Inspired by its own history of expansion to the world and taste for adventure, the Hennessy Maison featured its prestigious Hennessy X.O cognac as a binding link between East and West to embark its consumers in an ancestral
and universal Odyssey.

The Maison offered a fabulous reinterpretation of the Silk Road through a sensorial and artistic journey to convey their common values of prestige, scarcity, preciosity and adventure. Hennessy X.O proposed to celebrate the
legendary ancient route and its local greatness in a different and more modern angle, from Cognac to Beijing through seven local artists across seven cities.

It was initially a local project focused on the CIS countries, but the story was so great that the idea of amplifying it on a global level came naturally. Therefore, the challenge was to give a global echo to this local operation.

The objective on a global level was to increase brand salience and desirability for Hennessy X.O brand.

This ambitious project was organized around 3 steps.

Step 1:
The adventure started in Cognac where seven contemporary artists, selected and curated by Hervé Mikaeloff, coming from seven countries across the Silk Road, were invited to discover the secret of Hennessy X.O creation. The
artists include Burcak Bingol (Istanbul, Turkey), Victor Syrnev (Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan), Rashad Alakbarov (Baku, Azerbaijan), Rocko Iremashvili (Tbilisi, Georgia), Vyacheslav Useinov (Fergana, Uzbekistan), Ashkat Akhmedyarov
(Astana, Kazakhstan) and Yin Xiuzhen (Beijing, China).

They were immersed in the unique know-how and craftmanship of Hennessy X.O. The objective was to explore the seven Hennessy X.O Chapters through the eyes of each local artist. Each chapter corresponding to a tasting note,
identified by Hennessy Tasting Committee: Sweet Notes, Rising Heat, Spicy Edge, Flowing Flame, Chocolate Lull, Wood Crunches and Infinite Echo.

Step 2:
Back to their home countries, inspired by their experience in Cognac, the artists created seven artwork pieces illustrating their own perception and interpretation of the Hennessy X.O tasting notes as well as their own timeless
relationship with the Silk Road, their city and country.

To give a global amplification to the project, the idea was to associate with an exclusive key International partner that would support the Odyssey along the Silk Road to meet Hennessy’s seven artists and capture their mindset, their
work and the world they depict in their art. Seven photographers followed the seven artists in their country to capture the Silk Road on pictures and in words. They photographed the culture, history and people of these places
and revealed how the commissioned artwork pieces told us something new about the ancient Silk Road.

Step 3:
The seven pieces of art were unveiled successively in each city through immersive exhibitions celebrating exploration and artistic conversation. 200 to 400 VIPs and press per city were invited to discover the works of art.
At the end of these local events, the story was to be told across the media partner’s print & digital platforms at a global level.

Strong visibility and high level of engagement.
The International edition of National Geographic Magazine reaches 10 million readers per month

• To date, the display campaign has delivered 7,5 million impressions, 30k clicks. On a good track to possibly exceed the target.
• The digital hub registered 156k unique users. 290k page views x4 vs target
• An average time spent of 1:33 minutes (+39% vs average National Geographic benchmark).
• The social pushes generated on Instagram 550k engagements.
• The paid amplification on Facebook totalized 56k engagements. Total numbers of clicks 80K +30% vs target
• 16 million impressions on Instagram
• 16 million impressions on Facabook
• Campaign ending February 28th, 2018