#Dom Pérignon '55

[siscovanillaatthemovies]

SiscoVanilla Presents Dr. No (1962) Part VII. Dr. No (Joseph Wiseman), James Bond (Sean Connery) and Honey Rider (Ursula Andress) are seated at the table after having had dinner. Dr. No sure knows how to entertain. Here is Bond with what looks like a glass of brandy (or whisky.)

To top that, the bubbly is flowing with a bottle of Dom Pérignon ‘55. I go into detail on the backstory on how monk Dom Pérignon discovered champagne in my post Dom Pierre Pérignon Discovers Champagne August 4, 2019.  

Bond tries to make his getaway to save Honey Rider who was taken away but is quickly subdued. 

Instead of worrying about Bond escaping, Dr. No waves off his attempt by stating “That’s a Dom Pérignon ‘55. It would be a pity to break it.” To which Bond retorts “I prefer the ‘53 myself.” Bond always has to have the last word. Dr.  No is not amused.

And with that we come to an end to the booze, beer and cocktail references in Ian Fleming’s Dr. No (1962) Check in soon for some more booze, beer and cocktail references in the movies that I come across.

[degustameet]

Dom Perignon Vintage Brut Dom Perignon; Moet & Chandon 2010 Francia, Champagne AOC Champagne Chardonnay (55%); Pinot Noir (45%) Spumante; Vintage; Brut 12,5 % Il Dom Pèrignon Vintage Brut è il prodotto classico dell’azienda, quello che divenne il simbolo globalmente riconosciuto, con un dosaggio vicino a 50-50 e 8 anni di sosta sui lieviti. Nell’annata 2010 caratterizzato da maggior morbidezza, minore acidità, dunque pronto prima. La storia di questa azienda è indissolubilmente legata al monaco benedettino Dom Pérignon, figura centrale di tutto lo Champagne poiché ne fu il creatore storico all’interno dell’Abbazia di Hautvillers tra il 1645 e il 1715 e da subito apprezzatissimo alla Corte di Luigi XIV. Grazie a ciò e ad una potente promozione, oggi gli spumanti Dom Pèrignon sono i vini più famosi al mondo, simbolo del lusso, tanto da essere stati acquisiti fin dal 1829 da Pierre Gabriel Chadon insieme al socio e genero Jean Rémy (nipote di Claude Moët, fondatore nel 1743 della sua Maison), dando vita a Moët & Chandon. Robert Jean de Vogüe ne divenne direttore, ideando nel 1936 (partendo con l’annata 1921) la Cuvée de prestige di uve millesimate Grand Crù di Chardonnay (55%) e Pinot Noir (45%) con dosaggio di 7 gr/L, divenendo ciò che oggi conosciamo come Vintage (o P1) e prodotto solo nelle annate migliori. Dal 1947 il Vintage non è più prodotto con la tecnica del transvasage. Situato nella Vallée de la Marne ad Épernay, conta 600 ettari da cui produce un totale di 5 milioni di bottiglie all’anno. Da sempre caratterizzato da grande longevità e famoso per la creazione di soli millesimati; i progetti nati nel XXI sec hanno portato alla sperimentazione di maturazioni sui lieviti ancora più importanti. Esistono poi P2, P3, Oenoteque e Rosè; oltre alle edizioni speciali di carattere commerciale: Luminous (fosforescente); Lady Gaga; Andy Warhol; Lenny Kravitz; Michael Riedel. #domperignon #domperignonvintage #degustameet #moet&chandon #champagne #topchampagne #famouswine #dompe #domperignon2010 https://www.instagram.com/p/CmV9pA0I6yO/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[navigamus-blog-a-vela]

