Mars ITR celebrates the festive season with M&M’s tins

Celebration is one of the four shopper needs that drive purchase of confectionery in global travel retail and Mars Wrigley International Travel Retail is meeting that need this festive season with two bright and colourful M&M’s® tins featuring iconic Red and Yellow.

The multi-coloured tins are in traditional seasonal colours of green and red with a yellow ribbon to add that essential festive touch. Containing 330g of Peanut M&M’s, the tins are on offer in key airports including Amsterdam Schiphol, London Heathrow and Gatwick, and Oslo, with special gondola displays and multi-buy price offers adding to consumer appeal.

Alongside Celebration, Mars ITR has identified three other prime reasons for purchase in global travel retail: to Recharge, to Reward and to Connect. “Purchasing is primarily to Connect but Celebrate comes a close second and November/December provides a key opportunity with Christmas and Western New Year,” says category director Raghav Rekhi.

“We know that travel spikes over the various seasonal celebrations and passengers are invariably looking for gifting items to take to friends, family and loved ones,” continues Rekhi.  “For Mars Wrigley ITR, seasonal propositions are essential to driving sales within travel retail but it’s important to offer gift lines that are relevant to the occasion and the region. For example, earlier this year, we created a special GalaxyÒ Casket 650g for Eid and Diwali across key touchpoints in the Middle East and India. Galaxy is a major brand for us in that region and the product was perfect for the gifting and sharing nature of these key festivals.”

The festive M&M’s tins will be available through the Christmas season and are expected to appeal to all ages.  “Our strategy is to drive incremental growth for retailers by driving penetration through seasonal relevance. M&M’s® is a winning global brand, and is perfect to leverage for the festive season,” continues Rekhi.

Swiss Eyewear Group to increase presence of INVU ultra polarized sunglasses with Scandlines

The Swiss Eyewear Group has announced that it is to deepen its relationship with Scandlines, following the successful introduction of its INVU sunglasses range to retail stores aboard two of the Danish ferry operator’s ships in summer 2018.

Following the achievement of excellent initial sales results for INVU, Scandlines’ retail sales personnel are to be given specific training on the INVU sunglasses collection in the coming weeks.

Swiss Eyewear Group met with Scandlines in Cannes early October to plan new listings, staff training and the integration of new INVU collections for 2019.

Swiss Eyewear Group Travel Retail Director Rebecca Harwood Lincoln said: “Selling our INVU products with Scandlines has proved to be a very successful listing for INVU in travel retail, and we look forward to strengthening our partnership with them. For the 2018 season we have focussed on building our business onboard ferries and cruise ships, and this has proved to be one of the most successful.”

Mark Winslow, VP - Head of Retail at Scandlines said: “INVU is a great range from the Swiss Eyewear Group and we’ve achieved strong sales results for the brand in our onboard stores. We see our relationship as a long-term partnership and we’ll be working closely together to introduce new INVU innovations on our ferries, and to train our great staff in the finer points of the product.”

With more than 42,000 departures on 8 ferries, in 2017 Scandlines transported 7.6 million passengers, 1.8 million cars and more than 650,000 freight units and 38,000 busses on the routes Puttgarden-Rødby and Rostock-Gedser.

Stoli® Group releases ACDC Thunderstruck Tequila into travel retail exclusively with Gebr. Heinemann

Stoli^® Group has launched its tequila brand ACDC Thunderstruck Tequila in travel retail through an exclusive tie-up with German retail giant Gebr. Heinemann. 

From 1 November, it has been available in all Heinemann Travel Free border shops across Europe (Czech Republic, Croatia, Slovenia) and has also achieved its first airport listings at airports including Frankfurt, Munich, Hamburg, Copenhagen, Berlin, Baku and Bucharest.

The tequila is produced under licence from the world famous Australian rock band ACDC and includes the band’s branding on the ACDC Thunderstruck Tequila bottles. This makes it an ideal gifting purchase for a hard rock fan in duty free and aims at what Stoli Group believes is a huge untapped potential for celebrity/band spirits.

ACDC Thunderstruck Tequila, which is produced in the Mexican city of Tequila, comes in two 40% ABV, 70cl variants – Blanco and Reposado. It retails in airports at 29.90 Euro and 31.90 Euro respectively.

Blanco has intense sweet notes of cooked agave, followed by a spicy white peppery punch. It is silky and delicate, leaving on the palate a sachet of spices.

Reposado gives a full body, intense full agave flavour. Aged in oak barrels for a minimum of two months gives this tequila its natural colour and rich flavour.

The ACDC Thunderstruck Tequila has been developed by Fabricada de Tequila Finos, which is owned by Latvia-based SPI Group company, Amber Beverage Group. Stoli Group is coordinating the roll-out of the brand into travel retail.

The idea for the product came from Fabricada de Tequila Finos’ founder, a huge ACDC fan who contacted the band, sending them the best samples of his tequila. The band loved the tequila and signed a license agreement to lend its famous name to the new brand. The deal included cases of the tequila being sent to the band for personal use.

The name Thunderstruck was chosen as it is the favourite track of ACDC lead singer Brian Johnson. The song was the lead single from ACDC’s 1990 album The Razor’s Edge.