Paul & Shark fashions a Milan showroom

Italian luxury sportswear brand Paul & Shark has celebrated the grand opening of its first Milan showroom. The brand timed the official opening of its new space on Via Ciovassino in Brera to coincide with the beginning of Milan Men's Fashion Week in January. Guests got an opportunity to admire both the 1,000sq m of display space and Paul & Shark’s Fall/Winter 15/16 clothing and accessory collections, with staging inspired by the maritime world.

Paul & Shark installed an 8m high waterfall in its Milan showroom for the opening party

An 8m high installation with waterfall LED lighting, exciting videos and photos from the brand’s new advertising campaign created an “exhilarating” atmosphere for the brand’s guests, the company said. In attendance were personalities from the Italian and international fashion and publishing worlds, as well as celebrities and socialites.

The opening of Paul & Shark’s Milanese showroom is part of the brand’s new strategy to strengthen its position in the luxury fashion segment as well as its commercial structure.

Guests admired the Fall/Winter 15/16 clothing on display

Paul & Shark, which is produced and distributed by Dama S.p.A, was founded in 1975 by entrepreneurs who have been operating in the textiles sector since 1921. The brand is recognised worldwide for its shark logo and offers collections for men, women and children, in addition to capsule collections inspired by the sailing and adventure worlds.

Available in 73 countries with more than 250 mono-brand points of sale, Paul & Shark is present in the world's most exclusive shopping districts, including Via Montenapoleone in Milan, Faubourg St-Honoré in Paris, Madison Avenue in New York, Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, Nanjing Road in Shanghai and Canton Road in Hong Kong.

A first class move for Mumm and Perrier-Jouët

First class travellers looking for a taste of luxury while awaiting their Qantas flights are now able to enjoy two premium Champagnes from Pernod Ricard-owned G.H.Mumm and Perrier-Jouët. G.H.Mumm Rosé and Perrier-Jouët Grand Brut are now available in the Qantas International First Lounges in Melbourne and Sydney airports, marking the arrival of the first rosé Champagne for the lounges' drinks menu.

G.H.Mumm Rosé Champagne

G.H.Mumm Rosé is a Pinot Noir-dominated Champagne with notes reminiscent of fruits of the forest. G.H.Mumm is the official Champagne of Formula 1 motor racing, and is the number two Champagne brand in Australia.

Produced in Epernay, Champagne, the award-winning Perrier-Jouët Grand Brut is the original brut style launched by the house in 1846. Travellers can enjoy flavours of exotic fruits, honey and citrus from one of the world’s most prestigious and exclusive Champagne houses.

Perrier-Jouët Grand Brut Champagne

Katie Gee, senior brand manager at Pernod Ricard Pacific Travel Retail, enthused: “We’re delighted to have secured these two new listings with such a prolific and established airline. Guests of the Qantas International First Lounge have been extremely positive towards the new additions to the drinks menu and we look forward to raising our glasses to future passengers.”

Chivas promotion centres on heritage

French liquor group Pernod Ricard has unveiled details of its holiday promotion for The Chivas Brothers’ Blend, the brand’s only travel-retail exclusive. Until the end of January 2015, The Chivas Brothers’ Blend promotion ran at nine airports across the Pacific region with the two largest promotions in Sydney airport.

The Chivas Brothers' Blend bar at Sydney airport

A dedicated branded bar was created in Sydney which invited passengers to try the travel-retail exclusive alongside other favourites of the Chivas Regal range. Consumers discovered the heritage and story of the brand, highlighting the century-old tradition of blending, collaboration and friendship that was started by James and John Chivas. They also experienced the versatility of the expression by trying The Chivas Brothers’ Blend neat and in cocktails, including The Brothers' Blend Fizz, a tall long drink which combines the sweetness of honey with the sharpness of lemon.

Katie Gee, senior brand manager at Pernod Ricard Pacific Travel Retail, said the promotion focused on the expression’s heritage and versatility while “immersing travellers in the legacy of the brand”.

The Chivas Brothers’ Blend campaign was also supported by promotions available across the rest of the Chivas Regal portfolio. This included promotional activity for the Pacific-exclusive Chivas Aged Triple Pack, which was launched earlier this year, and contains a one-litre bottle of The Chivas Brothers’ Blend, a 700ml bottle of Chivas Regal 12yo and 500ml bottle of Chivas Regal 18yo.

