Friday 19 December 2014

DFNI Products Awards 2014

Essential Communications is delighted to congratulate clients on doing so well in this year's DFNI Product Awards, including:

Furla - highly commended for its SS15 Flower Capsule and Cruise Collection

Tyko Travel Retail - winner of best new product for Punk Luxe

Godiva Chocolatier - winner of best new store for Hamad International airport, Doha

Mars International Travel Retail - highly commended for its M&M's store in Paris Charles de Gaulle airport and for its global programme

Nestlé International Travel Retail - highly commended for its Nescafé sharing bags

Perfetti Van Melle - winner of best marketing campaign for its Animal Planet charity campaign

Imperial Tobacco - highly commended for its new Davidoff Superslims

Thursday 18 December 2014

Hawaiian Host announces new exclusive CNY Tin

Hawaiian Host has launched a new limited edition Chinese New Year Tin to capitalize on this important gift-giving time of year.




The new tin features two 6oz MacNut Crunch®  boxes in a festive red and gold color, incorporating the animals from the Chinese Zodiac. It is currently being sold exclusively in 4 outlets in 4 High Speed Railway Stations and 48 outlets in 19 Chinese airports including Guangzhou, Chengdu, Xi’an, Beijing Capital, Qingdao, and Shenzhen; from now up until the end of Chinese New Year in February.

“We are excited to be celebrating the Year of the Sheep with this unique gifting opportunity,” says Earl Kurisu, Hawaiian Host Director of Sales Asia Pacific . “Gifting is a very important part of the CNY traditions, and we anticipate that this gift tin will make an excellent commemoration of CNY 2015.”

About Hawaiian Host
Hawaiian Host®, Inc. is the manufacturer of Hawaii’s original chocolate covered macadamias. Mamoru Takitani purchased Ellen Dye Candies, a local confectioner since 1927, and renamed the company Hawaiian Host®. Its corporate headquarters is located at 500 Alakawa Street in Honolulu. For more information, please visit the website at www.hawaiianhost.com, like the page on Facebook at  www.facebook.com/HawaiianHostInc or follow them on Twitter @HawaiianHostInc. Genuine. Classic. Original.

Wednesday 17 December 2014

JUUL-MORTENSEN RE-ELECTED PRESIDENT TFWA

As the 30th successful year of TFWA activities draws to a close, the association is delighted to announce that Erik Juul-Mortensen has been re-elected unanimously to the presidency for a 16th  term.

The election took place at a meeting of the Management Committee on 12th December in Barcelona at which the executive team presented a review of the year.

Juul-Mortensen has been a member of the TFWA Management Committee since the Association was founded in 1984. He was elected to the Board in 1986, serving as Vice President Marketing & Communication for ten years with a further year as VP Special Projects. He was elected President in September 1999.

2014 has been another very successful year for the trade association which provides exhibitions, conferences, research and support to the global duty free and travel retail industry.

Forthcoming events:

TFWA China’s Century Conference – Shanghai, 10-12 March 2015

TFWA Asia Pacific Exhibition & Conference – Singapore, 10-14 May 2015

TFWA World Exhibition & Conference – Cannes, 18-23 October 2015

MEADFA Conference – Jordan, November 2015

Further details of TFWA events can be found at www.tfwa.com.

Thursday 11 December 2014

Paul & Shark develops cruise-ship business and celebrates successful week in Cannes

Luxury Italian sportswear brand Paul & Shark has announced two key cruise-ship listings with Tallink  and Starboard Cruise Services. The company has installed corners on Silja Serenade and Silja Symphony and will be joining Crystal Cruises and Silversea cruises through Starboard from November.

‘This is an excellent development for us and we’re really excited about it. Both Starboard Cruise and Tallink offer premium retail experiences which perfectly suits the DNA of the Paul & Shark brand,’ says Worldwide Travel Retail Director Catherine Bonelli. “The association with luxury sportswear and particularly sailing makes the link even more appropriate,’ she says.

Catherine Bonelli


This new business is announced after an incredibly successful week for Paul & Shark at TFWA World Conference & Exhibition. ‘We had a fabulous exhibition this year,’ continues Bonelli, ‘we had more than 65 serious business meetings during the week and were thrilled at the positive response to the brand. Visitors really appreciate the quality of Paul & Shark, its unique approach and flexibility to meet the individual requirements of retailers.’

