Louis XIII Cognac composes 1-note symphony based on clinking glasses

Dive Brief:

• Louis XIII Cognac created an original musical composition to promote the complexity of its beverage, the company revealed in a press release shared with Marketing Dive. The “One Note Prelude” is based on the G-sharp note that rings out when people clink glasses of Louis XIII.
• Paris-based Israeli pianist Yaron Herman composed the one-note symphony, which is designed to highlight how something simple — like one musical note — can have complexity, a parallel the company hopes to associate with the flavor of its cognac. The one note is played by various instruments at different octaves to offer musical variety.
• In addition, the Rémy Martin brand choreographed two robotic arms to clink glasses to capture the G-sharp sound in time with the music. The robot arms will start a world tour in Louis XIII Boutiques beginning in Singapore, Beijing and Xi’an, China in April 2020. The brand created the project in conjunction with creative agency FF Los Angeles.

Dive Insight:

Louis XIII Cognac has a history of bringing original music to its holiday campaigns, a strategy that attempts to play up the uniqueness of its high-end product. The latest campaign promotes the cognac’’s flavor through an original score that illustrates the complexity that can come from simplicity.

In a previous campaign, the brand worked with Pharrell Williams to encourage consumers to care about climate change. For the #ifwecare campaign, Williams wrote a new song that was only played once at a brand event in Shanghai. It was recorded on a a CD made out of clay from Cognac that was locked in a safe to be opened in the year 2117. The idea was to inspire people to take action today so that future generations could hear the song. The latest campaign keeps up the future-facing momentum by adopting high-tech features like the robotic arms.

The symphony allows the Rémy Martin brand to tap into the trend of branded music that has been popular this year. Increasingly, brands as diverse as Mountain Dew, Oreo, Dove and Expensify have tapped mainstream musicians to write and record songs for their brands. By working with a jazz pianist, Louis XIII matches the music with the type of mature, sophisticated consumer that it is targeting with its cognac.

Cognac sales have been on the rise for the last four years, according to CognacUSA, and the U.S. continues to be the spirit’s largest market, with 87.4 million bottles sold in 2018. By pushing its messaging during the holiday season, when people are celebrating with friends and are more likely to treat themselves to luxury liquor, Louis XIII is aiming to capture some of these sales.