Davidoff strengthens Asian links

Oettinger Davidoff, the leading manufacturer of premium cigars, has acquired a 25% interest in Bluebell Cigars (Asia) Ltd, its distributor for Asia, excluding China. In other news, the Basel-based cigar company has struck a deal with a distributor for the Chinese market.

The agreement with Blubell, effective January 1, 2015, provides Oettinger Davidoff the right over time to acquire a majority interest in the company.

Oettinger Davidoff CEO Hans-Kristian Hoejsgaard said: “Bluebell has been Oettinger Davidoff's close and exclusive partner in Asia, excluding China, for almost four decades and it is thanks to Bluebell that Asia represents our most prominent Davidoff retail footprint anywhere in the world. This equity investment reflects both our desire to prolong and deepen our relationship with Bluebell as well as the critical importance of Asia to our future strategy and business growth.”

China is critical to growth, says Oettinger Davidoff CEO Hans-Kristian Hoejsgaard

Bluebell (Asia) CEO Ashley Micklewright stated: “Our Davidoff division has been hived off into a separate entity, allowing both companies to work even closer together. This move deepens further our commitment to the Davidoff brand and cements our longstanding and successful relationship with Oettinger Davidoff.”

Bluebell has been a pioneer and leader in the distribution of luxury brands in Asia since 1954. The family-owned company represents more than 50 luxury lifestyle brands in eight countries, operating 500 stores and employing over 2,300 staff. These brands include fragrance and beauty, fashion apparel and accessories, jewellery and watches, homeware, lifestyle, gourmet food and cigars.

Sparkle Roll named China distributor

In other Asia news, Oettinger Davidoff has signed an agreement for China with Sparkle Roll Group. The two companies have entered a framework agreement in relation to the formation of a joint venture for Davidoff cigars and cigar accessories in China.

"The signing of this framework agreement heralds a new era in our relationship with Sparkle Roll,” Hoejsgaard said. “Just a few weeks after announcing our equity stake in Bluebell Cigars (Asia) Ltd, we further strengthen our commitment to Asia and China in particular. China represents the single largest business opportunity for Davidoff in our time and I am convinced that in partnering with Sparkle Roll we will be able to exploit that opportunity to its fullest."

Ivan Tong, chairman of Sparkle Roll Group, added: "We are excited about the prospect of teaming up with Davidoff, one of the world’s leading luxury brands. With Sparkle Roll's track record in China's luxury sector, I am convinced that we can accelerate the brand development of Davidoff in the world’s premier luxury market."

Sparkle Roll distributes luxury goods in China, including branded watches from Richard Mille, DeWitt and Parmigiani, Boucheron jewellery, and an exclusive licensing agreement using trademarks of Royal Asscher. The company has luxury car dealerships as well as partnerships with renowned French fine wine suppliers. In November 2014, the group entered into a licensing agreement with Italian menswear brand Corneliani for its non-exclusive right to sell clothing and other menswear products in China and Macau.

St-Germain brings Parisian style to US travel retail

Bacardi has launched St-Germain, the French elderflower liqueur brand, into the US travel-retail channel. Travel retailer International Shoppes at New York JFK Airport’s Terminal 8 was chosen as the launch location to reflect the popularity of St-Germain in the New York domestic market and with bartenders on the city’s cocktail scene.

The St-Germain promotion at New York JFK airport

Throughout December 2014, shoppers visiting the International Shoppes store were invited to the St-Germain bar, a stand-alone branded area. Featuring luxury Parisian art deco-style bar cues and imagery, supported by the call to action “Vive L’Aperitif”, shoppers were invited to taste a range of aperitifs, including the St-Germain Cocktail, containing St-Germain, sparkling wine, sparkling/soda water and a lemon twist. Additional options include St-Germain, Bombay Sapphire gin and tonic or St-Germain, Grey Goose vodka and tonic. Floor-standing merchandising display units gave visual support to the bar activity.

The launch also covered the cruise channel, with all major cruise lines featuring St-Germain cocktails. Celebrity Cruises and Norwegian Cruise Line also ran consumer promotions in their specialist cocktail lounges.

Heritage appeal and versatility

Geoff Biggs, regional director Americas at Bacardi Global Travel Retail, explained the category-driving strategy behind the US travel market launch: “Liqueurs have great potential to play a more dynamic role in travel retail. Bacardi believes the strongest incremental opportunity is in ‘new news’ high quality brands such as St-Germain with its unique heritage appeal to cocktail lovers, who love its flavour and versatility.

