Moët Hennessy’s new North Asia MD wants to refocus on core brands
Incoming managing director for North Asia Patrick Madendjian spoke to Rebecca Lo about his plans to leverage Moët Hennessy’s cache for new consumers.
After three years based in Kuala Lumpur as Moët Hennessy’s managing director for Southeast Asia emerging markets, Patrick Madendjian has relocated to Hong Kong to take on the role of North Asia MD.
His focus will be on consolidation and Madendjian plans to continue building on the momentum he built in Southeast Asia in his new post.
“We changed the organisation,” he said. “When I started, Malaysia and Singapore were two distinct units. When I left, it was one cluster and a well-oiled machine. We reignited the Hennessy brand in Singapore, taking it to number two in the market for Cognac and closing in fast on number one.”
Along with Hong Kong, Madendjian will also oversea Macau, Taiwan and South Korea in his new role. As he builds his executive team, he readily admitted that he remain in observation and discovery mode.
“I need time to build a road map,” he confessed, noting that similar to Malaysia and Singapore when he started there, North Asia functions as separate markets. He aims to restructure leadership and integrate the four markets into a single cluster to capitalise upon synergies.
“We have three pillar targets for the next five years,” Madendjian said. “First: we plan to refocus on our core products and what we do best. Coming out of the pandemic, our portfolio expanded with new lines of products. With disposable income down and consumption normalised, we are now re-examining products that may yield sustainable growth while acknowledging the subtleties between different countries and territories.”
The second target is to get the entire North Asia team on the same page to think as a cluster and work more closely with Europe and Moët Hennessy’s headquarters.
“Third is cost-based control,” he said. “We overstaffed after Covid. As we cannot keep growing head count, we intend to reallocate colleagues rather than downsize.”
The Hong Kong newbie knows he has a lot to learn about the city, but believes the company can capitalise on its reputation as a mature Champagne market.
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“The natural competition in Hong Kong’s Champagne market can accelerate brand building,” he said. “There are a lot of avenues to explore. For example, our Formula One global collaboration can be activated here with a focus on desirability.”
In comparison, he said that South Korea is in its early stages with Moët & Chandon helping to open the market for the rest of the wine portfolio.
Other areas ripe for development in the region include rosé and whisky to sate Taiwan’s passion for single malt whiskies. “Rosé is still somewhat new for Moët Hennessy but we see it accelerating in consumption,” Madendjian noted. “I would say that Asia is blushing but not quite pink yet.”
Hong Kong is a mature market for Cognac, having received its first shipment of Hennessy in 1866. “Hennessy is part of the local fabric,” said Rola Lin, marketing director, Moët Hennessy Brands with Moët Hennessy Diageo. “Here, we mix green or oolong tea with Hennessy on ice.”
“It is a wonderful thing to see how different countries enjoy Hennessy,” stated Madendjian. “In the US, people drink Hennessy with cranberry juice or ginger ale. In Mexico where I was group marketing manager for spirits, it’s mixed with Coca Cola. And in Southeast Asia, it’s mixed with soda. All speak to Hennessy’s ability to adapt to local cultures.”
He acknowledged Gen Z as an important market, saying he intends to explore the brand’s established connection with music to build the relevant associations with this demographic. “While price may be a factor, its desirability is what we want to develop for young people,” he said.
Moët Hennessy recently partnered with Hong Kong pre-mixed cocktail guru Draft Land HK at Hennessy Mart. The pop up event at Central Market positioned Hennessy as an approachable brand with the venue intentionally chosen as it is popular among younger drinkers.
“We surveyed 400 people with 71% of them Gen Z and Millennials; 70% said they saw our ad and came out of curiosity while 51% bought cocktails,” Lin said. “More women tried the products than men. People loved the photo ops; the products were easy to drink; and they would recommend Hennessy to friends.
“Since this group knows about Draft Land, they were interested in our collaboration. It proves that our instincts were correct. Indeed, Hennessy Mart exceeded our expectations for Gen Z and Millennials.”
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