With rising incomes and fewer places to spend, consumers are upgrading: Moët Hennessy India

Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton has announced the launch of limited-edition craft-mixers in collaboration with Indian home grown brand, Svami. The mixers are designed to enhance at-home consumption of Moët Hennessy brands, according to Sophia Sinha, marketing head of Moët Hennessy India.  

Svami has designed these mixers exclusively for the Moët Hennessy portfolio in India—which includes Belvedere, Glenmorangie and Hennessy, among others.    

Sinha details how Moët Hennessy has adapted to 'home premise' consumption habits, how it is tapping a growing cohort of high spenders, and why it chose to partner with Svami.

What is the idea behind the launch of limited edition mixers exclusively for the Moët Hennessy portfolio in India?    
When the world shut down in March 2020, the consumption habits of consumers changed. What started was a huge trend of home chefs, bakers and also what I like to call ‘pantry mixologists’. In India, the retail channel completely shut down and this fuelled a new trend which continued even after the retail stores opened—that of what I refer to as a new channel of consumption called the ‘home premise’.  

Though on premise has since opened, it has had its own challenges across the nation as we all know. Apart from that international travel is only just yet again opening up. With all these factors in play, the ‘home premise’ became a unique place for consumers to experiment with their drinks. With high discretionary incomes, and no place to spend it on travel, consumers also began upgrading and picking up premium products. Both these factors were good for us.   Consumers started cocktailing but the biggest complaint we got when we spoke to them was that there was no way to make an easy simple cocktail that tasted the same every time it was made.

The recipes online were either cumbersome, or needed ingredients not easily found or never tasted the same each time. Knowing this we decided that why not give the consumer three different and delicious cocktails (one each with Belvedere, Hennessy and Glenmorangie) that could be made at home in three easy steps and would taste exactly the same every single time. We set out to create three mixers—all 100% natural with no artificial flavours—that consumers could use to enhance their ‘home premise’ moment, any time.  

Is this a first of its kind collaboration or does Moët Hennessy curate such products with brands in other markets?    
This is a first collaboration of its kind across Moët Hennessy, in the sense that the products have been uniquely curated inspired by our brands taste profile and especially made to enhance the experience of home cocktailing. This is a limited edition collaboration that we have done with Svami drinks for India.

Why did the brand look to partner with Svami instead of going solo and launching under the Moët Hennessy brand in India?  
India has some wonderful brands across categories and over the past few years, these native local brands are showcasing their quality in terms of production, value, presence, etc. We were very clear that we wanted to work with a partner who could create a mixer that would befit the quality of Belvedere, Hennessy and Glenmorangie. The partner had to also have similar brand ethos to us in terms of quality, precision, sustainability. Svami was therefore chosen to help us bring our vision to life and they have done a fantastic job.  

How are these mixers different from the current portfolio Svami operates?  
Svami is known for its mixers that consumers can use with various alco-bevs. However, these three mixers that Svami has curated for our three brands are created keeping the taste profile and tasting notes of these products in mind. The only way to enjoy these cocktails is to use the mixer with the product that inspired it, that’s the reason why, you get the mixer pack when you buy a bottle of that product.

The reason for an exclusive three pack is to ensure consumers can make as many cocktails as they please, and get the same consistent tasting cocktail at home. The flavour profile for each mixer is also inspired by India…be it the pepper in the Spiced Ginger Ale for Hennessy Very Special or the Pomelo “chakotra” for Belvedere Pure or the Tangerine “Santra” for Glenmorangie Original, each has a link to our culture and its people. What we want is for the consumer to try it and tell us how they like it. 

What are the target markets for this launch?    
In phase one we are limiting the product to major metros as we want to ensure we get the right distribution and enhance consumer experience. It will be available pan-India from phase two (which would be end of the year). In phase one, we will activate for 45 days across major metros starting mid-October. Phase two is another 45 days across the remainder of the country where our products are consumed. This is only for retail for now.  

Source: Campaign India