SAIL 2018 - ANNUNCIATO IL RITORNO IN MARE DI “BARBARA”, YACHT D’EPOCA DEL 1923 - 2018

Sabato 19 Maggio 2018 a Viareggio, dopo un restauro filologico, iniziato da Astilleros Mediterraneo e terminato dal Cantiere Navale Francesco Del Carlo, si svolgerà la cerimonia del ritorno in mare di Barbara, splendida imbarcazione a vela varata nel 1923 dallo storico cantiere inglese Camper & Nicholsons di Gosport. La barca, lunga quasi 19 metri, parteciperà alle più importanti regate di vele d’epoca del Mediterraneo. IL VARO APERTO A TUTTI Quella che si svolgerà Sabato mattina 19 Maggio 2018 a Viareggio sarà una grande festa della vela e dello yachting. Alla Darsena Italia del Cantiere Navale Francesco Del Carlo si terrà infatti la cerimonia aperta a tutti del ritorno in mare di Barbara, yawl bermudiano costruito in legno nel 1923 dal famoso cantiere inglese Camper & Nicholsons su disegni di Charles Ernest Nicholson, uno dei più grandi progettisti navali della storia. I lavori di restauro filologico hanno riguardato il risanamento dello scafo, del piano di coperta, degli interni, dell’impiantistica e dell’armo velico. La barca si presenterà ufficialmente al pubblico degli appassionati. Barbara entrerà così di diritto tra le più belle barche a vela d’epoca di tutto il Mediterraneo e nei prossimi anni parteciperà ai più importanti raduni e regate riservate agli scafi storici. Questo yawl lungo circa 19 metri, compreso il bompresso, isserà il guidone dell’Associazione Vele Storiche Viareggio alla quale è iscritto. Quel giorno è come se venissero festeggiati idealmente tre compleanni, i 155 anni del cantiere Camper & Nicholsons, fondato ufficialmente nel 1863, i 95 anni di Barbara e i 55 anni del cantiere Del Carlo, che in oltre mezzo secolo di attività si è fatto conoscere e apprezzare in tutta Europa per l’accurato refitting di decine di scafi storici in legno, sia a vela che a motore.   LA STORIA DI ‘BARBARA’ Barbara è il progetto numero 318 realizzato dal cantiere navale Camper & Nicholsons a Gosport, in Inghilterra, nel 1923. Costruita in fasciame di teak e pitch pine su ossatura in quercia ha avuto tra i suoi ex armatori Harold Francis Edwards, noto yachtsman inglese e regatante di successo, il Barone Amaury de la Grange, che dal 1928 le ha fatto fare base a Cannes, e il Conte Robert-Jean de Vogue, General Manager di Moët & Chandon e creatore del marchio Dom Pérignon, proprietario della barca fino agli anni Sessanta. Nel 1982 Barbara è stata impiegata come scafo appoggio per la traversata atlantica in windsurf compiuta in 24 giorni. Nel 1998 è stato avviato il restauro filologico in Spagna da Astilleros Mediterraneo e successivamente trasferita a Viareggio e affidata alle cure del cantiere navale Francesco Del Carlo.

FROM http://www.navigamus.info/2018/01/annunciato-il-ritorno-in-mare-di.html

[wineanddinosaur]

LVMH Buys Majority Stake In Whispering Angel Producer Château d’Esclans

Moët Hennessy, the wine and spirits division of luxury French conglomerate LVMH, has acquired a majority stake in Château d’Esclans, the producer of the world famous Whispering Angel rosé.

Whispering Angel has been credited with launching an international rosé trend that introduced pink wine to American palates. Its wines are sold in more than 100 countries and accounts for nearly 20 percent of all the Provençal rosé consumed in the U.S.

Announced on Monday, the deal sees Moët Hennessy gain 55 percent of Château d’Esclans, while the winery’s president Sasha Lichine will retain a 45 percent stake in the company. According to Decanter, Lichine will run the company in partnership with Moët Hennessy, with the group planning an imminent expansion of its Provençal vineyard holdings.

“I am delighted by the alliance with Moët Hennessy and the ability, through the backing of this great group, to continue to develop the estate in producing excellent Provence rosés,” Lichine told Decanter.

In addition to Whispering Angel, Château d’Esclans also produces Garrus, one of the most expensive rosés on the market, with an average price of $102 per bottle.

