Moët Hennessy Diageo Malaysia names 7 agency partners

Moët Hennessy Diageo (MHD) Malaysia has tied up with seven agencies for its Moët Hennessy business. M&C Saatchi's Design Factory has been reappointed as its creative agency for the fifth year, while Group M’s L’Atelier will continue to provide media thought leadership, planning and execution since winning the LVMH business in 2017.

GO Communications will manage PR and communications while Colony will take on brand activation. Amoeba Creative has been tasked to design and conceptualise MHD's visual merchandise, while Sambal Lab is responsible for bringing to the table its brand of experiential activation and "dark marketing". Black Sheep has also been appointed to manage social duties.

MHD Malaysia is a joint venture between luxury group LVMH, represented in the wines and spirits business by Moët Hennessy; and Diageo. Established in 1970, the MHD Malaysia office markets and distributes a range of luxury wines and spirits from both Moët Hennessy and Diageo, including Hennessy, Dom Pérignon, Terrazas, Ao Yun, and Belvedere.

Aurelie Lim, marketing director at Moët Hennessy Malaysia, said the company is thrilled to be working with some of the best agencies in the country, all with a strong, clear and demonstrated track record with sound industry knowledge and expertise in marketing and brand management.

“This is a key priority for the newly forged brand and marketing team at MHD Malaysia, even as we power into a new decade to maintain the market leadership for many of the brands in our portfolio such as Hennessy and Moët & Chandon while increasing market share for other brands in the ever-growing and competitive luxury wines and spirits category," Lim said.

She added that the appointments also demonstrate a prime example of how agencies can truly work together to "bring about the best possible results for their clients, where the sum is very much greater than its parts".

Work has since started for the agencies which have worked to launch Hennessy’s “Renewal of Hope” Chinese New Year campaign and Moët & Chandon’s Valentine’s Day initiatives. According to MHD Malaysia, the agency is also working on innovative brand strategies, new product launches, and ground-breaking experiential events.

Last year, the company brought on board Hemanth Jayaraman as brand lead to oversee the marketing and commercial aspect of the Hennessy VS and Hennessy VSOP brand. He was previously with MHDM for about five years, first as brand manager for Johnnie Walker in Malaysia and then head of marketing for Diageo in Jakarta. Prior to returning to MHDM, Jayaraman was Tropicana activation lead, Asia Pacific at PepsiCo. He also worked at Leo Burnett as brand integration executive for approximately two years.

He told A+M previously that he is excited to be part of this team that is young, dedicated and inspired to make a difference. "One of my key learnings in all my previous roles, is that a brand plan must be built keeping the consumers in mind. For a brand to be successful, the manifesto of the brand should be clearly and simply translated to consumer language to ensure we connect emotionally and relevantly to our consumers," he added.