 

“We’re delighted with the look and feel of this experience with International Shoppes. We plan to bring more unique excitement of this kind to airport stores in the US as part of our strategy to drive growth in all segments of the liquor category and, specifically, to create disruption with shoppers at the second stage of luxury – those people looking for new and unique brands as a way of differentiating themselves from the norm. We’ll now be rolling the experience out to Boston Logan and Philadelphia International airports and to other cruise lines later in 2015.”

St-Germain is a four-time Grand Gold Medal Winner, Monde Selection, and also winner of the Chairman’s Award in the Ultimate Spirits Challenge 2010.

Made using hand-harvested flowers, the St-Germain taste profile is elderflower, tropical fruits, grapefruit and pear, with a hint of citrus.

The fluted glass bottle is designed to make a striking visual impact on-shelf with its art deco and Gothic look, representing a mix of influences and styles in Paris over the decades. Each bottle is stamped with a number identifying its vintage, its elderflower harvest and underscoring the hand-crafted nature of the product.

Heineken named Creative Marketer of the Year

The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity has announced that the 2015 Creative Marketer of the Year will be awarded to Heineken. The accolade recognises companies who have inspired innovative, global marketing of their products and who embrace creativity in their brand communications.

Said Philip Thomas, CEO of Lions Festivals: "Heineken lives and breathes creativity throughout its organisation, and has a superb framework that allows its marketing teams the freedom to experiment while retaining the core essence of their many brands. It is testament to the company that in the last three years, six of its brands have won 41 Lions across seven countries, including a coveted Grand Prix in Creative Effectiveness. It is also a sign of how important creativity is culturally that they are only the second client to have won the award twice since we introduced it in 1992, having previously taken it home in 1995."

Positioning Heineken beer as a global brand

In 2013 Heineken won the Cannes Lions Creative Effectiveness Grand Prix for a campaign titled 'Heineken's Legendary Journey: Justifying a Premium the World Over', which aimed to grow and position Heineken beer as a global brand.

Alexis Nasard, Heineken president Western Europe and global chief marketing officer, said: "Creativity is a great competitive advantage to have because it is hard to replicate. It is at the heart of great design and marketing programmes, as well as innovation. These are the lifeblood of our business. Award-winning campaigns help build the business disproportionately. The purpose of Heineken is to continually wow the world with our brands, people and performance. This award shows that we are doing just that.

“Our global spirit of creativity and innovation drives our commitment to the beer category in duty free and travel retail and the global campaigns create synergies that help us to connect with consumers at travel locations across the world. We are committed to developing a series of innovative and creative on- and off-trade concepts across cruise, ferries and border stores delivering a more premium and, when relevant, experiential proposition, like the BrewLock one way keg concept and Heineken Taste the World off-trade concept.”

Heineken will be honoured during the Cannes Lions, taking place from June 21-27, 2015 in Cannes, France.

Welcome to the MCM Lab

MCM has opened its new Lab store in Seoul, described as “a science-fiction meets high-fashion concept store” in the heart of the Korean capital. The new opening follows the success of the German luxury brand’s other concept stores in the South Korean capital - the art-filled M:AZIT and space-themed MCM SPACE. The new "Shoppertainment" flagship store, located at the City Airport Logis & Travel Plaza Mall in the Gangnam district of Seoul, is designed as a luxury laboratory crossed with a high-tech factory.

The new MCM Lab concept store in Seoul

For the grand opening event, MCM went into full party mode, greeting 3,000 visitors, including superstar band Exo, singer and actress Sung Yu Ri, singer Sistar, rapper Jay Park and model Bak Hyeon Seop. They were joined by many members of the fashion press, models and celebrities. MCM staff wore white MCM-branded lab coats – surely the most glamorous lab coats ever, as the guests enjoyed an evening of shopping, socialising and entertainment.

Staff wearing lab coats

At the event, entertainment stations were dotted around the store, offering fun activities for the guests. They included a calligraphy booth, manned by two dapper scientists in white lab coats, helping the guests with their festive card writing skills. DJs played all night, while a digital photo booth allowed the guests to take home fond memories.

