Chateau Margaux was one of the five French elite wines from Bordeaux region. It was protected by a classification system, which dated from 1855. However, its quality fluctuated and the fortunes were not strong when the Mentzelopoulos family took control of the estate. Pontallier was the general manager who tried to bring back the estate on its feet. Robert Parker was a leading wine critic who had recently termed Chateau Margaux as a consistent wine with stunning grace, complexity and richness (Parker and Bordwux, 2003). It emerged as the most elegant and seductive of all the Bordeaux wines.
The emergence of new brands in the market led to the decline of Chateau Margaux sales revenue. To reinstate the declining market, the Chateau Margaux’s owner affirmed that the estate had a great terroir as well as an extraordinary brain pool. There was a need for a new and attractive means of presenting the wine to the customer in order to remain competitive in the market. The world market was full of premium wines. There were traditional networks with140 agents and business partners who operated in 150 markets. However, a small portion was left to be distributed by the sales network of the company. The company had 400 merchants in Bordeaux who were responsible for wine distribution.
The estate produced young barrel samples every spring from the previous year’s harvest. These samples were assessed and tested by journalists and members of the international trade. Selected merchants received en primeur sales allocations, which had low prices (Styron and Choice, 2007). The prices varied throughout the distribution channels, i.e. from merchants, wholesalers, to retailers. Chateau Margaux is a connoisseur’s wine, which journalists help to market. They do this through their critics broadcasted in writing. Their fans would want to know why they have written on a certain brand. This curiosity leads to their purchase of the brand. In case they find it worth, they also help in spreading the gospel to other potential buyers.
Corinne Mentzelopoulos had a primary concern of protecting the brand from vanishing. Her dream was to have every vintage command a price at the top of other Bordeaux wines. The only solution to her problem would have been to produce more wines. The prices of new wines should have been moderated to fit the consumer spending limits. Beyond lower-priced wines, Chateau Margaux could take control of the distribution and manage it properly as per the consumer’s tastes. This will be an initiative to facilitate one of the four Ps of the marketing mix, i.e. place.
Chateau Margaux can only excel in the market with an effective growth strategy. The brand designers should identify the customer taste and preferences. This would help them come up with products that acceptable and appear top in the market. Distribution should be thorough to ensure accessibility. Production levels should also be increased accordingly to satisfy the customer’s demands (Proctor, 2000). This should be done with proper product modification that would it with more features than others in the market.
Marketing the product should focus on availability and nearness to the customers. The firm should use media commercials, advertisements, salespersons and signposts to popularize the brand. This will help capture more consumers from the market. Future sales growth is dependent of innovative marketing. This is because more consumers will be attracted thereby increasing the sales revenue. Innovative marketing will attract more loyal customers who will form a potential market for future production. Such innovative marketing should revolve around advanced technology (Proctor, 2000). The use of internet should be utilized to increase efficiency.
