Hennessy wooing the young generation in China

Bernard Peillon. Photo provided to China Daily

To signify the importance of the Chinese market, Hennessy held a celebration activity in March in Guangdong, Guangzhou province, to kick off its global tour marking the brand's 250th anniversary. The celebration included an art show that invited top artists to demonstrate the history of Hennessy and an official release of its 250 Collector's Blend, which costs about $600 per liter.

Hennessy will hold similar celebrations in Moscow, New York, Johannesburg and Paris.

China's booming e-commerce sector and growing number of people making purchases on their mobile devices also provide an opportunity for Hennessy to increase their presence in the country. Hennessy has cooperated with Jingdong, a major Chinese online retailer, to make its products widely accessible.

"I'm surprised by the speed of the increasing volume rate coming through the e-commerce channel. It increases almost every month," said Peillon.

Although Hennessy has already built distribution channels that covered about 80 cities in China, expanding deep into even some tier-four cities in offline shops, the significant number of Hennessy products sold online makes the luxury wine brand to think seriously about its involvement in the e-commerce era..

"We're targeting the thumb generation. We need to be part of the e-commerce business. But how far, how big we're still not sure, " Peillon said.

Hennessy has also become an investor in China's alcohol market. In 2011 it invested in a sparkling wine vineyard under the brand of Chandon in Ningxia in 2011. Two years later, it bought a vineyard in Shangri-la, Yunnan province. It also stepped into the popular baijiu market by buying Wenjun, a Sichuan-based baijiu company.

Peillon just tasted the very first sparkling wine produced in their Chinese vineyard a few weeks ago and was impressed.

"We believe we can expand our portfolio ... through such kind of initiatives. Hennessy is going to keep growing in China," he said.

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