Château d’Esclans joins LVMH’s already impressive portfolio of wine brands, which famously includes Château d’Yquem, Château Cheval Blanc, Krug, and Dom Pérignon.

The deal comes several months after Moët Hennessy also acquired Château du Galoupet, another Provence-based producer of rosé wines, showing that the pink wine trend isn’t going anywhere fast.

The article LVMH Buys Majority Stake In Whispering Angel Producer Château d’Esclans appeared first on VinePair.

source https://vinepair.com/booze-news/lvmh-buys-whispering-angel-majority-stake/

[isaiahrippinus]

LVMH Buys Majority Stake In Whispering Angel Producer Château d’Esclans

Moët Hennessy, the wine and spirits division of luxury French conglomerate LVMH, has acquired a majority stake in Château d’Esclans, the producer of the world famous Whispering Angel rosé.

Whispering Angel has been credited with launching an international rosé trend that introduced pink wine to American palates. Its wines are sold in more than 100 countries and accounts for nearly 20 percent of all the Provençal rosé consumed in the U.S.

Announced on Monday, the deal sees Moët Hennessy gain 55 percent of Château d’Esclans, while the winery’s president Sasha Lichine will retain a 45 percent stake in the company. According to Decanter, Lichine will run the company in partnership with Moët Hennessy, with the group planning an imminent expansion of its Provençal vineyard holdings.

“I am delighted by the alliance with Moët Hennessy and the ability, through the backing of this great group, to continue to develop the estate in producing excellent Provence rosés,” Lichine told Decanter.

In addition to Whispering Angel, Château d’Esclans also produces Garrus, one of the most expensive rosés on the market, with an average price of $102 per bottle.

Château d’Esclans joins LVMH’s already impressive portfolio of wine brands, which famously includes Château d’Yquem, Château Cheval Blanc, Krug, and Dom Pérignon.

The deal comes several months after Moët Hennessy also acquired Château du Galoupet, another Provence-based producer of rosé wines, showing that the pink wine trend isn’t going anywhere fast.

The article LVMH Buys Majority Stake In Whispering Angel Producer Château d’Esclans appeared first on VinePair.

source https://vinepair.com/booze-news/lvmh-buys-whispering-angel-majority-stake/ source https://vinology1.tumblr.com/post/189442020084

[delfinamaggiousa]

LVMH Buys Majority Stake In Whispering Angel Producer Château d’Esclans

Moët Hennessy, the wine and spirits division of luxury French conglomerate LVMH, has acquired a majority stake in Château d’Esclans, the producer of the world famous Whispering Angel rosé.

Whispering Angel has been credited with launching an international rosé trend that introduced pink wine to American palates. Its wines are sold in more than 100 countries and accounts for nearly 20 percent of all the Provençal rosé consumed in the U.S.

Announced on Monday, the deal sees Moët Hennessy gain 55 percent of Château d’Esclans, while the winery’s president Sasha Lichine will retain a 45 percent stake in the company. According to Decanter, Lichine will run the company in partnership with Moët Hennessy, with the group planning an imminent expansion of its Provençal vineyard holdings.

“I am delighted by the alliance with Moët Hennessy and the ability, through the backing of this great group, to continue to develop the estate in producing excellent Provence rosés,” Lichine told Decanter.

In addition to Whispering Angel, Château d’Esclans also produces Garrus, one of the most expensive rosés on the market, with an average price of $102 per bottle.

Château d’Esclans joins LVMH’s already impressive portfolio of wine brands, which famously includes Château d’Yquem, Château Cheval Blanc, Krug, and Dom Pérignon.

The deal comes several months after Moët Hennessy also acquired Château du Galoupet, another Provence-based producer of rosé wines, showing that the pink wine trend isn’t going anywhere fast.

The article LVMH Buys Majority Stake In Whispering Angel Producer Château d’Esclans appeared first on VinePair.

source https://vinepair.com/booze-news/lvmh-buys-whispering-angel-majority-stake/

source https://vinology1.wordpress.com/2019/12/02/lvmh-buys-majority-stake-in-whispering-angel-producer-chateau-desclans/

[johnboothus]

LVMH Buys Majority Stake In Whispering Angel Producer Château dEsclans

Moët Hennessy, the wine and spirits division of luxury French conglomerate LVMH, has acquired a majority stake in Château d’Esclans, the producer of the world famous Whispering Angel rosé.

