from China's reform and opening up and grown together with the Chinese market. From this point of view, Hainan continues to expand reform and opening up, into a free port, is a good trend, we are a collective to hainan on behalf of China's reform and opening up to continue to applaud, to congratulate, to praise, this is a very important first point, this is our posture.
Second, Moët Hennessy, especially the Hennessy brand, was the first lvmh brand to enter the Chinese market, dating back to the 19th century, and more importantly, it was also the first to enter the Chinese market after the reform and opening up. Because there was no B2C market in the early days of reform and opening up, Hennessy had many operating models as a liquor, and B2C was not needed at the earliest. Today, Moët Hennessy to participate in the first CICGF has a second meaning, that is, Hennessy has been ahead of other brands of lvmh Group since the reform and opening up, and it is also very important to be able to participate in the CICGF first.
Third, the world is a double-cycle world, a global village, the world has changed China, China is also changing the world, this is a process of mutually beneficial interaction, everyone has the opportunity to participate. Hainan's opening up is not a provincial policy, but a national policy, which actually symbolizes the development prospects of the Chinese market. As a boutique industry, we are more concerned about B2C. The policy of the state to give Hainan Free Trade Port is that this market can move towards exquisite retail.
Interface: What is the difference between circa IPO and CICGF for you? It is possible that as you just said, you think that the CICGF is an expectation of the entire market environment in Hainan.
Andrew: The CIIE is a gesture that China has made to the world, that is, after forty years of reform and opening up, China will continue to open up, and at the same time, it is national. Unlike the CIIE, I think the CICGF should be related to Liberty Island and Free Trade Port, and to Hainan itself. For our industry, we are more concerned about not a certain exhibition, but how to serve our consumers. Therefore, the form of the exhibition is not what we are most concerned about, the form is at the service of its content.
Wu Pengkai (benny): Moët Hennessy was the first brand in lvmh to enter China, and more than a hundred years ago, Hennessy was already advertising in Shanghai and Guangzhou. Now we have two wineries in China, one in Ningxia, which produces Xiatong sparkling wine, and the other in Shangri-La called Ao Yun. Why are we setting up wineries in China? Because this is the demand of our young consumers, they slowly feel that we should produce high-quality wines in China. Just now there is a new news is that our Ao Yun wine has a new high score in james suckling, the 2017 vintage got 97 points, this is our fifth vintage, the first vintage was 93 points in 2013, which is already a good result. So James suckling has a high opinion of our Ao Yun wines.
Andrew: I am very impressed that Chinese consumers are getting more and more delicate in their research and experience of quality. In this case, the pursuit is no longer just to stay in international brands, consumers also have requirements for quality. Moët Hennessy is not just an international brand, we have produced high-end international products in our interaction with the Chinese market. Nowadays, Moët Hennessy focuses on localization and continues to develop in the local market in China, which I think is very meaningful.
Wu Pengkai (benny): And the consumer's feelings are different from before, before it was an international brand, it must be a very good brand. Now they first know Ao Yun's wine, and then they know that it was originally created by an international brand in the exploration of localization.
Interface: benny, you just said that Ao Yun this time to get 97 points of this problem, in fact, before most consumer cognition, a foreign brand into China, people for luxury or high-end alcohol consumption is a natural demand, the early is blindly pursuing a high price, but now, consumers in addition to expensive, but also good, how do you see such a trend change?
Wu Pengkai (benny): Yes, you are right, in the past, expensive means good, now it is not a matter of price. Now consumers are not as sensitive to the price as before, not that they feel that expensive is necessarily good, they will still feel that expensive should be a good thing. Because they have become more and more aware of each brand and each kind of wine since more than a decade ago, they now demand that you can be expensive, but you must be good. And not everyone says good I will agree, consumers like their own feelings, their own judgment.
Andrew: The rejuvenation of the market is a major trend, not a selective category, but the entire market, especially in China's high-end consumer market. Behind the reflection of this overall rejuvenation trend, there is a modern and fashionable collateral performance, such as the interaction between alcohol products and art, and the move towards b2c in the process of exhibition, which are small performances in the general trend of rejuvenation.
