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MARKETING: ROEDERER: Cristal clear

01 September 2008 By db staff writer

Iconic Champagne brand Louis Roederer has redesigned its label and website, successfully managing to update its image, while reinforcing the brand’s classic credentials. Charlotte Hey reports

The team at Louis Roederer has been pretty busy for the last 18 months as it prepares for the launch of its new-look label this month. Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa wrote in The Leopard, “If we want things to stay as they are, things will have to change”, and this has been the driving principle behind the changes being made to one of Champagne’s most famous labels.

It is never easy to redesign the look and label of such a classic and even iconic brand. In fact, getting it right is potentially so tricky that some might say why bother trying to change it in the first place. But for a company like Roederer, languishing on your laurels is not an option, especially when it believes that, now more than ever, communication methods and the ways in which brands interact with consumers are changing so rapidly.

“We started with the website – launched in France in May this year, and the English version launched in July,“ explains Michel Janneau, managing director of Louis Roederer. “Our website was rich and aesthetic, but it clearly belonged to the first generation of brand sites; institutional and with no interactivity or real experience of the brand. What we have tried to achieve with the new website is a far cry from traditional static Champagne websites. It is full of interactive opportunities and almost 50% dedicated to cutting-edge art activities that, we hope, will give the site relevance and interest for the consumer in the long term.”

Frédéric Rouzaud, president of Champagne Louis Roederer, and the prime driver behind the new website, adds: “For many years we have simply been telling people about the values of Louis Roederer Champagne, but in today’s world we need to communicate in a different way and somehow share those values more creatively.” He continues, “The endeavour required to create a fine piece of art is something people can understand and appreciate, so it makes sense for us to draw out the parallels between that and our wines. I hope the new site will prove a living thing that is of relevance to both art and wine lovers.”

Perhaps the most daring change, however, has been the decision to tweak the Roederer livery, but it believes itself to be a company that is prepared to change, innovate and move with the times, hence the reference earlier to Lampedusa.

But according to the Roederer team, the new labelling is not a revolution – more a reinvention of tradition. Jean-Claude Rouzaud was renowned, during his time at the head of the company, for always questioning and refreshing. His son Frédéric is very much a chip off the old block and has proved in the short time that he has been at the helm that this tradition should continue.

Louis Roederer is about combining a respect for traditional values with an ongoing commitment to quality improvement through cutting-edge technology. Until now, the labels have always projected the image of a company that was wedded to “unchanging tradition”. What it wanted to do with the changes in the packaging is express more than that, building on certain key aspects of established packaging but presented in a purer, simpler and much more elegant style. The best thing about this redesign is that it makes the range much more consistent without, in any way, compromising the individuality and specific characters of the different wines in the range. One major innovation has been that all the bottles now display the attractive white medallion that was previously reserved only for Cristal. This has the added advantage of bringing Cristal more firmly into the Louis Roederer fold. The labels are smaller and simpler in both form and content. They have moved away from the idea of opulence towards a more refined and understated modern style.

For Janneau, with the new designs “we have reached the balance we were looking for; it was very difficult not to succumb to the temptation of some creative exercises and make radical changes.” He continues: “However, we live with such careful appreciation of what our brand means that in this redesign we have tried to limit the plastic surgery every time; it could clearly be dangerous for the beauty of the soul of the brand.”

THE NEW LOOK WEBSITE

From the opening page, the screen is split into two – giving as much focus to the artistic partnership as to the wine production. From there, visitors can follow two parallel artistic worlds: one shares the life of the vine and the winemaker’s path in producing a genuinely great Champagne; the other an unprecedented insight to a creative exhibition.

Clicking through to “the vine is reborn” introduces visitors to a beautiful series of interactive illustrations showing the development of the vine during the year’s growing process (first six months already online, the next six months to follow). The technical detail provided here by Roederer’s winemakers will be of interest to any wine enthusiast. Up-to-date information on the house, its vineyards and its wines is also provided in depth.

The parallel, artistic side of the site will be an evolving showcase for stories arising from Louis Roederer’s art patronage worldwide. The company is partners with the Bibliothèque Nationale de France Galerie de Photographie (Paris); the Venice Mostra; the Shakespeare and Company Literature Festival (Paris), the Metropolitan Opera in New York, and many more.

The French version of the site was launched to acclaim earlier this year with the exclusive online rights to excerpts from Sophie Calle’s award-winning exhibition, Prenez soin de vous, at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France. Extracts from this may be seen on the site, which will be updated in August with a retrospective of the renowned Shakespeare and Company literature festival.