Class (an abbreviation of "Claude Lada & Associates") was established in 1990, at a time when several classified growths had developed a need for professional press kits – whereas the Parisian firms offering this service were unfamiliar with the world of wine. This was ideal moment for Claude Lada, with experience as a communications consultant and producer of advertising documents for the wine industry from 1986 to 1990 (including such prestigious estates as Canon La Gaffelière, Carbonnieux, Montrose, Pavie, and Cheval Blanc), to create his own agency.
From the very beginning, Agence Class has worked exclusively for the three "families" composing the Bordeaux wine industry: châteaux, shippers, and cooperative cellars.
Class's corporate headquarters, located for the first six years on Boulevard George V in Bordeaux, have been at 160 Cours du Médoc in Bordeaux since 1996.

ORGANIZATION

Agence Class has a permanent staff of four and a network of dependable sub-contractors who have worked with the agency for many years:

- Journalists
- Oenologists
- Translators
- Photographers
- Web designers
- Cameramen
- Film editors
- Sound engineers
- Photo labs
- Printers (offset, rotary press, and digital)
- CD producers
- Web hosts and Internet service providers
- Transport firms
- Distributors
- Accountants

ACTIVITY

Agence Class's main activity is to provide a full range of traditional services to promote the image of winegrowers and wine merchants:

- Image consulting
- Logos and graphic charters
- Brochures and leaflets
- Press kits
- Media advertising
- Media plans (France and abroad)
- Photo and audio librairies
- POS (Point of Sale) material
- Billboard advertising
- Web sites: from design to hosting since 1994!
- DVDs
- Web site banners
- Video production
- Commercials
- Design and publication of diverse documents in all languages, including Mandarin Chinese
- Research and development
- Organisation of exhibitions and special events
- New ideas….

Furthermore, Agence Class has a unique and much-appreciated role in the generic promotion of Bordeaux wine.

CHRONOLOGY

The first edition of the bilingual Bordeaux News magazine was published in 1993 in time for Vinexpo, the world's leading wine and spirits trade fair. Bordeaux News has been published annually and widely-distributed ever since. It is financed by fifty advertisers who belong to one of the three "families" mentioned above.
Producing editorial advertising validated by the customer, Class also offers copywriting, translation, illustration, publishing, and media planning services. Several pages of Bordeaux News are also set aside for traditional advertising. The magazine celebrated its twelfth anniversary in June 2005…

In 1994, Class created a new magazine devoted to Bordeaux wines, whose content in no way entailed an obligation to advertise. This monthly publication, "Bordeaux Flaveurs," brought together the expertise of such internationally famous oenologists as Michel Rolland, Denis Dubourdieu, and Yves Glories. It fea-tured the results of blind tastings by noted specialists of wines that château owners agreed to submit. Due to a lack of funding from the wine trade (which would have made it possible to set up a jury of experts and develop the project), the magazine stopped publishing a year later, despite favourable reviews.
In late 1994, www.bordeaux-news.com portal went on-line for the first time, and Class became a trailblazer in multimedia services for the wine business. This portal includes all the sites created by the agency as well as a condensed, animated, and regularly updated version of Bordeaux News magazine, complementing the print copy and fully adapted to the Internet era. Numerous visitors to the umbrella site have also clicked links to châteaux, négociants, and cooperative cellars (totalling about 300 firms at this time). The Bordeaux News portal won the Golden Net Award in 2004.

After a very long preparation period involving major investments in technology and training, Class produced a CD-ROM promoting Bordeaux wines for the the V&S exhibition in Hong Kong in 1997 (the first such event held outside Bordeaux by the organizers of the famous Vinexpo trade fair). Entitled "The Best Bordeaux Wines", this CD-ROM was followed, two years later, by a new one – in French, English, and Japanese - distributed at V&S in Tokyo*. This CD has video sequences, a way for château owners to add a very personal touch and to speak directly about their passion, their work, and their terroir. The International Relations department of Bordeaux Town Hall gives away these CD-ROMs to visitors…
At the same time, W-PROD®, Class's "audiovisual production" department, was created.

