Champagne houses use social media to move upmarket

owine, the French marketing and communications agency focusing on wine, has analysed the annual performances of over 150 Champagne houses and estates on social media using an index enabling it to collect over 10 million items of data from November 2022 to November 2023.

Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, LinkedIn, Vivino and YouTube paved the way for Sowine to establish a Top 100 by media. Predictably, the leading companies feature in the Top 10, including Veuve Clicquot (1st on Instagram), followed by Moët & Chandon and Dom Pérignon, which are also at the top end of the ranking across the range of social media analysed.

“In Champagne, marketing and communications strategies focus primarily on creating value. To underpin this premiumisation, social media – especially Instagram – offer an ideal playground”, explains Marie Mascré, managing partner of the Sowine agency.

Although Instagram is the preferred platform for engaging with a community and building loyalty, the professional networking platform LinkedIn is nevertheless beneficial for members of the Champagne wine industry: “The progress witnessed on LinkedIn is confirmed by the data in this new ranking. Out of the thirty companies that boast the most members, the average increase is 25% over the year. In fact, Moët & Chandon and Veuve Clicquot have even gained over 10,000 members over the period”.

As for Facebook (Meta) and X, in the hands of the highly controversial Elon Musk since 2022, both platforms struggle to appeal to the marketing teams in Champagne companies. “On X, Veuve Clicquot and Bollinger have not posted a message for over a year and Moët & Chandon does not even have an official account on the platform anymore”.