During the week, Paul & Shark offered visitors to the stand personalized embroidered Polo shirts for men and pouches containing silk scarves for women. Using an intricate tooling machine, which takes up little space, Paul & Shark showed customers at first hand how the brand can create a point of difference for travel retail. ‘It was a very successful initiative and really helped us to get our quality message across. Over the week we embroidered more than 250 Polos and 100 pouches. We were very pleased with the results,’ says Bonelli.

Tuesday 9 December 2014

Davidoff lounge ‘a great success’

Imperial Tobacco is delighted with the success of its Davidoff lounge at this year’s MEADFA conference - which attracted 600 delegates from over 32 countries.



The conference, held at the Jumeirah Creekside hotel in Dubai, provided insightful and detailed information on travel retail in the Middle East and Africa regions as well as networking and social interactions for all participants.

The lounge itself was highly frequented by the delegates, who sampled the selection of Davidoff Cigarettes and in many cases chose to use the lounge as a place for business meetings or to discuss the conference programme, e.g. the Imperial Tobacco presentation on the Chinese Traveller.

Says Julia Neumaier, Trade Marketing Operations Manager Imperial Tobacco: “The Davidoff lounge was a great success. We received nothing but positive feedback and we attribute this to the informative, friendly hostesses and of course, our quality products.”

The lounge was also the perfect stage for Imperial Tobacco to handover a cheque  for €6000   to TFWA president Erik Juul-Mortensen for TFWA Care, which supports various charity projects. The money was raised at TFWA World Exhibition & Conference in October through a game on the Imperial Tobacco stand. “We are thrilled to have supported the charity,” says Andreas Lemke, Imperial Tobacco’s GTR General Manager. “It was a great way to celebrate TFWA’s 30th anniversary and also support a deserving cause.”

Champagne Lanson launches ‘new exceptional gift sets’ for Extra Age cuvee

Champagne Lanson is offering consumers travelling through Zurich Airport the opportunity to purchase one or two exceptional gift sets, exclusively offered as part of a High Profile Promotion from the 2nd-29th December 2014.









The first offer is ‘The Traveler Showcase’ a Lanson branded Samsonite Cube Lite suitcase containing a bottle of Extra Age cuvee and two Champagne glasses. A light, robust and timeless fashion piece that will protect one’s Extra Age cuvee at any time, the case is perfect for travelling and reusable after removing the protective cover designed for the bottle.

The second offer is the ‘Timeless Gift Box’, a beautiful case holding three bottles of Extra Age cuvee. With blends that focus on the importance of time, it is only natural that the Lanson House would be inspired by the world of watches for this gift set, with its ‘wheels of time’ theme.

Once the bottles have been removed, this exceptional gift set with its very elegant carbon design can be used to hold six timepieces.

To quote Olivier de la Giraudière, Export Director Champagne Lanson: “This is an extraordinary promotion we are running and we expect a high visibility of these top premium gifts throughout the this high promotion period. This is a unique gifting opportunity for the Christmas and New Year festivities.”

Thursday 4 December 2014

Furla ‘pops up’ in Harrods

Furla takes delight in announcing the opening of a new 50m2 pop up store in Harrods, London Heathrow Terminal 5.




The store officially opened on the 28th November 2014 with Furla’s AW14 collection.

“We are seeing exceptional sales so far,” says Furla’s Global Travel Retail Director, Gerry Munday. “This is the first pop up store for Furla in travel retail, and I’d like to say a big thank you to Harrods for their help with this opening, it has been a delight to work with them again and we hope to do so again in the near future.”

Furla opens new personalised corner in Japan

Furla, the leading brand in premium leathergoods, is expanding its presence in Japan with a new personalised corner in Haneda International Airport, with JAL-DFS.



The store opened recently with Furla’s AW14 collection.

“We have had a very busy couple of months with openings all over Asia,” says Gerry Munday, Global Travel Retail Director. “I would like to thank JAL-DFS for their hard work during this opening and for their continued support to Furla.”

Wednesday 3 December 2014

FURLA TAPS WORLD-CLASS TALENT MARIO TESTINO AS CREATIVE PARTNER

Further sealing its evolution as leading international premium accessories lifestyle brand, Furla has teamed up with world-class photographer Mario Testino and his creative agency, to shape the brand's artistic image across the board.
Mario Testino



Starting with the Spring Summer 2015 Collection, the brand will develop a 360-degree project that will set the tone of voice and the communication codes of the brand, developing a media-neutral creativity, which will roll out to all platforms: point of sales, media and web.

