The man tipped to take over the CIVB has told decanter.com he intends to double the amount spent on advertising over the next four years.
Jean-Louis Trocard, who is widely expected to become president of the CIVB (Conseil Interprofessionel des Vins de Bordeaux) after the departure of current president Eric Dulong next month, says that he intends to increase spend ‘to modernise our communications.’
While there won’t be any increase in semi-clad bodies and suggestive language that the CIVB has found gets Bordeaux talked about more than other French wine regions, the new campaign continues to try to show Bordeaux as elegant, sophisticated, young and hip.
TV ads, due to be launched on UK television in the autumn, will feature ten-second spots that develop the current ‘Be Bordeaux’ theme. As well as the sexy blonde who features in the current ads, there will be a couple having an intimate dinner, and a group of twenty-somethings in a bar. All, of course, will be enjoying their glass of Bordeaux. A print and poster campaign will be launched next year.
‘We have to modernise our communications, especially in our traditional markets,’ Trocard said, adding that he believes Bordeaux should fight the battle against the New World on its own terms.
‘Our wines do not have to resemble those of the New World, but should instead represent their terroir. We have forgotten that ours are wines of balance rather than wines of concentration. This is an area in which we have room to do battle with our competitors.’
The presidency of the CIVB is traditionally taken in turns, with growers and négociants providing candidates at each alternate election. While the previous president usually becomes the organisation’s vice-president, the current incumbent, Eric Dulong, has resigned from the membership of the CIVB’s committee. Instead Christian Delpuech, general manager of Ginestet, is expected to take over the vice-presidency after the elections on 12 July.
Trocard, who owns the Bordeaux Supérieure property Château Trocard, was president of the CIVB before Dulong and is currently the organisation’s vice-president. While he maintains that his presidency will steer Bordeaux towards the future, ‘rather than looking backwards at its past’, his leadership is not expected to produce any sudden changes in direction for the region.
Written by Natasha Hughes28 June 2002
