Godiva announces key changes to Global Travel Retail team

Godiva Chocolatier has restructured its Travel Retail division as part of its drive to significantly develop and grow its global business within the category. 

In order to enable and accelerate the delivery of its travel retail growth strategy globally, Godiva has created a Marketing & Business Development function that will act as the “engine” of the Business Unit. Leen Baeten has been appointed Senior Manager Marketing & Business Development and will lead this function going forward.

Celine Leroy

Christoph Neusser

Diana Lingua

Leen Baeten

Godiva also welcomes Diana Lingua, who joined the company in April as Brand Manager. Diana joins from Mondelez UK, where she worked as Brand Manager in the domestic market.

The GTR EMEA Sales team has been reorganised in order to better react to market and customer changes. Ramon Iglesias will head up the team as Regional Director EMEA, after joining the company 7 years ago. 

Bettina Van Buynder will report to Ramon as Senior Area Manager Western Europe. 

Céline Leroy, who joined the company in 2013, takes on the role of Area Manager South Europe & North Africa. Also reporting to Ramon is Charlie Cassam Chenai, Area Manager Middle East & Gulf. The team will in the coming weeks, be reinforced with an Area Manager North East Europe. Next to their area-focus, all commercial managers will have Global Key Account responsibility for specific assigned Accounts.

In the Asia Pacific region, CS Lam has been promoted to the role of Senior Director Asia Pacific and will continue to head up the team in successfully further expanding the GTR Asia business.

Says Christoph Neusser, VP/GM Global Travel Retail: “I am convinced that these changes will help us drive our GTR-organization to the next phase of growth and is an important element of our strategy to significantly develop our global travel retail business.”

Starting in Belgium in 1926, Godiva has developed a world‐wide reputation for excellence with a presence in over 70 countries offering a wide range of chocolate creations. Inspired by the values of Lady Godiva, her passion, generosity, boldness and pioneering spirit, Godiva whatever the occasion. Perfectly combining its craftsmanship and heritage, Godiva's chocolate has become synonymous with luxury and innovation in Belgium tradition, bringing the best of Belgium to the world.

FURLA AND ITS EMPLOYEES GROW TOGETHER

Bucking the market trend, Furla has signed an agreement to increase employee variable earnings.

Furla is expanding and the company had decided to reward its most important resource: it's people.

The Italian handbag brand recently signed an agreement with the Filcams-Cgil trade union, committing the company to raising bonuses over the next three years: level 4 and 5 employee bonuses will rise from 3 to 5%, level 3 from 5 to 7% and 8%, and 10% bonuses were confirmed for level 2 and 1 employees, setting them at an extra month's salary. 

The increased production bonuses apply not just to workers in the San Lazzaro (Bologna) headquarters, but also to employees working in Furla branches around the world.   

This agreement significantly pre-empts the renewed national agreement on which negotiations have still to commence. It is also a positive break with the wider trend in a period of widespread cuts and dropping profits. 

Furla has posted an increase in turnover for the past three years, equal to an overall 48% which took revenues to 228 million euro in 2013, and also a 10% boost in its workforce.

The company has been constantly growing, a trend driven in part by the international expansion and investment in R&D, but also by the focus on human resources which has triggered a virtuous cycle with a positive effect on economic performance. 

"Employees are a strategic resource at Furla. The new agreement is an investment, not a cost. As we move ever deeper into a global market, we must be sure, 24/7, that we have the full support of everyone working with and managing Furla's customer relations  professionally, wherever they are in the world.  Everyone's efforts must be rewarded,” said Eraldo Poletto, Furla CEO.  

DISTINGUISHED KEYNOTES TO ADDRESS 30TH TFWA WORLD EXHIBITION & CONFERENCE

The 30^th TFWA World Exhibition & Conference will be staged from 26^th to 31^st October 2014 in the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès in Cannes on the French Riviera.

The annual duty free & travel retail global summit will kick off with what promises to be a rousing conference address by former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell.

General Colin L. Powell, USA (Ret.), 35-year veteran of the U.S. Army, former Secretary of State and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will be the keynote speaker at the opening Conference on Monday 27^th October. Among other subjects, he will address issues related to leadership in challenging times.

Joining him on stage will be Andrea Guerra, Chief Executive Officer at Luxottica and one of Italy’s most esteemed industry leaders, who will draw on his wealth of experience in an ever-changing global business environment.

Erik Juul-Mortensen, President TFWA, will open the conference with his ‘State of the Industry’ address in which he will set the scene by summarising three decades of development of the duty free & travel retail industry, reviewing the last year in more detail and looking forward to opportunities and challenges in the months and years to come.

Two workshop sessions will follow on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings: the first a Market Watch session focusing on Latin America and the second devoted to the inflight retail sector. Both will feature industry leaders and experts in the field.