Only in the early stages of a long-lasting collaboration, the creative partnership between Testino and Furla will transmit the brand's colourful, joyful and contagious Italian lifestyle mood that celebrates both its iconic and novelty products with a strong mix of quality and innovation.

The lively and dynamic images will be reflected in the ad campaign for media and outdoor, in window display, in store and web catalogs as well as in videos for the website, social media platforms and PR purposes.

This new challenge is the first initiative of a strong and focused marketing strategy, aimed at bringing Furla into the next level of its international growth.

“This is a very exciting and positive time for the brand. We are proud to begin this partnership with such a great artist like Mario Testino. His creativity will project Furla to the next level of its global evolution”, declares Eraldo Poletto, Chief Executive Officer of Furla.

“Furla is about energy, life and colours. When I look at the product, I imagine whoever is wearing it is having a great time. It's a great journey we are beginning together”, said Mario Testino about the brand.

Furla opens new store in Haikou Airport

Furla takes delight in announcing that it has opened a new 48sqm boutique in Haikou Airport, Hainan, with DFS Group.



The store opened on the 1st of October with Furla’s AW14 collection.

“Yet another successful opening in Asia,” says Gerry Munday, Global Travel Retail Director. “This has been an extremely busy couple of months with openings in Shenzhen International Airport, Chengdu Airport and Haneda International Airport preceding this one. I would like to thank DFS-Group for their hard work and co-operation with this new store opening.”

Wednesday 19 November 2014

Furla refurbishes in Melbourne

Furla is pleased to announce the refurbishment of an existing 6sqm personalised corner in Melbourne Downtown JR Duty Free Store, in line with its new concept design.




The revamped store officially opened on the 12th November.

“We have been opening multiple new Furla stores worldwide almost every month,” says Gerry Munday, Furla Global Travel Retail Director. “Thanks to JR Duty Free for their support with this renovation and their continued confidence in Furla.”

Monday 17 November 2014

FENWICK’S BUSINESS IS BOOST FOR FACE MATTERS SKINCARE IN TRAVEL RETAIL

Following a successful week at TFWA World Exhibition and Conference, World of Patria International is confident that its Face Matters Skincare range will significantly increase its travel retail distribution during 2015. ‘The quality of interest in the line this year was very serious and we were very pleased with the reaction,’ says Face Matters founder Sally Curson. Curson believes that the industry will be further encouraged by the news that the range is now available in London’s Fenwick Bond Street store. In addition, the brand has received a Highly Commended in the Pure Beauty Awards 2014 for Best New Beauty Brand.


The Face Matters range


‘The award and launch are both hugely significant for the brand and is testament to the quality of the product and range and a welcome reward for the time spent on the development of it,’ continues Curson. ‘Hopefully travel retail buyers will see this listing with Fenwick’s – one of the UK’s most respected and iconic department stores - as real confidence in the Face Matters range which shows that we are seen as a real alternative to other skincare brands available. A high percentage of shoppers at Fenwick Bond Street are visitors from all over the world who are also the typical targeted consumer in the airport retail environment.’

The Pure Beauty Awards, now in their 12th year, give the beauty industry and its retail staff the opportunity to reward innovation and creativity in this most competitive of industries. The awards recognise the most exciting, innovative and efficacious beauty products launched within the last year. The awards are decided by readers of Pure Beauty magazine, including beauty retail staff.

The Face Matters range comprises 5 time-friendly anti-ageing products: 24/7 Balm, Anytime Cleanser, All Day Spritz, Morning Moisturiser, and Evening Elixir. Highly Active botanicals have been synergistically blended with collagen boosting organic mineral silicon – a miracle mineral derived from the earth’s crust.  Independent skin trials have shown outstanding results after only 4 weeks’ use – skin is softer, smoother, more toned, even, radiant and glowing – to the extent of ditching the foundation and going au naturel! The Face Matters aroma is made up of a carefully chosen blend of floral oils, which took over 18 months to blend and perfect.  All selected for positive effects on the soul as well as the skin and to lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol within our minds.

‘With this new business with Fenwick’s, the Pure Beauty recognition, our confirmed listings with BA and Condor, plus the great reaction we had in Cannes last month, we’re really positive about Face Matters in travel retail for 2015,’ says WOPI managing director Rob Nichols.

