Travel Retail Consortium gains new member

The Travel Retail Consortium is very excited to welcome a new member to its ranks: RHA. RHA is an international technology company which specialises in personal audio equipment. An acclaimed creator of true-to-life sound reproduction, RHA designs and engineers all products from its headquarters in Glasgow, Scotland.  With a sophisticated customer demographic consisting of global citizens who travel frequently for both business and pleasure.  This strong customer base has driven a large presence in the travel retail industry.

A commitment to style and substance has seen RHA honoured with many awards since the company began in 2011. In 2017 alone, the flagship CL1 Ceramic in-ear headphone was named as a CES 2017 Best of Innovation Honouree, RHA was named 10 of 100 on the Sunday Times Lloyds SME Export Track 100 list, 54 of the 100 fastest-growing private companies on the Sunday Times Virgin Fast Track 100, and CEO Andrew Reid was honoured by Ernst & Young with the 2017 Disruptor Entrepreneur Award for Scotland.

RHA’s Head of Marketing and Business Development, Lyndsey James-Williams said: “We are very pleased to have become a member of the Travel Retail Consortium. We are excited to further share the RHA story and products with other key members of the Travel Retail Industry and work with the consortium to create fantastic opportunities for the future.”

Lyndsey James-Williams

TRC Chairman, Rebecca Harwood-Lincoln, said: “We are absolutely delighted to welcome RHA to the Travel Retail Consortium, especially to a category where we have previously had no representation. I very much look forward to working and socialising with Lyndsey and her team at the upcoming TRC meetings and events.”

Notes to editors: The Travel Retail Consortium was originally conceived in the late 1960s and formalised in 1971 to further the interests and development of the Travel Retail Industry within the UK through the member companies

The organisation's objectives are to improve standards of business within the travel retail industry, promote members’ products and services, discuss industry issues and provide social and business networking opportunities for key industry customers and members' representatives at annual events. The TRC is also active in raising funds for charity and the Chairman nominates a charity of his choice during his tenure.

For membership enquiries please contact info@travelretailconsortium.co.uk

TRC members are:  Accolade Wines, Aurora World , Coty, Guinness, Heineken, Imperial Tobacco International, Invu, Kurate, Mars,  Morgan & Oates, Rémy Cointreau, RHA, Sekonda, Taittinger Champagne & Twinings.

Hendrick’s Cultivates Love in a Most Unusual Way

Roses are red

Cucumbers are green

A G&T without Hendrick’s

Is simply obscene

February saw William Grant & Sons run a Global Travel Retail campaign linked to Valentine’s Day to celebrate Hendrick’s and its odd infusion of rose and cucumber.

Engaging (and obviously peculiar) activations to celebrate Valentine’s Day ran in airports including Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Barcelona, Changi, Madrid, Geneva, Colombo and Dubai, with passengers enjoying free roses, gift bags and a peculiar guide to romance.

Heathrow T2

Heathrow T3

Heathrow T4

Heathrow T5

In Changi, WGS dressed Hendrick’s bottles with neck collars while Brand Ambassadors handed out roses and ‘The Essence of Love’ pocket guides to those making a purchase.

Changi

Changi

In Geneva, an existing bar was Hendrick's branded with the messaging: ‘Cultivate love in a most peculiar way’. Customers purchasing a bottle received a free gift bag decorated with roses and repeating the brand message.

Colombo saw a Hendrick's rose themed archway on entrance and exit to the Flemingo departure store that really stood out when passengers reached the top of the escalator. ‘Essence of Love’ pocket guides were also handed out to shoppers.

Poetry from the ‘Essence of Love’ guide was recited by sales promoter Eileen to passengers travelling through Edinburgh, further bringing the curious activation to life.

Gift bags were available in selected locations including Heathrow, Gatwick, Barcelona, Madrid, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Stansted and Geneva, while sampling also took place in various locations in the week running up to ‘the big day’ as well as on February 14^th. This included BA lounges from 14^th-16^th Feb in T5 First, T3 First and Concord.

Gatwick North

Gatwick South

“This is the first time that we have used Valentine’s day as a lever to promote Hendrick’s, but given its infusion of rose (and cucumber), it seems an obvious connection,” says WGS  Head of Marketing GTR Ifan Jenkins.  “We don’t have any sales data back as yet, but feedback from passengers was excellent – everyone loving the gift bags, roses and Essence of Love pocket guides. Our various retail partners involved in the activations were very supportive and helped us to create really meaningful and memorable experiences for consumers all over the world.”

The Valentine’s Day promotion comes ahead of the annual World Cucumber Day on June 14^th, which sees Hendrick’s Gin hero the remarkable fruit by inspiring people the world over to cultivate and grow their personal cucumber. Watch this space for more details of how World Cucumber Day will be celebrated in Global Travel Retail.

For further information go to www.hendricksgin.com

ABOUT HENDRICK’S GIN

Hendrick’s Gin is a deliciously super premium gin, made with a number of unusual twists to deliver a most curious arrangement. Unlike ordinary gins, Hendrick’s Gin is distilled in Scotland, in small batches of only 500 litres at a time. Only Hendrick’s Gin is made with infusions of cucumber and rose petals, alongside a blend of 11 botanicals, producing a wonderfully refreshing gin with a delightfully floral aroma. Hendrick’s Gin is made in a combination of a Carter-Head and copper pot still, creating a divinely smooth gin with both character and balance of subtle flavours. 

ABOUT WILLIAM GRANT & SONS

William Grant & Sons Holdings Ltd is an independent family-owned distiller headquartered in the United Kingdom and founded by William Grant in 1887. Today, the global premium spirits company is owned by the fifth generation of his family and distils some of the world’s leading brands of Scotch whisky, including the world’s most awarded single malt Glenfiddich^®, The Balvenie^® range of handcrafted single malts and the world’s third largest blended Scotch, Grant’s^®, as well as other iconic spirits brands such as Hendrick’s^® Gin, Sailor Jerry^®, Tullamore D.E.W.^® Irish Whiskey, Monkey Shoulder^® and Drambuie^®