Cointreau celebrates je ne sais quoi

Cointreau has unveiled Laetitia Casta as its new creative director, hailing the “free-spirited” French model-turned-actress as a modern embodiment of the house’s values.

Laetitia Casta, Cointreau’s new creative director

The two-year appointment was marked last night with an event at the Musée de l”Orangerie, timed to coincide the Paris Fashion Week. The evening featured performances by Casta’s artistic connections as a showcase for her mission of, in the words of Cointreau’s recently appointed CEO Panos Sarantopoulos, “bringing to the forefront the importance of creativity for the house of Cointreau.”

Describing the core values of Cointreau as ”authenticity”, “elegance” and “avant-garde”, Sarantopoulos told the drinks business: “Laetitia resonates with them, she has taken them further. It is a real creative partnership, not a relationship where you have a celebrity at the forefront and take a couple of photos – it’s much deeper.”

Having begun her career as a model, Casta then moved into acting and is now in the process of reinventing herself as a creative director, writer and director.

“She crystallises that side of the Parisian woman that we have always been close to,” remarked Sarantopoulos. “It’s that free spirit, a certain je ne sais quoi: know the codes, yet play with them. This playing with codes, this cocktail if you like, is an art, and it’s also very close to what Cointreau is about.”

Together with Casta, the house has revisited its archives and drawn on the 19^th century figure of Louisa Cointreau, whose husband Edouard established the orange flavoured triple-sec recipe that endures today.

Noting Louisa’s regular Tuesday attendance at the Paris Opera, with which Cointreau still cultivates a close relationship, Sarantopoulos also presented Louisa as a leading light of “Paris café society”, or, in its modern context, ”drinks with the girls.“

“What we are doing today is being true to our roots, reinterpreting our roots in a way that is relevant for everyone today,” he explained. “That’s what Laetitia is all about.”

Hinting that “there are going to be many other steps over the next few months,” Sarantopoulos outlined a plan for Casta to represent Cointreau in key markets worldwide, including the UK, where she will “bring together women of charisma to show what puts the zest in their lives.”

While Rémy Cointreau’s recent results have been negatively affected by the slowdown of flagship Rémy Martin Cognac in the Far East, Cointreau has continued to perform well for the group.

It its latest financial report for the nine months to December 2014, Rémy Cointreau reported 5.8% organic sale growth for its liqueurs and spirits division, with Cointreau enjoying “sustained momentum in the US, France, Australia and Japan.”

Six months after taking the Cointreau helm, Sarantopoulos stressed the importance of the global bartending community and cocktails for developing the brand’s contemporary profile.

Anna Calvi, part of the line-up at Cointreau’s Paris event

“Liqueurs are all about flavours, delivering a certain character that others don’t,” he remarked. “With that intense profile of sweet and bitter orange peel it makes absolute sense to be part of the cocktail game – it can elevate any cocktail.”

In addition to classic cocktails such as the Cosmopolitan or Singapore Sling, Cointreau is focusing particular attention on promoting the Cointreau Fizz – or Cointreau Rickey as it is known in the US.

Reciting the cocktail’s core recipe of 5cl Cointreau, 2cl fresh lime juice and 10cl soda water, Sarantopoulos stressed the “endless possibilities to twist” through the addition of ingredients such as ginger, red berries, basil or cucumber.

Looking ahead, he confirmed that the house’s link to cocktail culture “is going to be further stressed.” In particular this will include encouraging consumers to ask for the brand by name. “We want people to specify what they want, to know what makes their drink special,” Sarantopoulos remarked.

This on-trade focused strategy extends to the “very important” UK market, where Rémy Cointreau opened its own office last year. “The Cointreau Fizz is something we would like to see in all bars,” he observed, highlighting too the importance of the Cointreau Academy, a programme launched for the UK trade in November.

Based at the house’s distillery in Angers, the Academy focuses on the ingredients as well as maceration and distillation methods used by master distiller Bernadette Langlais in the production of Cointreau.