Whispering Angel has been credited with launching an international rosé trend that introduced pink wine to American palates. Its wines are sold in more than 100 countries and accounts for nearly 20 percent of all the Provençal rosé consumed in the U.S.

Announced on Monday, the deal sees Moët Hennessy gain 55 percent of Château d’Esclans, while the winery’s president Sasha Lichine will retain a 45 percent stake in the company. According to Decanter, Lichine will run the company in partnership with Moët Hennessy, with the group planning an imminent expansion of its Provençal vineyard holdings.

“I am delighted by the alliance with Moët Hennessy and the ability, through the backing of this great group, to continue to develop the estate in producing excellent Provence rosés,” Lichine told Decanter.

In addition to Whispering Angel, Château d’Esclans also produces Garrus, one of the most expensive rosés on the market, with an average price of $102 per bottle.

Château d’Esclans joins LVMH’s already impressive portfolio of wine brands, which famously includes Château d’Yquem, Château Cheval Blanc, Krug, and Dom Pérignon.

The deal comes several months after Moët Hennessy also acquired Château du Galoupet, another Provence-based producer of rosé wines, showing that the pink wine trend isn’t going anywhere fast.

The article LVMH Buys Majority Stake In Whispering Angel Producer Château d’Esclans appeared first on VinePair.

Via https://vinepair.com/booze-news/lvmh-buys-whispering-angel-majority-stake/

source https://vinology1.weebly.com/blog/lvmh-buys-majority-stake-in-whispering-angel-producer-chateau-desclans

[mehmetkali]

Emirates’ten Dünyanın En Büyük Uçan Restoranı! http://ift.tt/2A0K5sk

Emirates, her birine aynı özeni gösterdiği First, Business ve Economy Class’ta her yıl 100 milyondan fazla yemek ikram ediyor. Uçtuğu noktalardan ilham alarak oluşturduğu menüler ile servis yapan Emirates, küresel mutfak trendlerini yakından takip ederek, en iyi hizmeti sunmaya devam ediyor.

  İnsanları ve şehirleri birbirine bağlayan Emirates Havayolu, 6 kıtada, 144 şehir arasında seyahat eden yılda 55 milyondan fazla kişiye yemek servisi yapıyor. Bu hizmeti i��in küresel mutfak trendlerini takip eden Emirates, yemek servisine yıllık 1 milyar dolardan daha fazla yatırım yapıyor. Dubai’deki 1,200 şef ve 12,450 tarif ile 24 saat boyunca çalışan Emirates ekibi, günde 590 uçağın yolcusuna, uçacakları noktalara özel olarak otantik lezzetler sunuyor. Havayolu aynı zamanda yemek sektöründeki 25 iş ortağı ile Dubai bağlantılı uçuşlarda da aynı kalitede hizmet vermek için çalışıyor.

  Yerel lezzetler

Emirates’in yerel lezzetlere olan ilgisi ve odağı, hizmet verdiği her bölgeden yemeklere sahip olduğu anlamına geliyor. Örneğin Japonya’ya olan uçuşlarda, uçakta benzersiz bir yemek deneyimi için otantik Kaiseki mutfağı ve Bento kutuları, Japon yemek ve sofra takımları ve çay setleri ile sunuluyor.

  Havayolu son olarak Avustralya’ya, yerel şeflerle yaptığı 14 aylık çalışmanın sonucunda, ülkenin çok kültürlü lezzetlerinden ve mutfak çeşitliliğinden esinlenerek servisine yeni bir menü ekledi. Yeni menü, naneli kuzu sosisi gibi geleneksel yerel lezzetlere sahip… Avustralya’nın çok kültürlülüğünü yansıtan menü aynı zamanda, Emirates’in farklı yerlerden gelen yolcularına, küresel ağını temsil edecek şekilde, Asya ve Orta Doğu lezzetleri de sunuyor.

