Iris Pilement is studying BSc Management with
International Business (Year in Business) at Royal Holloway. For her third year
she secured 2 placement positions. Iris spent 6 months working in Paris with
Publicis as a Marketing and Promotion placement student. She is currently
working in Hong Kong on the second of her placement positions as a Sales and
Marketing intern with start up company Vines and Terroirs.
In this blog article Iris writes
about her time with Vines and Terroirs.
months already spent in Asia I still feeling thrilled to live in such a
cosmopolitan city as Hong-Kong where so many opportunities of business growth
are showing here. The culture here in Hong Kong has left my mind swept
with ideas especially as the culture of wines and spirits has developed so much
over the last five years. Along with the high pace of modernisation, the
knowledge in regards to wines and spirits has moved a long way partly due
to the availability of online articles informing past and
current trademarks, appellations, grape varieties. It is fascinating to
see how quickly they learn and adopt these information available to them.
My main focus as a Junior Business Manager in Hong Kong for Vines and Terroirs
is to work so as to expand and support the growth of the business. The
philosophy that my managers and myself have implemented is ‘try before you buy’
enforcing a trusting nature in a luxury sector that is run on flavors,
sensation and discovery. Baring this in mind and focusing on our target
audience we organize wine tasting events in the form of dinners, parties and
exhibitions. A recent example out here was the ‘French Gourmay’, exhibiting our
French winemakers and wines to the local audience and public, introducing brand
names and providing a good opportunity to make valuable connections.
The wine sector is a forever growing global industry especially out here in
Hong Kong. With a proud history and heritage, the city boasts a title for being
the Centre of International trade encouraging business in all sectors. Many
would consider the wine industry to be thriving due to the removal of
duty-related customs in 2008 and the strong business ties with the Chinese
mainland market. However the Hong Kong wine market keeps different
attributes and its specificities due to British governance and rule here
throughout the 18th and 19thcentury.
While Hong Kong has a well-established professional system with few regulatory
constraints on importing goods, its market shares in China and Thailand
have considerable room to grow. These countries are still very difficult
to access despite more focused government efforts. With these
larger markets at the back of our mind, we spend some of our time in preparing
ourselves for these strategic future opportunities. As already mentioned, my
main expansion focus lies here in Hong Kong, however I believe once we have
mastered the market here expansion will follow suite.
My company and my clients have now been on the Hong-Kong market for a
length of 6 years, being faced with many challenges along the way. This
gives us the experience and expertise into key success
factors enabling a small business to perform in the Asian market.
As part of the current trend, it is to be noticed that some high
end specialty stores, aiming to increase their share of
“grand crus”, are focusing on higher margins rather
than higher volumes. The company I work for solely focuses
on core products for which the quality and the taste are offered for good
value. For instance, this could be a niche wine from areas such as
the Rhone Valley with a price range between 60 and 600 HKD
(approximately between £10 and £ 60).
In Hong Kong the current demand is still running mostly towards red wines
(80% share of the market). Despite numerous attempts to
introduce rosé wine, consumption has only seen its early days
here in Asia. Using England as an example, “Rosé season” only lasts a
few months throughout the very short summer time period. On the contrary, the Rosé wines can
be enjoyed throughout the whole year
suggest why the development of rosé wine is currently our major
focus. As an example, we launched two weeks ago the first “Rosé Corner” in
a trendy bar named “Azure Slash Bar” , located in one of
the most popular districts in Hong-Kong. The “Rosé
Corner” gathers one of the largest selections of rosé that
a can be found on the Asian Market. Indeed, as of today Vines &
Terroirs is the largest importer of rosé wine in Asia.
our business, a strong distribution network is required, but innovation is key.
Vines and Terroirs has recently launched the production of Luminous
Magnums. This is the first time such an innovation has taken place on the
global market for rosé wines. Vines and Terroirs is the first company
to offer a bottle equipped with a micro-fiber label that lights up like a bulb
designed for the Asian market. The Midnight Rose marketing
strategy is moving closer to the one followed by Champagne Houses and
this is beginning to have a strong positive impact on the business
generated.
Innovation, variety along with a strong presence in Hong-Kong (through corners,
exhibitions, tastings or social media networks) has allowed Vines and Terroirs
to work with the following major luxury hotels and restaurants: Robuchon,
Peninsula, Ritz-Carlton, Mandarin Oriental, Shangri-La, The W,
Intercontinental. Their wines are also distributed in smaller family
restaurants.
sales and growth in both B2B and B2C levels
digital & print media, event sponsoring
opportunities and key issues
promotional offers, flyers etc.
We are
pleased that we have been able to use skype to connect with Iris during her
overseas placements and find out more about her daily activities.