Notes to the editor

About World of Patria International World of Patria is a specialist, wine, beer, spirit and skincare distributor. It was founded in March 2006 by Rob Nichols to target the expatriate fraternity living in Europe. This expanded to cover large sections of the travel retail and duty free markets shortly after its inception. The company's objective is the offer its customers a one-stop shop solution that provides them with a cost-effective and diverse portfolio enabling them to become leaders in their own market.

Friday 14 November 2014

Scandlines and William Grants whisky shop in shop in Puttgarden wins gold at POPAI Awards in London

Executives from William Grant & Sons, Hans Just, Scandlines and HRG  gathered in Cannes during TFWA World Exhibition to celebrate the gold POPAI award won for the Glenfiddich Whisky Corner travel retail concept at Scandlines Puttgarden store on the German island of Fehmarn.  The corner was named Best Shop in Shop.


From left to right -
1.Martin Olsen, Category Manager, Spirit, Scandlines
2. Søren Lønsbo, Purchasing Director, Scandlines
3.Thomas Karberg.  Managing Director, Hans Just
4. Lucy Tugwell.  Account Director, HRG
5.Morten  Haure-Peterson , Managing Director, Scandlines.
6. Justin Weston.  MD Global Travel Retail, William Grant & Sons


Built from an understanding of shopper motivations and purchase behaviour, the concept encourages shoppers to trade up and attracts new shoppers to the whisky area of the store.  It allows customers an introduction to whisky and by highlighting travel exclusives, gifting options and taste profiles and displaying the products beautifully it means that the purchase decision is not based only on price.

“This new Glenfiddich Whisky Corner provides an eye-catching, dedicated setting for customers, introducing a variety of premium, ultra-premium and rare quality whiskies to new customers whilst also engaging with existing aficionados,” says Scandlines Managing Director Morten Haure-Peterson.  “This new environment is part of our ongoing mission to upgrade the quality of our offer to customers, with a particular focus on our Swedish friends.”

The judging panel commended the execution as, “a really great example of a store concept that is grounded in shopper insight.  Understanding shopper needs and applying sound category management principles has delivered a truly exciting and inviting environment which offers a unique shopping experience.”  The judges went on to say that, “Appealing to discount shoppers and connoisseurs alike, this truly engaging brand experience makes good use of a range of merchandising techniques to create strong standout, support ease of category navigation in-store and aid improved product knowledge, giving shoppers the tools to buy with confidence.”

Justin Weston, Managing Director, Global Travel Retail for William Grant and Sons commented, “The award won by HRG is very well deserved; they put together a fantastic space – not just for our portfolio, including Glenfiddich, The Balvenie, Grant’s Whisky, and Tullamore Dew, but also for competitor brands too.  It’s a great demonstration of how shopper understanding is being used to improve the customer shopping experience and support value creation to generate increased profit everyone – ourselves, our distributors and our retail partners by ensuring that we all work together to grow the entire whisky category.”

* POPAI (Point of Purchase Advertising International) is has over 1,400 corporate member companies around the world. It held its annual awards for excellence in retail marketing on 9 October in London.

Tuesday 11 November 2014

Tyko reports most successful TFWA WE to date

TFWA World Exhibition & Conference 2014 has proven to be a great success for Tyko Travel Retail. The introduction of new key lines such as Axis, Orb, Sundown & Flight within the Breo watch and sunglasses collections were very well received by both airlines and ground stores. During the week, Tyko received a number of new listing confirmations from strategic ground store partners for the Breo self-select unit within Europe, Middle East & the Americas, some of which Tyko had been working on  - others which came out of the blue.




Hippie Chic sales continue to outperform all Tyko’s customer expectations, with buyer comments ranging from ‘what is the secret to the success’ to ‘we should have listened to you earlier’. Tyko has great expectations for Hippie Chic in 2015 and, with the addition of three new designs, it allows current partners to offer a fresh new look and maximise sales on board come Spring/Summer 2015.

Tyko’s three new brand launches; Daisy Chain – nature’s jewellery; Kartel -  doing time since 1880; and Punk Luxe – everyone has a dark fun side, received an amazing reaction during TFWA WE2014. Since the show last year, Tyko’s design team has been carefully studying trends within global domestic markets, taking up-and-coming trends and adding its own innovative touch with the goal of bringing ‘the next big thing’ to the Travel Retail sector, initially launching the concepts as ‘airline exclusive’. From the reaction of Tyko’s airline partners last week, it believes that it has achieved this with all three new brands.