  Emirates, bölgesel ve mevsimsel yemek yeniliklerine uyum sağlayabilmek adına, menüsünü aylık olarak değiştiriyor ve tariflerini sürekli olarak güncelliyor.

  Her bir uçuş noktası için olan menü çeşitliliği aynı zamanda uçakta sunulan ekmek sepetlerinde de kendini gösteriyor. Avrupa noktalarında aromalı ve ekşi mayalı ekmekler popülerken, Emirates’in Hindistan’a olan 9 noktasında paratha, poori ve naan ekmeği servis ediliyor. Orta Doğu noktalarında yolcular, bölgede popüler olan ince Markook Arap ekmeğinin ve üzerinde Zahter veya Peynir ile sunulan Manakesh’in tadını çıkarabiliyor.

  Küresel ortaklıklar, en iyi yerel ürünler!

Emirates, en kaliteli ve taze ürünlerin yer aldığı basit fakat iyi hazırlanmış yemeklere odaklanıyor. Havayolu, dünya çapındaki uzun vadeli ortaklıkları sayesinde uçaklarında en iyi ürünleri sunuyor, yerel tedarikçileri ve zanaatkârları destekliyor. Buna, her yıl Avustralya’daki Yarra Vadisi’nden temin edilen 15,000 kilogram İran feta peyniri de dâhil. Kullanılan zeytinyağı, 15 yıldan daha uzun süredir iş ortaklığı yapılan, İtalya’daki karbon kullanmayan üretici Monte Vibiano’dan temin ediliyor.

  Tüm yıldızlı restoranlar gibi Emirates de dünya standartlarındaki şampanyaları ve şarapları ile şarap listesine büyük özen gösteriyor. Her güzergâhtaki şaraplar, menüleri tamamlamak üzere özenle seçiliyor ve sadece Emirates’te bulunan, Dom Pérignon 2005 Rosé şampanya ve 1963 Graham’s Colheita Port gibi özel şaraplara ev sahipliği yapıyor. Uzun dönemli bir satın alma stratejisi sayesinde Emirates, Fransa’nın Burgundy şehrindeki mahzeninde, önümüzdeki 10 yıl boyunca servis edilecek 3,8 milyon şişe şarap barındırıyor.

  Ayrıca, Premium sınıflardaki yemekler, Robert Welch tarafından özel olarak Emirates için tasarlanan Royal Doulton sofra takımlarında servis ediliyor.

  Kahve ve çay, uçakta en çok tüketilen içecekler. Emirates son 25 yıldır tüm sınıflarında Dilmah çayı servis ediyor. First Class’ta servis edilen ve havayolu için özel olarak hazırlanan Emirates Signature Tea de dâhil olmak üzere her yıl 10’dan fazla çeşidi ile 9,6 milyonun üzerinde çay poşeti kullanılıyor. Espresso ve cappuccino’nun en çok talep edildiği seçkin kabinlerde Illy ve Nespresso kullanılıyor.

  Emirates, beslenme uzmanları ve şefler ile genç yolcuları için çocuklara uygun ve tıbbi veya dini gereksinimlere yönelik özel menüler de hazırlıyor.

  Havayolu, Aralık ayında Noel menüsü ve Ramazan ayında oruç tutanlar için özel, mevsimsel menüler de geliştiriyor.

  Gökyüzündeki lezzetler ile ilgili eğlenceli bilgiler

2016 yılında Emirates yolcularının tüketimi:

o 3 milyon yumurta

o 70 ton çilek

o 58 milyon pişmiş ekmek ruloları

o 110,000kg humus

o 165 ton somon fileto

o 27 ton taze brokoli

  Emirates hakkında:

Dünyanın en hızlı büyüyen havayolu şirketlerinden Emirates, bugüne kadar 500’ün üzerinde uluslararası ödül kazandı. Emirates, yolcularını altı kıtada, 84 ülkede 156 destinasyona taşıyor. 263 adet geniş gövdeli Airbus ve Boeing uçakla faaliyet gösteren Emirates’in toplam değeri 104 milyar doların üzerinde 209 uçak siparişi bulunuyor.

