Managing Director Of Cristal Not Impressed With Rap Patronage

[Walter Cronkite]

In a special edition of The Economist Magazine, the managing director of Louis Roderer Cristal addressed the popularity of the brand amongst Hip-Hop artists.

In an article titled "Bubbles & Bling" in the March 2006 issue, Frederic Rouzaud, the managing director of Cristal, stated that the company observes its association with the rap world with "curiosity and serenity."

Despite importing over 50,000 cases of the champagne per year, Rouzaud was less than thrilled at rappers' fondness for the posh drink.

"What can we do?" Rouzaud told The Economist. "We can't forbid people from buying it. I'm sure Dom Perignon or Krug would be delighted to have their business."

The article further labeled the constant Cristal patronage by rappers as "unwelcome attention."

The article contains pictures of Sean "Diddy" Combs, one of the drink's most popular enthusiasts and quotes Jay-Z's No. 1 hit "Hard Knock Life," which name-checked the brand.

According to AmericanBrandstand.com, the pricey champagne was the 8th most mentioned brand on Billboard's Top 100 chart in 2005 with 35 mentions, being promoted by the likes of Kanye West, Trina, Lloyd Banks, The Game, Mariah Carey, and others.

Source: allhiphop.com

[Short Irish Guy]

Yeah, it's SO hard to imagine why Cristal doesn't want to be associated with rappers who do nothing but murder themselves and talk about whores. Good for them. The savages who run rap these days need to put those fucking rappers in check. The dumbass teenagers who listen to that shit are too stupid to separate the rap gimmick that sells records to how MEN act around women.

Rap is in the toilet these days and they only have to look in to mirror to find the fault...

[Pyro]

Reminds of the owner of Tommy Jeans not wanting black people to wear the clothes he made.

Sounds like a racist statement if you ask me.

[The Real]

The sad thing is that brothers will still go out and buy Cristal even though this idiot doesn't give a fuck about us and doesn't want our money.

[Short Irish Guy]

The sad thing is that brothers will still go out and buy Cristal even though this idiot doesn't give a fuck about us and doesn't want our money.

...or take care of their kids...or afford kids they have...or hold a job...or stop killing people...

[Stallion]

...or take care of their kids...or afford kids they have...or hold a job...or stop killing people...

A lot of white people can't do the samething. Plus they like to fuck their sisters.

Sounds like Rouzaud doesn't want Cristal to be known as a rich African American liquor. To each their own. But just like short irish guy, he is an idiot. What's next? Men's Wearhouse saying that they don't want white people buying their suits because of the Enron scandal? Nope that wont happen because the people responsible for the Enron crap our white.

[Flying High]

Yeah, it's SO hard to imagine why Cristal doesn't want to be associated with rappers who do nothing but murder themselves and talk about whores. Good for them. The savages who run rap these days need to put those fucking rappers in check. The dumbass teenagers who listen to that shit are too stupid to separate the rap gimmick that sells records to how MEN act around women.

Rap is in the toilet these days and they only have to look in to mirror to find the fault...

What a bunch of bull shit. How can a brand like Cristal's image be hurt by a few rappers brandishing the drink in rap videos? That's not even logical by a long shot. If that's the case then every luxury brand except for Hermes (which scorned Oprah) falls in this category. Hip hop accounts for 30% of Cristal's sales. All people should know all publicity, especially controversial is good publicity. I'm glad Cristal has been losing $$$ to the LVMH group for the past 5 years.

It wouldn't matter if rappers like The Roots, and Common were showing Cristal off in their videos, Rouzaud still wouldn't want Blacks drinking it.

[supa_g]

This is a class issue not a race issue

As someone who studied business, this is an issue of target market and positioning, not race. Cristal considers themselves a premium brand, with a sophisticated target audience that is willing and able to pay premium prices for access to exclusive products.

Fact: Hip Hop music is generally favored by young urban people - race exclusive.
Fact: Young urban people are generally not fiscally capable of paying premium prices for exclusive products. Bluntly, Young urban people are lower class than the market targeted by Cristal.

By associating a premium brand with the icons of a group of people who are not generally capable of affording that premium product, you increase the knowledge of the product among the people of lower class people. Increased knowledge makes the product more commonplace.

Fact: I was at a club in Hollywood 2 weeks ago, and witnessed a common thug drinking Cristal from the bottle. This is certainly not sophisticated behavior.