Pop group Exo attend the grand opening

Models roamed around the new space showcasing the Spring/Summer 2015 “Game on! Diamondland!” ready-to-wear collection. Multi-coloured sweets and other candy treats were offered on science-inspired trolleys.

Models sporting the Spring/Summer 15 collection

Ballantine’s debuts blending experience

Scotch-loving travellers are being given the chance to explore the art of whisky blending thanks to the Ballantine’s Blending Experience, created by Pernod Ricard at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport. The hands-on experience, which combines creative technology with a Ballantine’s tasting, seeks to exemplify the brand’s Stay True philosophy, focusing on the whisky itself and placing the visitor at the heart.

The Ballantine's Blending Experience at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport

The pop-up runs in Paris Charles de Gaulle’s Aelia store until 19 January 2015. Passengers can take on the role of Master Blender within the pop-up space. The innovative campaign incorporates a digitally-focused blending education and an audio-guided tasting area within an eye-catching branded unit.

The interactive blending experience centres on the jewel, an attractive graphic that updates in real time to represent the blend as per the consumer’s adjustments. To educate the participants, labels appear within the jewel itself and a box underneath displays the make-up of the blend along with full tasting notes. The blending experience is followed by a tasting ritual – including Ballantine’s Finest and Ballantine’s 12yo – which uses a visual aid to deepen consumer engagement, build brand advocacy and enhance Ballantine’s luxury positioning.

Consumers are encouraged to share their interactions from the Ballantine’s Blending Experience on social media, using #BlendWithBallantines to be in with a chance of winning a global competition.

The Ballantine’s Blending Experience was launched on 23 December 2014 in Paris Charles de Gaulle airport and runs until 19 January 2015. The activity will roll out across Aelia stores in Paris Charles de Gaulle Terminal 2 S4 in February 2015 and Warsaw Chopin airport in March 2015.

Aberfeldy hails golden success

Bacardi has hailed the launch of Aberfeldy Gold of Pitilie 28yo – a rare limited edition of eight bottles, exclusively for sale at the DFS Group-curated fourth annual Masters of Wines and Spirits presentation. At the event in Singapore on November 8, the limited edition sold out within three hours.

Aberfeldy Gold of Pitilie

Crafted by Master Blender Stephanie Macleod, Aberfeldy Gold of Pitilie is a 28yo single Highland malt whisky and its Singapore release at $4,000 per bottle is the oldest and rarest commercial bottling in the distillery’s 116-year history.

The eight-bottle edition was drawn from a single hand-selected 1985 vintage cask and bottled by hand directly from the cask at the distillery. No more of that 1985 cask will ever be released, guaranteeing the edition’s rarity, Bacardi said.

The name of this exclusive edition is taken from the distillery’s water source, the Pitilie Burn, a stream renowned for its deposits of Scottish gold, which is a crowning feature of the bottle’s bold presentation and an essential element of its status as a rare and collectible whisky.

The bottle is intricately decorated in 22ct gold, crafted using traditional lost-wax casting, while the stopper features delicate flakes of rare Scottish gold that were panned by hand. Representing the natural flora found around the Pitilie Burn, individual fretwork metal elements were then hand assembled around a centrepiece of the distillery icon and with the age ‘28’ neatly hidden within the filigree attached to the bottle.

The collar repeats the decorative elements and is embossed with the words “THE GOLD OF PITILIE” inside the filigree. On the back of the bottle is a plaque with 24ct gold plating detailing all the essential elements that combine to create the rarity of the whisky. Each numbered bottle has a certificate of authenticity signed by the Master Blender and is presented in a luxurious high-gloss black lacquered presentation case. Each presentation case requires 12 weeks of crafting.

Irving Holmes Wong, Bacardi Global Travel Retail regional director Asia Pacific & MEA, enthused: “This is Bacardi’s first experience with the prestigious DFS Masters of Wine and Spirits and we wanted to create something really special to celebrate our partnership with DFS for their most discerning customers.

“Credible and memorable offerings of aged malts are increasingly rare and are highly sought after by connoisseurs and collectors, as witnessed by the speed of this sell-out success. The golden aura around this truly exquisite presentation highlights the ability of the Aberfeldy brand to support travel retail’s imperative to deliver stunning surprises to even the most discerning and experienced luxury consumer and to absolutely wow them when they travel. For Bacardi that’s a key aspect of our strategy to continually drive innovation and deliver a strong call to action in the whisky category.”