Says Martin Lovatt - GTR Sales Director, Tyko: “I genuinely believe this year our investment in market research, design and product development has sent a clear message to the industry reconfirming that Tyko Travel Retail is, as always, fully committed to bringing innovative, affordable and high volume products to the Travel Retail Sector.”

Says Robert Morrison - Chairman, Tyko: “TFWA WE 2014 has been our best year yet. Our team and product offerings are superb and we are making fantastic progress going into 2015. We have been working very hard to deliver a strategy that is both unique and fresh to travel retail. We have created products that fit the travel retail customers needs and captured current trends within these products. Our current multi brand portfolio has an offer for all ages thus opening up large markets to deliver volume sales to our trade customers. We are excited to deliver what we believe to be a unique offering and service in 2015.”

Says Janice Smith - European Sales Manager, Tyko: “There was a genuine buzz when presenting our newness in Cannes this year, I felt that buyer’s feedback to the collections was one of genuine excitement. It was clear from their reactions that we were offering something new, fresh and exciting, they could see our new and innovative collections would be adding value to their well-established watch & jewellery collections come spring/summer 2015.”

Imperial Tobacco puts itself and its customers into the traveller’s shoes – and 20 winners in a helicopter

TFWA World Conference & Exhibition in Cannes was not only a very special anniversary (for TFWA) and a tremendous success for Imperial Tobacco, it was also a fantastic surprise for 20 lucky winners, and finally lead to a sum of 6000€ raised for TFWA Care.
Lucky prize winners: Ignacio Raffo, Domas Navickas, Micheline El Ammar Enkiri, Trevor Lloyd-Jones, and George Gliatas



This year Imperial Tobacco invited its booth visitors to participate in a game based on its traveller focus approach. To win, the participants had to get the visuals of three Chinese travellers in a row – the winning line given that the Chinese are the industry’s highest spending travellers. The prize was a great surprise to the lucky 20 winners: a unique helicopter trip along the Côte d’Azur and over Île Sainte-Marguerite, the island famous for its fortress prison (the Fort Royal,) in which the so-called ‘Man in the Iron Mask’ was held in the 17th century.

Imperial commissioned a five-seater helicopter from Tuesday to Friday. The winners were picked up in the morning by the ‘Imperial Airlines’ shuttle bus and stewardess and then dropped off at the Palais after the flight to carry on with their busy schedules in time.

Celebrating the 30th birthday of TFWA, 30€ were donated to the TFWA Care charity for every participant, whether or not they won. Imperial Tobacco will present the 6000€ check to TFWA President Erik Juul-Mortensen later this month at the MEADFA conference in Dubai.

Said Imperial Tobacco’s Marketing Operations Manager Julia Neumaier: ‘As a company, Imperial Tobacco is committed to charity initiatives and the 30th anniversary of TFWA World Conference & Exhibition was offering the decision for TFWA Care.  We were delighted with the response from visitors to our stand – it was a fun way both to promote our traveller focus approach and to create some big smiles from winners!’

About TFWA Care
Back in 2005, the TFWA Management Committee voted to formalize the Association’s support of charity projects and worthy causes through the creation of TFWA Care.
The mission of TFWA Care is to distribute financial resources to humanitarian organizations or charities that benefit people – especially women and children – through tangible, start-to-finish projects enabling recipients to help themselves to improve their lives.
TFWA Care aims to select a small number of causes that meet these criteria and which have a special attachment to TFWA and/or any of its members. In 2014, TFWA Care has donated some €402,000 to thirteen different projects.



*Picture shows winners (from left to right) - Ignacio Raffo, Domas Navickas, Micheline El Ammar Enkiri, Trevor Lloyd-Jones, and George Gliatas

Sunday 9 November 2014

Mars ITR aims for a billion smiles in Travel Retail

Smiles were aplenty when more than 150 travel industry executives gathered in Cannes at the Baoli nightclub - transformed into an M&M’s wonderland - to hear Mars International Travel Retail announce its brand new category vision and strategy for confectionery.
The event was held at bâoli, Cannes

Entrance to bâoli

What's your favourite colour? Interactive game

Marketing Director Lieke Duijmelings and General Manager Craig Sargeant

Marketing Director Lieke Duijmelings' speech

MITR brands

The MITR team

The MITR team smile with the red M&M's character

Red M&M's character

The key message of the evening was simple: ‘A smiling traveller is a spending traveller’ and MITR believes that confectionery is best placed as a category to create those smiles.