“TFWA is delighted to welcome keynote speakers of such calibre to our stage in this our anniversary year,” comments Thom Rankin, TFWA Vice-President. “TFWA World Exhibition & Conference is a highly-valued annual summit for the duty free & travel retail industry, a business which generates revenues of some US$60 billion each year and which contributes significantly to travel, tourism, transport infrastructure and employment worldwide. 

“Over the last 30 years we have hosted some extraordinary speakers at our conferences from political leaders to campaigning pop stars, from far-sighted visionaries to eminent industrialists. Once again, we anticipate a morning of stimulating presentations and debate – plus some celebrations to mark our 30^th birthday!”

In 2013, more than 6,300 trade delegates attended the event, over two-thirds of them key buyers from airports, airlines, ferries, cruiseships and downtown duty free shops all over the world.

These busy executives are drawn each year by the prospect of doing business with up to 500 exhibiting companies, large and small, from some 40 different countries which will be displaying upwards of 3,000 premium products.

TFWA World Exhibition & Conference 2014 will be an extra-special event with celebrations laid on to mark the 30^th anniversary of the foundation of Tax Free World Association in 1984, which led to the first event organised by the industry for the industry in Nice in October 1985.

For pre-registration and further details of TFWA World Exhibition & Conference 2014 please go to www.tfwa.com.

Ends 

Godiva gets seasonal with exclusives for Christmas and Chinese New Year

To cater for the important seasonal gifting opportunities offered within travel retail, Godiva Chocolatier has introduced two exclusive ranges for Christmas and Chinese New Year.

Christmas 2014 Collection. With this beautiful chocolate gift-box assortment, Godiva is sure to be part of all festivities at the end of the year. 

With a festive bright variation of reds, hints of gold, glitter and sparkle, the collection truly represents the magic of the holidays. Consumers will be delighted by the delicious selection of 20 chocolates, including two new exclusive pieces specially created for this collection, or the 12 truffles including five recipes from the new 'Truffes' collection. The Godiva Christmas 2014 Collection will be on shelf from October 2014.

Chinese New Year 2015 Collection. To celebrate the year of the Goat, Godiva has reinforced the elegance of this sign with a delicate and personal interpretation from the gift-boxes to the exclusive chocolates inside. 

Travellers are sure to be tempted by the 15 pcs gift-box offering two chocolate pieces exclusively created with flavours inspired by the Asian culture. For lovers of plain chocolate, the 48 pieces gift-box offers two limited edition carrés: Milk Bresilienne and Dark Peru. 

The Godiva Chinese New Year 2015 Collection is being launched in November 2014.

'Both collections were introduced at TFWA Asia Pacific Exhibition where they were very well received. Seasonal gifting lines offer excellent opportunities for retailers as travellers look for themed products for festive occasions and they remain an important element of our product development each year,' says Christoph Neusser, VP/GM Global Travel Retail. Both will be available for a limited time in Travel Retail.

Starting in Belgium in 1926, Godiva has developed a world‐wide reputation for excellence with a presence in over 70 countries offering a wide range of chocolate creations. Inspired by the values of Lady Godiva, her passion, generosity, boldness and pioneering spirit, Godiva whatever the occasion. Perfectly combining its craftsmanship and heritage, Godiva's chocolate has become synonymous with luxury and innovation in Belgium tradition, bringing the best of Belgium to the world.

Mars International Travel Retail chooses LS travel retail and Aéroports de Paris to launch a world travel retail exclusive concept store at Paris-Charles de Gaulle

Mars International Travel Retail (MITR) has teamed up with LS travel retail and Aéroports de Paris to open the first of its new concept M&Ms International Travel Retail stores at Terminal 2A of Paris-Charles de Gaulle. This strong partnership highlights the main strategic path chosen by these three key industry players: increased innovation to offer passengers a unique shopping experience.

A hand in hand built project 

Opening in April, the Parisian M&M’s store is the result of the close  cooperation between LS travel retail, MITR and Aéroports de Paris, who joined their savoir-faire to add an extra pop of fun to business trips and weekend getaways alike. This hand in hand built project provides chocolate lovers with a unique shopping offer by turning the travel environment into an incredible experience destination.
With this new store MITR hopes to increase shopper engagement which is one of its main strategic aims; as for LS travel retail, it completes its already available offer on the terminal.

A theatrical atmosphere for a yummy Parisian shopping experience 

The shop offers high levels of never-been-seen before theatre and fun. Set over 116 sq m, this highly unique store will combine innovative interactive tools with the world famous yellow and red M&M’s characters. It focuses on each of the M&M’s characters and their stories from specific cities. Their playful environment is associated with the Paris branded atmosphere and several animations focus on the capital’s image: possibility of taking a picture with a painter on the banks of the Seine, Arc de Triomphe replica…!

