They say there’s one thing money can’t buy (it’s not happiness bc I can buy coffee and coffee makes me happy), but time.
The clock’s always ticking. No matter whether you’re having the best day of your life, or your worst, the sun will set and a new day will start tomorrow.
Whether your net worth is a couple of crayons or a couple of billion dollars, you can’t buy more time.
It’s an insatiable desire.
Or is it?
There is one brand who has subtly positioned themselves in the market as a means to fulfill the ultra-wealthy’s desire for more time. And no, it’s not Athletic Greens or a fountain of youth.
Meet Remy Martin’s LOUIS XIII Cognac. Aged exactly 100 years, sitting on the tabletops of the world’s most elegant restaurants and hotels, the drink of choice for the royal family, you can get your hands on a 750ml decanter of LOUIS XIII for only $5,000.
A typical cognac pour is 45ml, meaning the decanter holds roughly 16 servings. So each time you enjoy a nice pour of LOUIS XIII that’ll cost you $312. (I think I’ll just stick with my $2 sweet tea LOL.)
This $5,000 decanter is the industry leader and it’s not because of taste (I’ve never had it, LOL), LOUIS XIII has quietly been putting on a stroke of Marketing genius.
In 2015 Remy Martin partnered with highly-touted director Robert Rodriquez and the iconic American actor John Malkovich, to produce a series of commercials for the LOUIS XIII brand.
The focus of the entire effort was to put together a piece of work that embodied the 100 year LOUIS XIII aging process that spans generations.
The elegance, patience, and dedication that it takes to carefully craft LOUIS XIII, needed to scream at viewers while watching these commercials.
After making a series of short films, the team at Remy Martin had an idea.
Sure a 30 second high-touch commercial may get the job done, but LOUIS XIII isn’t just any cognac, it’s THE STANDARD of cognac. A regular old commercial would be stooping too low, they’d give the competition an opportunity.
What do I mean by this?
Well, when’s the last time you saw a Rolls Royce commercial on TV? Hint: the answer is never, they avoid mainstream advertising all together.
Level up your marketing game
Zero BS. Just fun, unfiltered, industry insights with the game-changers behind some of the coolest companies from around the globe.
No spam. Unsubscribe any time.
What Rolls Royce is to the automobile industry, LOUIS XIII is to the cognac industry.
(Here’s a pic of one of the MOST rare LOUIS XIII Cognac decanters which was delivered to the Four Season in LA in a Rolls-Royce Ghost.)
To maintain their status as the crown jewel of the cognac industry, they couldn’t drive in the same lane as their competition, they had to kick it up a gear.
That’s when Remy Martin had the idea to make a movie starring John Malkovich called “100 Years: The Movie You Will Never See”. A film produced in 2015, taking place in the year 2115, and to be released in the year 2115. Yes, 100 years AFTER being produced.
The film featured Remy Martin’s take on what the future may look like, with a newly bottled decanter of LOUIS XIII locked up in a safe, as the focus of it all (the Ark of the Covenant Cognac).
Masters of patience, a brand known for flawless and timeless execution, Remy Martin has kept a tight lip on what viewers can expect from the film, outside of 3 unrevealing trailers.
I mean this is FOMO central right here. A movie literally named “The Movie You Will Never See”, that is a surefire way to get me to want to watch the movie. But guess what? I can’t and you can’t (remember, it’s being released in 2115).
So all we can do is talk about it, exactly what Remy Martin wants us doing.
To take the FOMO, exclusivity, and element of time an extra step further, Remy Martin locked one single copy of the film in a safe.
Is there a key to this safe? Nope.
(Here’s the safe!)
Once the door was shut to the safe, a 100-year countdown started on the front and the door will not open until November 18, 2115, the day of the premiere of the film. When LOUIS XIII Executive Global Director was asked about the safe he said, “The system that could guarantee we hold our promise didn’t exist, [so] we invented it.”
The 1 of 1 safe, holding a 1 of 1 decanter of cognac (every LOUIS XIII cognac is 1 of 1), featured in a film that we will get to see is as exclusive as it gets.
The film is a masterpiece that the creator won’t ever get to experience for themselves, just like a freshly bottled decanter of LOUIS XIII.
Built off the back of a dynasty of cellar masters who dedicate years of their lives studying eau-de-vie (brandy), LOUIS XIII cellar masters exemplify the passion and patience of the timeless LOUIS XIII brand.
They are blessed with experiencing the life’s work of cellar master’s before them, and never able to experience their own work (since the aging process is 100 years). There’s something incredibly special there.
The rewards aren’t reaped by the creator, they’re built for the next generation, just like the 100 Years film.
Talk about a flawlessly executed campaign and brand alignment.
To top it all off, 1,000 esteemed guests from around the globe were given tickets (made of steel #boujee) to the movie premiere on November 18, 2115, which they are encouraged to hand down to their descendants who will be able to attend.
Now the next time someone says money can’t buy time, point them in the direction of LOUIS XIII’s flawlessly bottled cognac that is just as much cognac as it is patience, elegance, and exclusivity.
