THE next time you roll the word 'Veuve' sexily around your mouth as you order Veuve Clicquot champagne, you might want to reflect on the meaning of the word in French - widow. Madam Clicquot lost her husband in 1805 and had to helm the business herself against pretty daunting odds. . .
However, the last eight presidents of the champagne house have been men. When Cecile Bonnefond took over the reins to become the second female president of Veuve Clicquot, some might have mistaken her appointment a break from tradition, when it was actually a return to the company's roots.
'It's interesting that out of the 10 presidents Veuve Clicquot has had in its over-200 years of history, only two have been women, even though it was started by a strong woman,' Ms Bonnefond muses.
She readily admits that she's had it easier than Madam Clicquot did, during a time when it wasn't common for a woman to aggressively head a business. Still, there have been times people have looked askance at a woman heading a large champagne house, especially since she didn't come from a wine-making background.
'Some people did wonder about me becoming president of Veuve Clicquot, but besides it making sense from the history of the company, it also makes it easier for me to concentrate on the business side of Veuve Clicquot,' says Ms Bonnefond.
'The wine is the heart of the brand, and I never question the judgement of our blenders,' she notes. 'Similarly, when it comes to running the business, I have a clear idea what I want to accomplish, and I'm focused very much on brand building, especially in Asia, and in Singapore in particular, where we've had such strong growth.'
With a focus on growing Veuve Clicquot as a brand, does she wish she were heading one of the smaller, more nimble champagne houses where policies are easier to institute? Not for a moment, she says.
'I actually sometimes feel bad for many of the smaller champagne houses,' she says without condescension. 'They're at the mercy of bad harvests, because it simply isn't feasible for them to maintain large stocks of reserve wine. We have that and it makes all the difference in the consistency of our champagne, which makes a brand easier to build.'
Veuve Clicquot makes some excellent vintage champagnes, but it's probably best known for its Yellow Label, which is a non-vintage blend. This key product relies particularly on the house's extensive stocks of reserve wines so that regardless of a particular season's vicissitudes, the Yellow Label's taste profile remains the same.
Ms Bonnefond's vision for Veuve Clicquot is to achieve and maintain the same kind of instant brand recognition enjoyed by luxury fashion brands like Louis Vuitton (LV) and Chanel. That's a tall order, but Veuve Clicquot is clearly one of the biggest names in the bubbly game and is poised to stay there.
The comparison with LV is no coincidence, of course, since the house is under the same LVMH group as the fashion brand, which translates into financial resources to carry out global branding campaigns.
It's clear Ms Bonnefond means business when it comes to captaining Veuve Clicquot, and is always careful to address misconceptions about the brand.
'I can never understand it when some women come up to me and tell me how charming Veuve Clicquot champagne is,' Ms Bonnefond says in exasperation. 'It is not charming. There's over 60 per cent of Pinot Noir inside, unlike most of our competitors. So, it's a big-bodied champagne, and anything but soft,' she adds. No, it's not soft, and neither is its president.
This article was first published in The Business Times on September 5, 2008.