The evening was introduced by MITR Sales Directors Christophe Bouye and Simon Knapp with a summary of the confectionery business in travel retail given by Travel Retail Business Editor Doug Newhouse. Key presentations were given by Marketing Director Lieke Duijmelings and General Manager Craig Sargeant, with a fun and relaxed tone maintained throughout.

But the message is a serious one. MITR believes that by overcoming four barriers to smiling the confectionery category can be doubled by 2020.

Says Lieke Duijmelings: “We need the full support of the Trinity to unlock the potential from this fantastic category: everybody loves confectionery (it brings smiles), it is great for cross-penetration  sales and it is the most effective footfall driver.”

At the heart of the new strategy lies extensive research with over 5000 travellers of all nationalities over a 4 month period. Undertaken by M1nd-set at nine key airports globally, the research has come up with new insights that are somewhat surprising:

Continues Lieke: “We have found that, despite what is generally thought, only 20% of travellers who purchase actually buy confectionery for someone else. Indeed, most people buy for themselves (45%) or for sharing purposes (35%), even though they may buy formats which are targeted as gifts.”

MITR has found five main shopper needs within airports: Home Sweet Home, Travel Treats, Celebrating Parenthood, Showing Thought and Trip Memories.  ‘We believe that by closely targeting these needs with the right portfolio and high impact activations and promotions we can create the smiles that are needed in order to not only grow the confectionery category but ALL categories,” continues Lieke. And, she adds, given the ever changing traveller profile, with more middle income travellers, more frequent flyers, more leisure travellers and more low-cost carriers, the confectionery category will become even more important in leveraging sales within the airport retail environment.

MITR believes that the confectionery category’s full potential can be unlocked by harnessing the correct areas for growth. “And we have the brands to do it,” says Craig, “We have the brands to win the traveller’s smile: M&M’s, the global No.1; Snickers, the global No.2; Galaxy (aka Dove), the global No.4; along with Maltesers, Skittles and Extra, the global No.1 gum brand,” Craig says.
“We know that by attracting the passenger with compelling activations and promotions we can convert browsers to shoppers and build the basket size – and we have some brilliant case studies to prove the point including our highly successful Watch M campaign, Beach Ball campaign (Frontier Winner of the best Marketing campaign), M&M’s Stores, Colourhagen and many more.”

Pulling all this together, MITR has come up with a solid plan of action which will benefit all elements of The Trinity, producing a “Category Vision One Pager” for discussion with airports and retailers.


Note to editors: Mars ITR offers a strong global portfolio of brands to travel retail led by world famous M&M’s along with Celebrations, Galaxy Jewels, Snickers, Maltesers, Extra and Skittles. MITR believes in ‘confronting’ the traveller with impactful displays supported by exciting activations as the key to turning travellers into shoppers and converting shoppers into buyers. Its marketing techniques range from impactful, small-scale promotions to unique large theatre implementations. The constant aim is to create excitement on the shop floor in order to boost sales through seasonal and all year round campaigns. MITR continues to open M&M’s shops within airport stores and has fabulous new outlets planned in all regions, while in-store the company is in discussions with retailers regarding its Category Management Program which aims to promote the confectionery category in general – not just MITR brands. In terms of products, MITR is introducing more exclusive and destination lines for travel retail and, generally, is promising lots of traveller engagement and fun in-store.




Tuesday 4 November 2014

Champagne Lanson builds brand in Russia through Inflight pouring

Champagne Lanson is hoping to build its brand awareness in Russia thanks to a new listing onboard Aeroflot. Lanson Black Label has been chosen by the airline as its preferred Champagne for serving in Business Class on internal flights for the next three years.





Says Olivier De La Giraudière, Champagne Lanson Export Manager: ‘We’re delighted with this new business and thank our Russian market distributor SIMPLE for its assistance in negotiating this partnership. Russia is a rapidly growing market for Lanson and being chosen as the Champagne on the national carrier will certainly help to continue and support this trend.’