from Aeroportist I Güncel Havacılık Haberleri http://ift.tt/2xySYrC via IFTTT

[agoratudoposso]

Gifts For Wife Or Girlfriend by leanne-mcclean featuring Dom Pérignon ❤ liked on Polyvore

Cosabella intimate, 300 BRL / Aquazzura stiletto pumps, 2.365 BRL / Dolce&Gabbana floral earrings, 1.185 BRL / Thierry Mugler eau de perfume, 280 BRL / Smith Cult nail polish, 165 BRL / Dom Pérignon kitchen dining, 1.940 BRL / Smock Spruce Christmas Cards Taupe, Gold By, 55 BRL

[soflanights]

"Summer Champagne Splash” at Villa Azur

“Summer Champagne Splash” at Villa Azur

Wednesday, June 21, 5pm-8pm – Villa Azur, 309 23rd Street, Miami Beach

As Summer officially begins on Wednesday, June 21, and Villa Azur is kicking off Summer Champagne Splash! Available every Wednesday from 5pm – 8pm, the lux happy hour offers 2 hours of free-flow bubbles of Moët & Chandon for $35 or a 2 hour luxury tasting of Dom Pérignon, Cristal, Ruinart and Moet Rosé for $55, both paired…

[golockhart]

How selfies can build – and destabilise – brands

by Joonas Rokka

While self-portraiture is nearly as old as art itself, the photographic selfie emerged as a globally recognized phenomenon only recently, as a result of the rising “attention economy” and its growing appetite for likes, followers, retweets and fame. Google estimates some 24 billion selfies were taken in a year via 200 million Google accounts alone, which signals that the phenomenon far from being marginal.

Selfies can be taken by virtually anyone, and companies and brands have recognized the magnetic “power” in making a selfie a key element of marketing campaigns and social-media content strategies. Yet brands are increasingly aware – and often uncomfortably so – that individuals’ selfies constitute a whole new form of brand co-creation. Based on my research, I will examine how people use “brand selfies” to express their identities as complex assemblages of things, objects, and brands and how that engenders new challenges for branding.

Selfies and self-portraiture in historical perspective

The selfie phenomenon has important connections with the idea of self-portraits in fine arts that emerged in the 16th Century. Already classic works of artists such as Albrecht Dürer and Rembrandt, for example, featured paintings, engravings and drawings of the artist face-to-face with the spectator. These images often featured the artist “in action” in the artist’s studio, usually holding the pencils, brushes and colour palette in hand, in order to give the impression that the image was spontaneous and authentic in nature. But it was also not uncommon to these early self-portraits that the artist posed in fine clothing and staged apparel, or that he was playfully engaging with various image genres of the time. For instance, self-portraits were often fused with historical scenes or even still-life images.

The self-portrait shares much in common with the visual genre called “snapshot aesthetic”, commonly in use in photography and commercial images, and not least in ads. Snapshot relies on the authentic feeling of images snapped “on the go” of our daily lives. As described by Iqani and Schroeder (2015), these casual, everyday images helps us narrate and make sense of our selves but also communicate our existence to those around us.

When examined in the light of broader history of self-portraiture and photography it becomes quickly clear that classifying and pathologising selfies as simple acts of narcissism and ego-play would overlook important critical commentaries and reflexivity that this visual form potentially offers. Notably, many famous self-portraits have sought out for representational agency in order to make visible issues related to power and politics, including gender, as explained by art historian Derek Murray (2015).

Yet it is important to keep in mind that the self-portrait and selfie differ in several respects. For one, self-portraits were historically rare and usually produced by the elite and the celebrated. It was not until the boom of popular photography around the turn of 20th Century that it was democratised as a key genre of image making. And it was the rise of smartphones and easy online access that made selfie an everyday and ever-present spectacle and practice.

