Rémy Martin leverages the Super Bowl to attract a younger audience, as Anheuser-Busch steps aside
This story is part of Digiday’s annual coverage of the Super Bowl. More from the series →
Rémy Martin is using its first national ad for the Super Bowl as a bid to attract younger audiences to its products. This is a change from the last two years, when the alcohol brand advertised around the big game through regional efforts. But this year, Anheuser-Busch’s exclusivity on alcohol ads is up for the first time since 1989, opening the door for other alcohol brands to join — and Rémy Martin is capitalizing on that.
“The alcohol advertising exclusivity lift allowed for Rémy Martin to create a Super Bowl advertisement on a national scale,” Rémy Cointreau Americas CEO Nicolas Beckers said, adding that “increasing consumer interest in the Cognac sector and Rémy Martin that we’ve seen since the onset of the pandemic” drove the brand’s interest in its Super Bowl investment this year.
During the Super Bowl, one of the few live events people tune into primed to watch the ads, Rémy Martin is making a bid to attract a younger audience by making use of social media, digital out-of-home ads and the Super Bowl itself. Rémy Martin is using Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and a 60-second ad spot featuring Serena Williams with the goal of capturing the attention of Gen Z sports fans to the brand, a similar move to Google’s recent digital OOH campaign.
Beckers said that Rémy Martin built out a robust marketing strategy that allows the brand to reach, recruit and engage a broader audience through new consumption and celebratory moments like the Super Bowl. The brand is also leveraging over 2,000 digital OOH displays across strategic locations in Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami and New York from Super Bowl weekend through July.
Rémy Cointreau is not the only alcohol brand entering the Super Bowl space this year. Other non-Anheuser-Busch brands including Molson Coors and Heineken are also vying for eyeballs during the big game.
Last year, Rémy Cointreau made its Super Bowl appearance with a 30-second spot that aired in 17 regional markets for its Islay gin brand, The Botanist. In 2021, the brand aired a 30-second ad for its premium French liqueur Cointreau in 15 markets.
It is unclear how much of Rémy Martin’s advertising budget is allocated to this particular campaign, as Beckers would not share overall budget specifics. According to Pathmatics data, the brand spent a little over $8.1 million in 2022. The data also showed that it spent $1.2 million on Facebook, $1.6 million on Instagram and $1 million on OOH displays last year.
Rémy Martin does a good job at positioning its products with specific audiences, according to Margo Kahnrose, CMO at the omnichannel platform for performance marketing, Skai. This is reflected in the company’s use of the Super Bowl to express its brand values, like community and small business support, and also to create relevance.
“They’re using the same approach of crystal-clear, targeted positioning this year by associating Rémy Martin with Serena Williams as she recently retired, she is a universal, iconic symbol of the continued, relentless pursuit of excellence the brand stands for,” said Kahnrose. She added that brands investing in Super Bowl ads this year are, more than ever, ensuring they maximize viewership and engagement among Gen Z through either television or social media.
“Television advertising is largely measured on impressions, and impressions only become a needle-moving metric through repeat exposure, over time, releasing full spots or extended cuts early allows for broadened reach,” Kahnrose said.
Following the Super Bowl, Rémy Martin will continue to drive engagement with over 60 client-facing events in New York, Los Angeles, Houston, Atlanta, Miami, Arizona and other locations. In addition, Rémy Martin is currently working on a dedicated e-commerce plan for Eboutique, Reservebar and Instacart that will be launched in the months to come.
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