Along with Aeroflot, Black Label is also served onboard Emirates and Oman Air in business class. ‘We strongly believe that an airline has chosen Lanson over any other Champagne is a tremendous boost in terms of our profile and, of course, in attracting new consumers on the home market.’

Notes to editors: Since 1760 the House of Lanson has been associated with quality and achievement. A Champagne made predominantly with Chardonnay and, above all, Pinot Noir grapes - supplied from among the greatest Crus of the Champagne region - Lanson has never used the malolactic fermentation method to create its products, and never will. Long associated with sports sponsorship, including Wimbledon, the Monte Carlo Rolex Masters, and various motor sport, polo and golf tournaments, Lanson remains the Perfect Start for any celebration.

Swiss Eyewear Group targets global travel retail with its innovative new INVU and Rip Curl sunglass collections

Swiss Eyewear Group (International) AG - a new global player in the eyewear field, is targeting the global travel retail with its own innovative INVU ultra polarised brand along with licensed Rip Curl sports sunglasses. Based in Zurich, Switzerland, the company may be young – but its ex-Polaroid Eyewear management team is highly experienced in the international eyewear business and has proven success with the launch and development of the Polaroid sunglass brand into the travel retail industry.





INVU COLLECTION


Formed in 2013 with the launch of its own INVU ultra polarised brand in January 2014, Swiss Eyewear Group has quickly built distribution throughout Europe and around the world. INVU is already available in more than 55 markets, with particular success in Italy, Russia, the UK, Spain and France and is currently being launched in the USA, Scandinavia and Asia. To continue building this successful brand Swiss Eyewear Group is focusing on travel retail which is an important platform for developing brand awareness and growth. To this end, Swiss Eyewear Group has appointed Newthing Ltd as its exclusive global distributor for travel retail.

Says Newthing head of sales Martyn Westbury: “I see INVU as a perfect brand fit for TR because today all travellers expect quality products, but to have both quality and the technological advancements in the INVU lenses that deliver ultra polarisation and at an affordable price makes the brand unique.”

Described as the “Next Generation Global Polarising Impulse Brand”, INVU (pronounced “in-view” or spelled out “I envy you”) has been introduced to offer exceptional value for money in the quality impulse buy segment of €45-65 making it perfect for travel retail.  Says Swiss Eyewear Group Director Business Development International Markets, Rebecca Harwood-Lincoln: “INVU offers high commercial potential for travel retail combining a trendy, relevant brand name with a Swiss quality promise and ultra polarised lenses – bringing together fashion, product performance and quality into one clear proposition.”

The collection is built around a core of best-selling styles for both men and women with a range of frame and lens colour combinations that is guaranteed to see product “fly off the shelves”. For travel retail 16 best-selling SKUs have been selected including streamlined and classic aviators, wrap around sports styles, trendy oversized frames and Easyfit sunglasses, which are sunglasses which fit over optical frames.  With both plastic and metal frames available there are styles for men, women and unisex in a variety of stylish colours including gold, dark gun, gun/blue, matt black, black/crystal, matt black/smoke and matt brown. All lenses are ultra polarised to guarantee the ultimate vision and protection with colour options including solid smoke, solid green and solid brown, plus gradient options of chocolate, smoke and blue.

The brand is supported by an extensive Marketing Support Program, which can be tailored to individual travel retail requirements, with a strong focus on INVU’s ultra polarising lens technology and benefits.

Swiss Eyewear Group’s strategy is to add new, complimentary eyewear brands to its portfolio and it has already secured an agreement to distribute the well-known sports brand Rip Curl.  “Rip Curl is another brand which we feel is perfect for travel retail, complementing rather than competing with INVU,” says Westbury. “It’s an edgy, highly recognised global brand aimed at the 18-25 age group and, with prices starting from €65 it again fits the impulse market.” Once more, 16 top selling SKUs have been selected for travel retail.

“We want to offer a comprehensive and attractive product portfolio to successfully compete both in local and travel retail markets,” says Rebecca Harwood-Lincoln. “Our objective is to be the global eyewear company that offers a genuine alternative in the international travel retail market with unique eyewear brands and quality products that are perfect for generating impulse sales and thus incremental business.”

Notes to editors: The Swiss Eyewear Group founders and management team were previously part of the Polaroid Eyewear management team. After the acquisition of Polaroid Eyewear by Safilo this experienced set of individuals, with in excess of 150 years of experience in the sunglasses sector, decided to start their own business and take on the challenge of creating a completely new eyewear company with innovative ways of operating in a global marketplace.