Selfies and the rise of attention economy

The emergence of selfie phenomenon can be partly explained by peoples’ increasingly important drive for attentional capital in the forms of quantifiable likes, shares and followers. The selfie is a symptom of the attention economy, as it draws on intimate and sometimes revealing images in a magnet-like manner. As a result, “instafame” has allured celebrities and stars, rappers and gangsters, presidents and popes to take selfies, but they are not reserved just for the elite. More than 296,417,695 images have been tagged in Instagram alone, when writing this article, suggesting that selfies can be found in just about everyone’s social media profiles.

Research by Eagar and Dann (2016) identifies selfies as an important “self-branding” practice. They also point out various kinds of popular selfies that proliferate quickly, including autobiography, parody, propaganda, romance, self-help, travel, and the coffee-table-and-book selfies. Other ubiquitous trends include selfies at the gym, toilet, funeral, museum, swimming pool, in front of mirror, or alongside luxury or other objects, or while wearing a hijab – and with or without a selfie-stick.

Yet emerging research has found that selfies are not only the product of narcissism but they also may entail a feeling of being in control of one’s own expression as well as empowerment. Selfies have been considered as potent ways for negotiating one’s identity-related tensions, such those related to body ideals, gender, ethnicity, sexuality or religion – or even ways to combat censorship in countries with limited freedom of speech. Selfies have also been recognized as a powerful cultural form because of their ability to transcend linguistic and cultural boundaries.

Brand selfies and consumer microcelebrity

New digital technologies are evidently changing the ways in which meanings and identity of both consumers and brands are constructed. This is why, in my ongoing research on champagne, I decided to study how consumers post selfies featuring some of the most popular champagne brands.

By means of visual analysis of consumer-made selfies on champagne brand Instagram accounts, I was able to uncover some key dynamics that explain how the brand selfies impact and potentially contest even well-established brands, such as Moët & Chandon, Dom Pérignon, or Veuve Clicquot, the three most talked-about champagne brands online in my data. A total of 6,820 images were gathered during six weeks in April/May 2014, from which a random sample of 120 images were analysed in detail. The objective was to compare how brand account images differ from consumer-made selfie-images, which constituted as much as 40% of all brand-tagged images, to illuminate their distinct nature.

It became quickly clear that the studied brand-controlled accounts did not use selfies in their visual communications, and even the presence of people (only 25% of images on average) or faces (13%) was rare. Instead, the brands’ postings often echoed typical champagne advertising images depicting a “still life” of inanimate objects, artefacts and scenery mainly focused on the product close-up – including the brand logo (75%), bottle(s) (63%), wine (25%), and bubbles (13%). They also ensured, as one might imagine, that no other brands were present or identifiable. All attention was reserved for the focal champagne brand and its principal, historically shaped associations that most often included “heritage/tradition” (55%), “class/status” (45%), and even “magic” (22%) (see figure 1).

Figure 1: Champagne brands expressed in Instagram brand accounts. Maria Federley

Consumers’ brand selfies presented sharp and visible contrast to these “official” brand images. While the appearance of bottles, wine and bubbles in selfie-images was as frequent as in the brand images, they presented a large number of human bodies (95% of selfie images and 1.5 people per image on average), with as many as 53% of the images featuring face(s). This shift in focus impacts the overall feeling of the images in significant ways. Notably, the presence of human bodies and identifiable faces break the brand’s singularity and gives it an often banalized expression.

In addition, consumers’ brand selfies were not focused on a single champagne brand, but nearly 40% of the images contained or tagged several brands at once. Instead of being focused on the brand, the selfies were systematically centred on the “self”, making the brand necessarily more peripheral (see Figure 2). More often than not, the brand was only mentioned with a hashtag in textual commentary but not visible in the image.

Figure 2: Brand selfies of various kinds. Maria Federley

What emerges from the consumers’ brand selfies is an incontestable expression of what I call “microcelebrity”. This highly popular category, constituting 67% of all the consumer-made images, can be understood as a collection of visual practices and strategies that mimic celebrities’ postings aimed to signal fame and attractiveness to others. For example, common brand selfies entail “mirror selfies”, ���gym selfies”, “bathroom selfies”, “bikini selfies”, and “party selfies”, in other words, “ordinary” people posing as if they were famous stars. These postings commonly joined with follower and attention-seeking hashtags such as #follow4follow", #followme, #like4like and #pickoftheday (see Figure 3).