2002 - Vinexpo New York coincided with the publication of "Portraits en Grands Crus", produced according to the same principles as Bordeaux News magazine. This book describes a series of wine châteaux and features portraits of their owners painted with their own wine! Several châteaux are also painted in the same way. Prefaced by Alain Juppé, this book was given to 4,000 members of the wine trade in the United States.

2004 - This year was marked by the first edition of an annual guide, "Bordeaux en Direct", published in the context of difficult sales for Bordeaux wines. This guide, aimed at the general public (and due to the fact that wine-loving consumers are increa -ingly interested in direct contact with château owners), offers not only a two-page spread describing a number of estates, but also worthwhile "discovery offers". Sold through newsagents and distributed to subscribers of CUISINE & VINS DE FRANCE magazine, the first (bilingual) edition of Bordeaux en Direct was printed in spring 2004. The web site : www.bordeauxendirect.com is updated daily!

2005 - Class was in charge of managing a major exhibition entitled
“ Dali at Château Montrose ”
Montrose is a classified growth in Saint-Estèphe. Benefits from sales of the exhibition catalogue were donated to the League Against Cancer. A special edition of BORDEAUX NEWS was printed in time for VINEXPO 2005.

2006 May : Publication of BORDEAUX NEWS CHINA in three languages – French, English, and Mandarin Chinese – including a message from Hu JINTAO, President of the People's Republic of China.
Distribution at the V&S HONG KONG exhibition, at the finest hotels in Hong Kong, and also at most of the city’s wine shops.
July : Opening of the CLASS ASIA agency in CHINA...
November : BORDEAUX NEWS is an official sponsor of INTERWINE CHINA 2007, The major exhibition of wines in China...
January 2007: Launch of WINE TELEVISION, the first Web site devoted to videos of the world’s great wines, in partnership with DMW®, the world’s first data base of journalists in the food and beverage sector...Go and visit us at :
www.wine-television.com

CLASS'S STRONG POINTS :

• The agency has sixteen years of experience devoted exclusively to Bordeaux wines.
• Class has easily-accessible and sizeable premises with a car park in the centre of Bordeaux.
• The agency has a photo and film editing studio as well as administrative and commercial offices .
• Class has no outstanding debts or loans.
• The firm's overhead is low.
• Profit is largely poured into upgrading or buying new equipment.
• All software belongs to the agency, with appropriate licences.
• In keeping with the need to be increasingly quick and efficient, the agency makes use of state-of-the-art equipment (computers, photographic equipment, video, etc.) to provide technical mastery of every aspect of audiovisual production.
• Work time has been considerably reduced over the years.
• Class has only two direct competitors after the disapper-ance of a number of small multimedia companies in the 90s. These lasted only one or two years, during which time they slashed prices to try to survive.
• The agency's suppliers and sub-contractors have proven their reliability and professionalism for many years. This longstanding relationship guarantees that suppliers and colleagues are quick to respond, efficient, and flexible.
• The heart of the agency's business consists of faithful customers interested not only in the successful promotion of their image, but also innovative new ideas.
Class in turn stimulates the creativity of their sub-contractors. Most of Class's customer base consists of great châteaux and the agency is proud to share in their prestige!
• Winegrowers, shippers, and managers of cooperative cellars have their hands full. They readily acknowledge that they do not have the time or know-how to promote their image on their own.
• The image of fine Bordeaux producers (the only ones Class Multimedia works for) always takes precedence over vintage reputation or the effects of unforeseen price rises on the market.
• The blended wines of Bordeaux are, and will continue to remain, unique, and countless connoisseurs around the world are devoted admirers of the wines of the Gironde.

AGENCE CLASS - 160, Cours du Médoc - 33300 BORDEAUX - Tel. 33 05 56 69 86 99 - Fax. 33 05 56 69 87 00