This year at the TFWA World Exhibition, Nestlé International
Travel Retail (NITR) announced its intention to put SOUL back into the mix. S
stands for brand stories; O for occasions; U for unique, personalised and
customised products; and L for local, here-and-now experiences.
The aim is to target both the millennial demographic – which
the company believes accounts for half of shoppers in travel retail – and the
emerging middle classes. These customers are looking for meaningful brand
experiences and stories, according to Stewart Dryburgh, NITR’s General Manager.
With its new SOUL strategy, NITR wants to bring the human element into shopping
at airports, where travellers are often under stress or distracted by their
digital devices.
 |
| Travel retail exclusive Nestle Swiss chocolate with new, embossed packaging |
Eye-catching KitKat display with Dufry
Among the company’s many product launches are KitKat Senses bars
in the new flavours of double chocolate, coconut, hazelnut, and a mobile camera
lens kit gwp featuring a destination-specific cityscape image. To promote this
iconic British brand, an eye-catching KitKat double-decker bus display has been
installed with travel retailer Dufry in Rio de Janeiro, Montevideo and Bangkok
airports, as well as at the Haitang Bay resort in Sanya, China.
And for immediate consumption at an accessible price point,
NITR is combining a bottle of Vittel water with a KitKat bar, encouraging
travellers to take a break.
2018 is an important year for the travel-exclusive Nestlé Swiss
chocolate brand, which boasts a fresh visual identity reinforcing its Swiss
Alps heritage and a sense of discovery and adventure based on the French
“trouvaille” (meaning “find”) concept. NITR is forecasting $2m in retail sales
from this brand in two years.
For Smarties, NITR is seeking to create colourful stories as
well as stimulate a child’s development with its new CreatorBook games.
Commenting on these 2018 initiatives, Dryburgh said: “Continuing our focus on insight-based innovation has created an outstanding range which will really drive category growth. Our added-value propositions across KitKat, Smarties and Nestlé Swiss deliver more than just enjoyable taste; they provide a unique factor, exclusivity, engaging experiences, digital presence and relatable storytelling to meet our targeted consumer expectations.”
Commenting on these 2018 initiatives, Dryburgh said: “Continuing our focus on insight-based innovation has created an outstanding range which will really drive category growth. Our added-value propositions across KitKat, Smarties and Nestlé Swiss deliver more than just enjoyable taste; they provide a unique factor, exclusivity, engaging experiences, digital presence and relatable storytelling to meet our targeted consumer expectations.”
