KEY POINTS:
If Team New Zealand wins the America's Cup, David Ridley will crack open a couple of cases of Moet.
The general manager of Moet Hennessy's New Zealand operation knows that a locally-hosted Cup would attract big spenders who aren't afraid to splash out on luxury labels, such as those in the Moet Hennessy stable.
The New Zealand market for luxury brands is maturing, says Ridley. Although luxury labels are in a tight niche market - about 420,000 bottles of champagne are sold a year in New Zealand - the market here grew by 18 per cent from 2005-2006, according to the most recent International Wine & Spirits Report.
The growth in champagne sales has spurred Moet Hennessy to seize control of the distribution of all its brands in New Zealand, hiring 11 staff and setting up a new Auckland office.
The company, the wine and spirits division of luxury brand house Louis Vuitton-Moet Hennessy, also owns top champagne label Krug, Hennessy cognac, Cloudy Bay wines and a range of other wines and spirits.
It previously had four distributors in New Zealand, including long-time Moet distributor Lion Nathan. However, such fragmented distribution meant the brands were often managed from LVMH headquarters in France.
"It didn't give a great understanding of the marketplace. We want to control the business as close to the consumer as possible and by having people on the ground you make sure you target the right areas."
It could be a challenging job, he reckons. The company is hiring eight more staff from its original three, but for now there will be only one manager for the 15 labels.
Ridley, who has a sales and marketing background, came to Auckland from Sydney in 2005 to set up Moet Hennessy's New Zealand branch. As a regional sales manager with Saab Automobile Australia, and then a senior marketing manager for the Veuve Clicquot label for Moet Hennessy in Australia, he discovered the allure of luxury labels.
The key to selling luxury products was not compromising on quality.
"As a business we recognise where consumers who like these luxury brands like to shop, eat and drink, and if these places befit those brands.
"You wouldn't see a luxury brand in a corner store, the image doesn't fit. There has to be an absolute marriage of everything."
Moet Hennessy is keen to align its labels with the increasing number of upmarket restaurants opening around the country.
But there is no one group of luxury brand buyers to target, he says. They are segmented: the Glenmorangie single malt whisky buyers, the Cloudy Bay chardonnay lovers, the champagne audience.
Luxury brands are an emotional buy, Ridley says. "People get attached to the personality of the brand, they see their personality in the brand and they want to be associated with it."
Ridley, 37, is a modest walking billboard for some of the Moet Hennessy labels, admitting he owns "one or two pieces" of Louis Vuitton - a wallet and a couple of ties.
Choosing his favourite tipple is "like trying to pick a favourite child" but when pressed, he selects Cloudy Bay chardonnay and champagne, preferably Moet, "a drink for any time of the day".
