The smartphone way to market Champagne puts traditional marketing strategies under new attack.
A new Champagne company offers a whole new take on the traditional way of buying wine.
Psst! Wanna buy a Champagne house?
Seriously; there’s a new kid on the block, hoping to rack up a series of firsts. It’s the first new Champagne house to open in almost 45 years; it’s the first that aims to sell its product via an app; it’s the first to crowdfund its development; and – perhaps the most shocking blow to Champagne’s amour-propre – it’s British.
Although some other brands and variants have been launched in the past half century, Champagne Piaff claims it is the first major Champagne brand formed since Nicholas Feuillatte hit the market in 1972. A “new” house was launched in 2013, when two French entrepreneurs launched Champagne Brimoncourt, but that brand had already been previously registered with the CIVC, so it was second-hand, rather than brand new, if you’ll pardon the pun.
The Piaff business has been in the making for several years, starting off as the brainchild of Laurie Kempster, a South African forensic accountant and winemaker.
He created, registered and packaged Champagne Piaff, and developed the business model he and his founding partners believe will revolutionize the Champagne world – sales via an app.
“We are the first prospective major Champagne House to have launched in the era of smartphones and e-connectivity, and this has led much of our thinking,” Kempster said. “Currently, Champagne can only be purchased through retailers and distributors, but we want to change all that by allowing customers to have a direct relationship with Piaff, and be able to order directly from our château at one tap of an app.”
Most bottles will be sold in advance before they leave the cellar, and further development will happen using rewards-based crowdfunding methods and through memberships.
Kempster has been joined by a team of founding investors and experts, including British-born chairman and branding aficionado, Graham Warsop, and COO Victoria Bennett, also British, who heads up operations and marketing. Piaff Champagnes are made by its primary producers, the Mansard family, fifth-generation Champagne-makers, based near Epernay.
There are three variants currently produced, a rosé brut, brut, Grand Cru blanc de blancs, and a vintage brut. All except the blanc de blancs are Pinot Meunier-dominant blends, and prices range between $42 and $59.
Piaff is opening up the business to investors – until the end of November 2016 investors can buy shares in the business through Code Investing.
The company says opportunities such as this are rare. “New major Champagne houses rarely launch, due to the strict limitations put in place by the CIVC. It is also a rare opportunity to invest directly in a Champagne house, rather than in a larger holding company.”
The money raised through investment will be used to develop and launch the app that will be core to service delivery, complete the purchase of the château complex in Champagne, and provide the stock for the first two containers of Champagne Piaff, most of which has already been sold in the US and Canada.
Investment opportunities start at $1200 and go up to $305,000 with additional benefits offered in proportion to the amount.
“Our current investment drive to raise an additional $1.8m will, in part, fund the development of the app,” Kempster said. “In return, we offer healthy returns of 8 percent, as well as perks such as the right to equity in the Champagne house, complete with access to the 17th Century Château Piaff, and a yearly supply of Champagne.”