Thinking about putting on a party for the ages for all our subscribers, we put in a call to Korbel Champagne Cellars in Sonoma County. The bad news is they're sold out, so the party's off. The good news is they had a good success story to tell.
Korbel has been the top-selling brand of "methode champenoise" sparkling wine in the U.S. for years. But this has been no cause for celebration. Being number one takes work. So as the rest of Americans lay snug in their beds each holiday season, wondering whether they'll be smooched at midnight, Korbel PR director Margie Healy suffers annual bouts of insomnia in anticipation of the inevitably, uh, flat champagne sales that follow the holiday rush like clockwork.
"In past years, 70 percent of our champagne has been sold in October, November and December," Healy says. "In 1994 we started looking for promotions that we could run around the first of the year to boost sales."
Enter Edelman PR, with its massive celebrity database - which details the indiscretions, hobbies, hidden talents, philosophies, and other sordid details of the lives of the rich and famous. Some of the gossip is so random you'd never know you needed it - until you're looking for an actor, or other limelight denizen whose painterly skills extend beyond the ability to render stick figures.
Through Edelman, Korbel identified celebrity artists and began courting the best prospects to design limited edition bottles and champagne flutes, with hopes of spurring sales during the off-season. In January of 1994, the wine maker introduced its first limited edition "artist series" bottle, designed by fashion designer Nicole Miller. The bottle design, which housed Brut rose (pink champagne), targeted a largely female demographic of potential buyers for Valentine's Day.
Renderings by Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra and Jane Seymour followed in the next three years, and collectors and fans began looking for the signature bottles. "You might have someone who's interested at first in [one celebrity's work] but then they end up wanting the whole series," Healy says. "We got a flurry of calls after Frank Sinatra passed away from people wanting to get his bottles." Korbel, of course, is banking on the idea that consumers who become acquainted with the brand as "collectors" will be converted into loyal drinkers.
Every year, a new bottle is launched in tandem with a celebrity charity event, in which limited edition bottles and champagne flutes are auctioned off to benefit the charity of the artist's choice. Nicole Miller's cause celebre was Second Harvest, while proceeds in the year of Old Blue Eyes went to the Sinatra Foundation.
Jane Seymour's watercolor bottle design was unveiled in February 1998 at a reception at Wolfgang Puck's Granita restaurant in Malibu. Revenues were channeled to City Hearts, an L.A. nonprofit (for which Seymour serves as honorary chair) that supports at-risk youth in pursuing careers in the arts. To raise the profile and profitability of the event, Edelman secured glitterati such as Matt Damon, George Clooney, Cindy Crawford, Julia Roberts, Sharon Stone, Sly Stallone and others to sign and decorate champagne flutes for a silent auction. Seymour also donated two original lithographs to the auction, which, in the end, generated $18,000 for City Hearts.
Oh yes, and let's not forget Korbel in the deal. The sparkling wine seller sold out of all 240,000 bottles of Seymour's limited edition bottle, shipping its entire stock to retailers within six weeks of the launch. And for the year ending Jan.16, 1999, sales grew in volume by nine percent in a category that declined by one percent overall.
"Seymour's romantic persona, popularity, artistic abilities and media savvy helped us execute a variety of tactics that successfully promoted both the event and the bottle launch during the key sales period," says Joanna King, senior account supervisor at Edelman. "She was thrilled to participate and showcase her artwork."
Korbel, meanwhile, is thrilled that the promotion has legs. Collectors didn't balk a bit when the launch of the manufacturer's 1999 artist series bottle (by Whoopie Goldberg) was held until May. Similarly, Korbel promotions for the year 2000 won't kick off until later in the year. "People may need a rest from champagne after this New Year's," King says.
Who pops the cork as this year's fabled celeb artist? (Nope, it's not Dennis Rodman.wrong demographic.) Kenny G has signed on to his first ever marketing partnership - just in time for the launch of his new CD, "Faith," which includes a remake of "Auld Lang Syne."
Korbel plans to sponsor a 20-city tour for the saxophonist, and is sending out free copies of the single while supplies last (for a free copy, call 1-800/7-KORBEL).
In fact, PR NEWS is about to receive its very own complimentary copy of the Kenny G. single. Free champagne, too? We weren't that lucky. After all, there's a shortage.
Mediapalooza
No opportunities for product placement on "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman".but Korbel's partnership with Jane Seymour brought a windfall of media attention elsewhere in the world of TV and print. To wit:
- 116 million+ media impressions.
- Feature stories on "Entertainment Tonight," "E! News Weekend," "E! Gossip Show," "CNNfn," and "CBS' Eye to Eye with Bryant Gumbel."
- A media tour, during which Seymour appeared on "The View," "Late Night with Conan O'Brien," "The Crier Report," "CBS News Saturday Morning," "Fox on Entertainment" and ABC Radio Network.
- 70+ print stories, including ink in the New York Post, The Oregonian, The Denver Post, Tampa Tribune and St. Louis Post-Dispatch.