Figure 3: Brand selfies and consumer celebrities. Maria Federley

Above all, these findings reveal that selfies as a new form of visual self-presentation practice have come to offer alternative constructions of brands with new kinds of material and expressive features. Notably, they indicate that selfies (and the self) are becoming the nodal point at which official brand images and consumer microcelebrity assemblages intersect. This powerful shift potentially undermines stable, historically built symbolic and material properties of heritage brands, and makes visible a profound heterogeneity of alternative and often chaotic brand images – at least from the point of view of the brand manager.

New challenges for branding

Companies and marketing scholars have long understood that social media have accelerated processes of brand co-creation with customers. Yet very often this phenomenon has been considered only in terms of online consumer-to-brand or consumer-to-consumer verbal dialogues or narratives – hence, word-of-mouth – leaving the visual aspects aside. New forms of visual practices, including the selfie, force the marketers to see and re-consider the visual dimension of their co-creation strategies. The problem is that until recently, most social-media monitoring tools base their analysis on text, not images or video. We thus seem to lack comprehensive tools and even vocabulary for addressing the arguably slippery, elusive but also excessive and voluminous visual. This makes the brand managers’ tasks increasingly difficult.

Although experienced marketing professionals may have an intuitive understanding towards the visual, in my research I have hoped to offer more concrete approaches in this regard. Through visual content analysis of both official and consumer-made champagne Instagram images, I worked to understand the kinds of expressive and material assemblages of identities that the social media images construct. This allowed us to map out the focal elements that consumer-generated images – although most often arguably unintentionally – reinforce in the official brand expressions and meanings, and also those that effectively disrupt and destabilize them.

For example, it was not uncommon that the studied official champagne brand accounts, and perhaps by accident, expressed symbolic and material elements in their postings that were largely in contradiction and dissonance, at least in terms of stylistic consistency, with their historically stabilized brand vision (for example, postings with “wrong” kinds of champagne glasses, or combining champagne with “wrong” kinds of subcultural symbols).

How can companies manage brand co-creation through selfies? Despite the above-described challenges, I believe that powerfully resonant, charismatic, and meaningful brands can always play an important role in leading the creative production of social-media images and interactions. On a practical level, this could simply mean campaigns where brands teach people to take ��desired” types of images with the “right” types of expressive and material ingredients.

However, the question at stake is more fundamental: a contemporary brand can no longer rely on strategies that follow a logic that aims to “control” and “own” every association and aspect about their brand. Instead, they need to embrace a whole new conception of a brand which is more “open source” by default. This means that successful brands need to allow for more diversity and flexibility in the expressions and meanings that “fit” it. An excellent example is the GoPro brand that relies exclusively on consumer-created visual communications across all of their (official) communications. In a similar manner, successful brands will need to relinquish control – at least in a much greater degree – to gain resonance with the selfie-obsessed social media world.

The source research for this article was published as “Heterotopian Selfies: How Social Media Destabilizes Brand Assemblages”, in the European Journal of Marketing, 2016, Vol. 50 (9/10), pp. 1789-1813.

Joonas Rokka is Professeur associé en marketing at EM Lyon. This article was originally published on The Conversation. 

[soflanights]

"Summer Champagne Splash” at Villa Azur

“Summer Champagne Splash” at Villa Azur

Wednesday, June 21, 5pm-8pm – Villa Azur, 309 23rd Street, Miami Beach As Summer officially begins on Wednesday, June 21, and Villa Azur is kicking off Summer Champagne Splash! Available every Wednesday from 5pm – 8pm, the lux happy hour offers 2 hours of free-flow bubbles of Moët & Chandon for $35 or a 2 hour luxury tasting of Dom Pérignon, Cristal, Ruinart and Moet Rosé for $55, both paired…