Cadogan launches £25,000 Champagne bath

Knightsbridge hotel the Cadogan has launched a Champagne bath menu in time for Valentine’s Day, and is offering a Dom Pérignon 2002 bath for £25,000. As reported on thedrinksbusiness.com, the 122-bottle Champagne bath starts at £4,000 for a soak in Louis de Custine Brut 1998. Available to hotel guests from 14 February, and running for a year, while the bath is drawn, an optional “bath butler” will be on hand to pour the submerged guest a one of six complimentary bottles offered with the service, and serve chocolate covered strawberries.

Along with Dom Pérignon and Louis de Custine Brut, customers can choose from the Perrier-Jouët Grand Brut 2002 bath for £6,000, the Perrier-Jouët Blason Rosé 2004 bath for £8,000, or the Veuve Clicquot Brut Yellow Label 2006 bath for £8,000. “We’ve had surprising amounts of interest in the baths already,” the Cadogan’s sales and marketing director Lee Jones said. “Most of the interest has been at the top end. We’ve already had one guest pay the deposit for the Dom Pérignon bath,” Jones added.

The service, which can also be booked by external customers, was devised by recently-appointed general manager Will Oakley as the “ultimate indulgence” to mark the five star hotel’s 125th anniversary. Shortly after opening in 1887, the hotel served as the setting for actress Lillie Langtry’s courting of the future King Edward VII. Oscar Wilde was also famously arrested in room 118 in 1895.

The key to luxury branding? Saying "no"

Luxury drinks brands need to learn to say “no” more in order to succeed in today’s tough retail climate, according to one of the UK’s leading brand strategists. As reported in the drinks business, Peter Cross (pictured), brand strategist at retail marketing agency Yellowdoor said: “Luxury is about saying “no”. It’s about maintaining exclusivity and scarcity. Brands who are brazen enough to take the high ground will be able to separate themselves from their competitors."

Speaking at the G.H. Mumm and Perrier-Jouët Champagne Assembly at the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel on Friday, Cross warned of the dangers of being too keen to please. “Last year, the luxury industry said yes a lot – to new markets, new categories and regional thinking – it bent over backwards to allow consumers to have it their way. But people want something even more when they can’t have it,” he said.

Cross stressed however, that retaining exclusivity is not enough. You have to have integrity, values, a story to tell, and a clearly defined place in the market,” he said, citing the economic crisis and the digital revolution as having changed the way we shop. “Luxury items have shifted from being out of reach to being accessible, and we expect brands to filter into our everyday lives. With consumer knowledge up and blogs and Twitter taken more seriously, today’s shoppers are empowered,” he warned.

Cross ended his speech by speaking of the extraordinary power of goodwill gestures. “Small gifts, like extra laces with a pair of Churches shoes, can make all the difference and inspire brand loyalty. Understanding the subtleties of selling is crucial,” he said. Meanwhile, Pierre Aymeric du Cray, global sales director of G.H. Mumm and Perrier-Jouët, spoke of moving beyond the “bling” era in Champagne.

“Consumers are less inclined to buy luxury brands as status symbols to show off with, and are instead looking for genuine brand values,” he said. “Today’s consumers want a sense of timelessness in the luxury goods they buy – something they can pass on to the next generation,” he added, citing personal customer relationships as key to success in 2012. “Consumers are looking for a sense of belonging, to feel part of the brands’ family. 2012 will be all about craftsmanship,” he said.