The decrease in the exclusivity of the product effectively drives down the value proposition offered by the Cristal brand. Experiences like the one I had 2 weeks ago change the image a product has. My current view of Cristal is a product that once was the domain of the sophisticated to a now common product that is ridiculously mis-priced.

[Short Irish Guy]

What a bunch of bull shit. How can a brand like Cristal's image be hurt by a few rappers brandishing the drink in rap videos? That's not even logical by a long shot. If that's the case then every luxury brand except for Hermes (which scorned Oprah) falls in this category. Hip hop accounts for 30% of Cristal's sales. All people should know all publicity, especially controversial is good publicity. I'm glad Cristal has been losing $$$ to the LVMH group for the past 5 years.

It wouldn't matter if rappers like The Roots, and Common were showing Cristal off in their videos, Rouzaud still wouldn't want Blacks drinking it.

Your reply shows EXACTLY why you don't understand the logic I'm talking about...

[Short Irish Guy]

A lot of white people can't do the samething. Plus they like to fuck their sisters.

Sounds like Frédéric Rouzaud doesn't want Cristal to be known as a rich African American liquor. To each their own. But just like short irish guy, he is an idiot. What's next? Men's Wearhouse saying that they don't want white people buying their suits because of the Enron scandal? Nope that wont happen because the people responsible for the Enron crap our white.

He's protecting his brand which is sound business. Quite intelligent move, actually - which is why you don't understand.

[gono]

Fu¢k crystal

cristal tastes nasty anywhays,drink margaritas. THEY'RE GOOD!

[Flying High]

As someone who studied business, this is an issue of target market and positioning, not race. Cristal considers themselves a premium brand, with a sophisticated target audience that is willing and able to pay premium prices for access to exclusive products.

Fact: Hip Hop music is generally favored by young urban people - race exclusive.
Fact: Young urban people are generally not fiscally capable of paying premium prices for exclusive products. Bluntly, Young urban people are lower class than the market targeted by Cristal.

By associating a premium brand with the icons of a group of people who are not generally capable of affording that premium product, you increase the knowledge of the product among the people of lower class people. Increased knowledge makes the product more commonplace.

Fact: I was at a club in Hollywood 2 weeks ago, and witnessed a common thug drinking Cristal from the bottle. This is certainly not sophisticated behavior.

The decrease in the exclusivity of the product effectively drives down the value proposition offered by the Cristal brand. Experiences like the one I had 2 weeks ago change the image a product has. My current view of Cristal is a product that once was the domain of the sophisticated to a now common product that is ridiculously mis-priced.

Yea, and I'm sure Black people are the only ones to drink Cristal out of a bottle...shut the fuck up! If you studied business then you need to go study it some more. Last time I checked you don't want to bite the hand that feeds you. Cristol is going to be boycotted for Rouzaud racist comments. They just dont want Black people drinking their product.

[Short Irish Guy]

Yea, and I'm sure Black people are the only ones to drink Cristal out of a bottle...shut the fuck up! If you studied business then you need to go study it some more. Last time I checked you don't want to bite the hand that feeds you. Cristol is going to be boycotted for Rouzaud racist comments. They just dont want Black people drinking their product.

Kid, just kill yourself. You're a fucking moron. Cristal doesn't mind black people drinking their shit. They don't want THUGS, FAKE ASS GANGTERS (not gangstas, you ******), and POOR PEOPLE drinking their shit. They want to maintain their image of an affulent drink and NOT the drink of choice for "ghetto ass ******s from the hood" as one rapper claims...like it or not - that's how it is.

[supa_g]

Yea, and I'm sure Black people are the only ones to drink Cristal out of a bottle...shut the fuck up! If you studied business then you need to go study it some more. Last time I checked you don't want to bite the hand that feeds you. Cristol is going to be boycotted for Rouzaud racist comments. They just dont want Black people drinking their product.

Actually, the common thug in question was latino. I encourage you to examine your stereotypes and ask that you not project them onto me. I chose not to state the race because 1) I don't discriminate based on race and 2) as stated this is not a race issue.

I honestly believe Mr. Rouzaud would be fine with ANY upper class person consuming their beverage in a respectable manner and promoting it to the upper class market they are targeting - not to low class people who damage the image of the brand through foolish behavior.

[Dead AIM]

The managing director who said that hip-hop is "unwanted attention" is stupid. If its true that rappers buy as much cristal as they say in their songs, then they should stop buying it now. It will have an affect on cristal's profits.

More money > Less money

Jay should put out his own high grade champagne, targeting that same market that cristal doesn't want. And then take the market they do want.