Led by CEO Jerry Dreifuss, the uniqueness of Swiss Eyewear Group is perhaps best-illustrated by its ownership structure, with shareholders from the entire eyewear industry value chain, starting with manufacturing all the way through to retailing. This extraordinary set-up, combined with the management team’s extensive eyewear industry know-how and experience, ensures that the company has an exceptional wealth of industry-relevant skills and knowledge.

Ultra Polarised Lens Technology
All INVU products feature the ultra polarised lens, offering consumers crystal-clear, glare-free vision with improved colour contrasts, less eye fatigue and a better perception of detail. In addition, the lenses have a highly efficient UV absorber that eliminates all harmful UV-A and UV-B light all the way up to 400 nanometers.  The ultra polarised lens is manufactured in a state-of-the-art optical manufacturing plant using multi-layer lens technology and advanced coatings. INVU ultra polarised lenses combine nine special layers including a polariser, colour enhancers, UV-absorbers, impact absorption layers and hard coatings.  The end result is an extraordinary and unrivalled visual experience for consumers.

Friday 24 October 2014

Schiphol Airport Retail and William Grant & Sons delighted by results of new whisk(e)y category approach which sees single malt sales grow 33.8% in test store


An innovative new approach to the category management of the whisk(e)y sector has seen, by Schiphol Airport Retail at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, achieve outstanding category growth in its latest new store concept. Working in collaboration with William Grant & Sons they refurbished the South Store, Lounge 1 in December 2013 with the intention of growing the total whisk(e)y category sales by 4% and increasing the average spend per bottle.

The results have beaten all expectations, the first half of 2014 saw total whisk(e)y category growth of 10.4% and an incredible 33.8% increase in sales from the high value single malt sector, leading to an average spend per bottle increase of 21.4%.

Schiphol Airport Retail Director Peter-Jan Rozenberg said: “The joint category management project with William Grant and Sons has delivered a lot of shopper and category insights that have helped us to unlock sales in this high value category. That has resulted in improved ease-of-shop for our customers and has had a substantial impact on our 2014 performance.  With this project we created the cornerstone of our category management for malt whisk(e)y; it is now our standard to be implemented in the other stores. It’s fantastic to join forces with business partners like William Grant and Sons to drive our mutual business a step further.” 

William Grant & Sons have highlighted category management as a key pillar for their continued success in GTR. New Managing Director GTR, Justin Weston said, “With Glenfiddich, The Balvenie and Kininvie we have a leading position within single malts.  This is a critical and fast growing, high value category.  To ensure long term growth we need to develop category management solutions that help to grow the entire category, not just our brands.  These solutions must be shopper and consumer focused and help passengers navigate easily and effectively through what can be a complex and confusing assortment.  This will mean working closely with operators, just as we have done at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, to secure a fair share of space for single malts and other whiskies in store.  When this is done well we can help increase average spend per head and generate more profit for both ourselves and our partners.” 

William Grant and Sons Director GTR Europe, Andre de Almeida said: “The new store layout saw us increase the dedicated space for whiskies and expand the range to cover the full spectrum available. It created a premium environment for the shopper and importantly offered triggers to purchase for reasons other than simply price.  The project demonstrates that category initiatives can work and can deliver ongoing incremental sales.  I have to thank Peter-Jan and his team for being so open and willing to take on new ideas.  We have built a great platform and I look forward to watching the project evolve and roll out across the airport.”

ENDS


Notes to Editors
William Grant & Sons is an independent family-owned distiller founded by William Grant in 1887 and today still controlled by the fifth generation of his family.  The Company distils some of the world’s leading brands of Scotch whisky, including the world’s favourite Single Malt Glenfiddich, the handcrafted range of The Balvenie Single Malts and the world’s oldest family blend, Grant’s, as well as selected other spirits, including Hendrick’s Gin, voted the ‘World’s Best Gin’ by the Wall Street Journal.

According to recent IWSR results, Grant’s is now the world’s number three in retail value.  The move onto podium reaffirms Grant’s’ credentials as a key player on the world whisky stage.  Over the last five years, Grant’s has consistently grown ahead of the category, achieving in 2010 worldwide sales of 4.8 million cases and retail value of over $1bn.
Visit www.williamgrant.com for more information on the Company and its brands