Benny Wu: Yes, I can talk about interacting with young consumers in two directions. The first is collaboration with artists, hennessy invited artist Cai Guoqiang to set off a "daytime fireworks" in Cognac, France, during the epidemic last year, and since then we have also been cooperating with different artists with co-branded products or co-branded collaborations. Just past the Spring Festival, we joined hands with contemporary artist Mr. Liu Wei to present the Year of the Ox with Chinese New Year scrolls and launch the Hennessy Cognac New Year Special Edition. It was a success, and our products were basically sold out in a day or two. Recently we worked with digital artist Raefik Annador, who went to Cognac to help us design the Hennessy v.s.o.p Refik Annador Special Edition gift box.
Second, in April we signed a global partnership agreement with NBA. The NBA has had an impact on Chinese basketball culture, and in March they opened the first NBA training center in Asia in Haikou. We're also working with them to promote a young basketball culture, so many aspects of our partnership are for young consumers.
Benny Wu: One of the things that I said earlier is that we work with a lot of Chinese artists. In addition, we have also mentioned that localization is also very concerned about, there is Xia Tong in the eastern foothills of Helan Mountain in Ningxia, and Ao Yun established in the Shangri-La area, which we have just started to do, and there is unlimited potential next.
Andrew: I would like to add that although this industry is an international boutique industry, when French and Italian boutique clothing is worn on the body of Chinese, it is localization in itself. As a liquor category, I personally feel very localized from day one. Because it does not require you to eat Foreign food when alcohol enters this market, when drinking this wine and eating Chinese food, in fact, it is subtly promoting localization, and when consumer goods interact with consumers, this moment is localization. Alcohol from the beginning there is no other requirement for consumers, do not change your original life, you can eat Teochew cuisine, Cantonese cuisine, so the localization of alcohol is imperceptible.
Interface: Just now you talked about wine pairing, I would like to ask benny, because Moët Hennessy on the road of wine matching, I think it is very pioneering, such as Sichuan cuisine, Chaoshan cuisine, etc., then what is the plan to match with other cuisines?
Wu Pengkai (benny): There are a lot of plans, such as we have done Shunde, Chaoshan, Xiamen, Quanzhou, etc., but there are many different places in Chinese cuisine, so our problem is that there are too many choices, and we have to develop, we have to study before we can pair different wines with Hennessy. We are not saying that Sichuan cuisine is a hot pot to drink real wine, not this concept at all, we are going to Sichuan to study each of their dishes, what dishes to accompany our different Hennessy v.s.o.p, Hennessy x.o, Hennessy Paramount is the best. For example, Hunan cuisine and Northeast Cuisine can be made.
Wu Yue (andrew): I also need to find one to match with Hainanese chicken rice.
Interface: Under the impact of the epidemic, the global consumer market is showing a downward trend, in such an unstable situation, how does Moët Hennessy view China's stable local market? What is the development strategy after that? Can you share any changes in the ranking of China's consumer market in your global strategy before and after the pandemic?
Andrew: All of us are learning how to improve ourselves during the pandemic. There is no doubt that this industry has benefited from China's earliest exit from the epidemic, so we can also feel the power of the Chinese market. Many of the things that happened during the epidemic have been laid before the epidemic, and the importance of the Chinese market is not because the epidemic has occurred, but because it is becoming more and more important, and the epidemic may have accelerated the pace of development.
After the epidemic, I believe that this direction has remained unchanged and must be more and more important. China is also undergoing qualitative changes, and this qualitative change is that the pursuit of quality will be more important than the pursuit of speed. Nowadays, Chinese consumers are more and more aware of environmental protection, more and more pursuit of details, and their sensitivity to fashion is also strengthening, so continuous learning is our requirement. I believe that the international aesthetic has enlightened the Chinese market, and China's participation has created more benign competition in the international market. There are more and more competitors in the brand, and for the future, I think we must be in a humble state of mind, to continue to learn, and to make continuous progress.
Interface: There are still many choices of alcohol in the Chinese market, in addition to Hennessy There are other types of brands, in comparison, the two feel that Moët Hennessy is the most attractive point for consumers?
Andrew: It's a world of choices, consumers are constantly adjusting their needs with the times, and Whether it's Hennessy or lvmh's 75 brands are winning consumers' hearts with their characteristics and personalities.
Benny Wu: There are many options in the Chinese consumer market. The first thing we have to ensure is the quality of each brand of Moët Hennessy, the second is the attractiveness of the brand, so that consumers feel that drinking our wine is an improvement of themselves, and the third is to integrate consumer culture, NBA, new packaging, artist cooperation and so on. Although we have developed over a hundred or two hundred years, our products are still preferred by consumers.
Image source: Provided by the brand