By Adolé Kabwasa,
MBA in International Luxury Brand Management 2014-2015, Germany
They say that you’ll never forget your first time with Krug. And this might in fact be true. After meeting Krug’s current president and CEO Margareth Henriquez in T1, with whom most of the class experienced their first glass of Krug champagne, we had the privilege to participate in a two-day lecture with Rémi Krug, former president and CEO of the Maison and a descendant of Johann-Joseph Krug, who founded the iconic champagne brand in 1843. For sure this lecture will never be forgotten, since it was a unique experience and great fun.
Rémi Krug, the
personification of ‘French charm', is
the perfect ambassador, whose passion for the craft and pride for this
remarkable product remain undiminished after more than 40 years in the business.
In his first lecture,
he gave us great insights into the wine business, its growing area, harvesting
methods and bottling in general as well as the champagne business and the house
of Krug. Rémi told us about the history of Krug and his family, the dream of
the founder, as well as how the brand has evolved over time and overcome challenges
faced during the various decades.
We learned that it’s
not only enough to have an excellent product that sells, but one that also needs
to be aware and ready for the future. The future might hold changes in markets,
population and consumer behavior to which one has to react without hesitation
or fear. As long as the brand knows its DNA and keeps true to its personality
the future holds a lot of opportunities, if one is willing to take the risk.
Rémi showed us the
development of Krug from the 60’s up until today and explained to us the
marketing concepts that were fundamental for its positive growth. On the last
day of his lecture he invited a guest speaker, who discussed the development
and marketing stategies of a spirits brand. No one less than the president and
CEO of Hennessy cognac, Bernard Peillon, spoke to us about the challenges and
opportunities spirit brands have to face and how a brand like Hennessy has been
able to stay on top of the market for the last 250 years.
One of the most
exciting topics was the challenge of having totally different consumer groups
and tasting moments for a single brand and how to handle such a paradox without
overstretching the brand.
