G.H. Mumm has had a long-running association with the Victorian Racing Club and Melbourne Cup Carnival, this year the Champagne brand brought some of that celebration to Sydney’s Barangaroo.
The Managing Director of Pernod-Ricard Australia, Bryan Fry, told TheShout that the live site experience at Barangaroo was a great opportunity for the brand to provide Sydneysiders with the chance to join in and celebrate the Melbourne Cup experience.
“The Melbourne Cup Carnival is one of the biggest activations for Mumm in the calendar,” Fry told TheShout. “Now in the ninth year of our partnership with the VRC, the Sydney event is an opportunity to bring a piece of the action to Barangaroo and create even more excitement around ‘the race that stops the nation’.
“Mumm is a brand that strives to ‘dare, win and celebrate’, and the Sydney live site is a great opportunity to come together and celebrate that moment of conviviality with colleagues, friends and family for the Melbourne Cup Carnival.”
In terms of what the brand hopes to get out of extending the partnership to Sydney, Fry added: “Cup Day Festival is a great extension of the partnership we have with the VRC and it aims to grow the presence of the Melbourne Carnival and Mumm, whilst providing an opportunity for Sydney to join in and celebrate the Cup Day experience.
“The waterfront setting, live music and live coverage creates an ideal champagne moment for people to share with friends and colleagues, the next best thing to the race itself.
“We really want people to come away feeling that they’ve had a unique and exciting Melbourne Cup Day experience with friends, family and colleagues in Sydney, supported by Mumm and the other partners.”
Fry also said that the timing of the live site was important in the lead-up to Christmas.
“This is one of the biggest activations for Mumm in the calendar and creates a strong opportunity for the brand. The Melbourne Cup Carnival also falls within a key selling period, between October and December, so it is a good opportunity for us to leverage this,” he told TheShout.
In terms of looking at the year ahead, Fry said that as Australians begin to understand more about Champagne and how much of a flexible drink it is all-year-round, that meant there are some strong growth opportunities for the segment.
“It’s an exciting time for Champagne and there is still a lot of opportunity for the category in Australia,” he said.
“We believe that Champagne is no longer just for the one-off occasions, it is becoming a more affordable luxury to celebrate throughout the year, though let’s not forget that its creation is an art. It takes the finest craftsmanship and grape supply to produce quality champagne, it’s not a bottomless supply and we only have an allocation of that here in Australia.
“At the same time, we are seeing premium Champagne in double-digit growth in the above $60 category as consumers are premiumising. We expect to see this continue to grow in the coming year.
“In addition, earlier this month, we announced the launch of Australia’s largest Champagne bar at the new Victoria Racing Club Stand and we are looking forward to seeing what progress this makes in the coming year.”