The champagne sector is well-implanted both in France and UK. The volume of searches increased by 33% in the last 6 months. But the consumption modes are not the same and search listening can help us see clearer into these differences.
- Local disparities
- Favorites cuvées
- Strong brandes
Is it the right time to prepare for exporting more champagne to the UK?
We believe search data are truly reflecting what consumers want. Extracted from the largest online consumer panel, search data faithfully transcribe upcoming champagne market trends and help predict brands/products with higher potential.
Historically established in the UK market without a local marketing strategy, a famous French Champagne brand wants to fuel its growth by increasing its market shares in the UK. Signals from retailers seem to express an increasing need for champagne in the British market – so they would like to confirm their hypothesis.
We used search listening to review if there was an uplift in champagne consumption in Great Britain & define how our client could adapt its go-to-market strategy.
How to collect search data to analyze market trends?
We scanned major marketplaces and websites selling champagne to collect hundreds of expressions tied to beverages both in French and English.
We extracted 1000+ semantic expressions from these major e-commerce platforms based on our proprietary AI algorithms.
We just kept expressions that were actually searched by consumers – what we refer to as search queries.
All these expressions were segmented to represent all categories & products from the champagne market: brands, prestige cuvées, types of champagne …
Starting with France
In France, we noticed a huge discrepancy between Eastern & Western regions.
Both Ile-de-France and Grand Est have a much higher affinity for champagne (number of search queries per 100k population). On the other hand, Western regions such as Brittany, Pays de la Loire, Normandy, and Centre Val de Loire recorded an amazingly lower amount of search queries about Champagne, given their population.
Another insight is about Corsica during summer. In July and August, Corsica is the region, where consumers searched the most for champagne – again given the local population. That is explained by the huge amount of tourists coming to Corsica during summertime.
On Her Majesty’s Dinner Service
Despite all the champagne brands being located in France, the number of online searches in the UK is similar to what we observe in France.
Surprisingly, the overall volume in France and Great Britain searches was slightly equal in 2021. And out of 71 monitored brands, all generate interest among British consumers, revealing a strong awareness of players and products.
While England is naturally the biggest market counting for 86% of overall UK searches, Scotland has the same affinity with Champagne as England.
Comparing brand awareness between two different countries
The brand awareness distribution is not the same depending on which side of Chanel you are. While Ruinart is by far the most searched brand in France, its awareness in the UK is surprisingly lower.
We spotted Moët & Chandon, Bollinger, Veuve Clicquot, Taittinger, and Laurent Perrier as the British favorites. All these brands are much more searched in the UK than in France (in total volume).
- Ruinart is 11.25x more searched in France
- Moët & Chandon is 4.4x more searched in the UK
- Veuve Clicquot is 60% more searched in the UK
Ruinart, wrong leader?
A French leader looking for fame across the English Channel.
#1st
1.8 million searches in 2021
#12th
160k searches in 2021
More precisely, what specific cuvées do people want to drink?
British regions appear to be very prone to consuming champagne rosé. Specific vintages such as “blanc de blanc” and “blanc de noir” are mostly searched in France.
Also, brut champagne is slightly less searched in the UK. Meanwhile, new trends emerged, and champagne rosé seems a safe bet to capitalize on for any market player.
- Rosé is particularly searched in UK’s regions (+228% vs. France)
- Rosé is also more researched in the southern France regions (PACA, Nouvelle-Aquitaine…)
- Blanc de blanc Champagne is less searched in the UK (around 10x less)
- Brut Champagne is slightly less searched in the UK (-30%)
- Brut Champagne is very famous in Corsica closely as much as in Île-de-France
Champagne is not the only option
Favorite types of beverages strongly depend on cultural differences.
We wanted to also compare the affinity for other products than champagne with its main beverage alternatives like prosecco, lambrusco, sparkling wine, cava…
While the UK is more likely to prefer prosecco, cava, and sparkling wine, French people used to favorise champagne, crémant, and lambrusco. Obviously, crémant is particularly appreciated in Grand Est, though crémant is also pretty much researched in Scotland.
A massive seasonal effect affecting both countries
Our platform proved critical in determining the best timing to catch the demand and respond to consumers’ genuine needs.
- Champagne is only 16% more searched on Google in France than in the UK
- Lambrusco is 85% more looked at in France
- Cava is 89% more searched in the UK than in France
- Prosecco is twice as many searched in the UK than in France
- Sparkling wine is researched 1.447% more in the UK
Xmas boom, summer bump
The Christmas period is a landmark period considering search queries linked with champagne and prosecco.
- Total volume = 2.9 million
- Almost 3 times more than March (1,1M)
Similarly, we discovered a modest rise in Google searches for champagne and prosecco throughout the summer (from April to August).
Does Santa love champagne?
However, we do not detect a considerable seasonality effect in other types of beverages such as lambrusco, sparkling wine, or créman – for which ones the impact of Christmas is way less significant.
Is the British market a good opportunity to expand?
Our BCG-style matrix highlights relations between total & growth in search volume.
In France
In France, Ruinart is outstandingly over the top of the market with the best brand awareness (in search volume) and a positive growth rate.
Tsarine is tied with an extremely high growth rate (around +40%), though its volume is among the lowest.
Krug is in a hard position in France, with a significant loss of searches (-40%) and a very low volume of searches.
In the UK
In the UK, the distribution is a bit scattered compared to France. Various brands stand out from the crowd, especially Moët & Chandon, Laurent Perrier, Bollinger, Veuve Clicquot, and Taittinger.
The UK market seems to be in better shape, considering the evolution of the search volume.
Overall, brand awareness for champagne brands is growing faster in the UK than in France. Those who believe in the accuracy of search data would see the British market as a positive dynamic.
