Bacardi and travel retailer Aer Rianta International (ARI) have partnered
at Auckland Airport in a major shopper experience
incorporating three category-leading brands: Bombay Sapphire, the leading
premium gin in travel retail, Grey Goose super-premium vodka, and the John Dewar
& Sons Fine Whisky Emporium featuring Dewar’s, the world’s most awarded
blended Scotch whisky portfolio. This major category initiative targeted white spirits and
whisky lovers alike in a two-month campaign.
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| The John Dewar & Sons Fine Whisky Emporium at Auckland Airport |
Prominent position with sampling activity
The prominent position was also key, located immediately
facing passengers as they cleared security and entered the departures lounge. Impactful
branding and sampling activity led by brand ambassadors at The Loop Duty Free,
ARI’s store, attracted noticeable increases in footfall. The promotion continued
in-store in the spirits area.
This is the first time that ARI has featured a
multi-brand promotion like this. Tom Byrne, General Manager of ARI Auckland,
said: "We are delighted with the Bombay Sapphire and Dewar’s activation at
The Loop Duty Free. The brands and their following in New Zealand speak for
themselves and this bright, eye-catching activation at the front of our shop
engages passengers even before they clear security. Being able to sample the products further
enforces the ‘want to buy’ and enhances the overall experience for the
passenger."
Irving Holmes Wong, Regional Director, Asia Pacific and
MEA at Bacardi Global Travel Retail, added: “Only Bacardi has the category-leading
brands to deliver a luxury activation of this scale, and it’s amazing to see
how positioning three of our star performing brands of Grey Goose, Bombay
Sapphire and Dewar’s like this is delivering such positive shopper interaction
as a result of the broadened shopper appeal.
This is a fantastic example of the sum of the whole being greater than
the parts and we are delighted with ARI for sharing our vision and joint
business planning in ways that unlock incremental growth for us all. Together
we are offering shoppers at Auckland Airport a genuinely exciting shopping
experience with premiumised and differentiated products. This activation is
certainly inspiring strong conversion.”
The promotion’s Emporium space featured a range of age
statements from the range and the Bacardi collection of single malts. Against a
backdrop of digital screens showing film footage of Dewar’s, trained brand
ambassadors tutored shoppers through a range of tastings from a whisky stave
presented on Dewar’s barrels.
The recently introduced super-premium gin Star of Bombay
was elegantly presented in a rocks glass over ice with a twist of orange and
equal parts gin to Fever Tree Indian tonic water, delivering an intense flavour
experience. Design cues in the bar played to the signature blue
vibrancy of the Bombay gin portfolio with graphics depicting the key botanicals
from the ends of the earth.
Grey Goose completed the offer with the full brand portfolio
available on-shelf in the spirits department supported by sampling of key
serves.