Similarly, the offer in itself was specifically designed for Paris. Customers will discover many accessories and souvenirs such as mugs, t-shirts and baby wears, among other things. The great innovation lies in the colour wall that enables customers to create their own colour assortment of candies. Passengers can now leave the country with a “blue, white and red” M&M’s bag as a delicious souvenir of France. The whole environment was especially designed to remind visitors one last time the unique Paris memory before passengers fly away!

A multinational Airport to highlight the Parisian style 

This Parisian M&M’s spirit now invades Paris-Charles de Gaulle 2A Terminal. The latter everyday enjoys a diverse multi-cultural passenger profile that will be seduced by this new chocolate experience full of surprises and innovations. 

Paris-CDG is the main French international hub, handling over 60M passengers every year and providing a stopover for more than 140 air companies. This is all testimony to the leadership position it enjoys in France for domestic, international and intercontinental connections. 

Dag Rasmussen Lagardère Services CEO declares: “We are very excited to be at the heart of this innovative experience, offering travellers a unique concept store magnifying the legendary Mars products. This is a great illustration of our long-term partnership with the famous brand and with Aéroports de Paris.”

Commenting on the opening, Lieke Duijmelings, MITR Marketing Director said: “We are extremely pleased to announce the opening of our eighth International M&Ms Travel Retail store. LS travel retail has proved to be fantastic retail partners; highly supportive in helping us achieve our goal of increasing shopper engagement.

“In retail the experience is everything. We want to build a reputation, not just for an outstanding operational experience, but an outstanding retail experience as well. Our new store is well on the way to providing the perfect interactive retail experience, and with our current stores having proven to be highly success we have high expectations that this stores success will exceed. For MITR, we see the opening of M&Ms shops as one of the great vehicles for longer term strategic partnerships with both airports and retailers.

“We want to give travellers an unforgettable shopping experience when they travel; we believe that the Paris shop will not only help to engage more strongly with existing shoppers, but we also seduce non-shoppers by enticing them to interact with the M&M characters and learn about their individual story.”

"We are happy to be the first airport in Europe to open such an M&M's concept store, and the only one in the world to offer our passengers the possibility to create their own mix via the legendary "wall of colour". The aim is to surprise our travelers –children and adults– and to offer them a final humourous and tasty image of Paris and France", points out Mathieu Daubert, Retail Director at Aéroports de Paris.

MARS                                                       

Mars International Travel Retail offers a truly global range of brands to travellers including core brand M&Ms, 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&Ms shops within airport stores and has fabulous new outlets planned in all regions, while instore 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 instore.

LS travel retail

LS travel retail is a division of the Lagardère Services Group. With a turnover of 2.8 billion euros in 2013, LS travel retail operates in over 25 countries and more than 130 airports in Europe, North America, Asia and Oceania, offering a complete range of concepts for travellers. The company is a world leader in the news & convenience sector and also operates multi and mono-brand duty free sales points (e.g. Aelia Duty Free, Buy PARIS DUTY FREE), multi and mono-brand fashion outlets, souvenir shops, gastronomy and catering.

The concept Store M&M’s is operated by SDA, a joint venture between LS travel retail France and Aéroports de Paris. 

Aéroports de Paris

Aéroports de Paris builds, develops and manages airports, including Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Paris-Orly and Paris-Le Bourget. In 2013, Aéroports de Paris handled more than 90 million passengers and 2.2 million tonnes of freight and mail at Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Paris-Orly, and 43 million passengers in airports abroad. 

Boasting an exceptional geographic location and a major catchment area, the Group is pursuing its strategy of adapting and modernising its terminal facilities and upgrading quality of services; the Group also intends to develop its retail and real estate businesses. In 2013, Group revenue stood at €2,754 million and net income at €305 million.

Registered office: 291, boulevard Raspail, 75014 Paris, France. A public limited company (Société Anonyme) with share capital of €296,881,806. Registered in the Paris Trade and Company Register under no. 552 016 628 RCS Paris. 

Furla targets the dynamic woman with its Cruise Collection 2014/15

Furla’s Flower Capsule and Cruise Collection, previewing Spring Summer 2015, will be available for travel retail outlets from November this year. 

The new Furla Cruise Collection 2015 is described as an incredible injection of Energy and Vitality, inspired by the dynamic woman who travels constantly and demands  to be connected to the web wherever she is, both for pleasure and work, using the latest hi-tech devices. 

This modern globetrotter looks for both sporty and luxury styling, portraying a contemporary mix of  both elegance and coolness. She is the type of woman who could wear trainers at any occasion. It's a perfect collection for Furla's continually growing travel retail world.

A Tropical feeling pervades the collection, adding fresh and vivid colours to the palette: bright yellows such as Citron and Sunny; lovely pinks including Magnolia and Peonia;  and fresh and new blues, like Mint and Laguna dominate.  These mix with touches of warmer tones, like Daino and Saffron, together with greyish neutrals, such as  Opale and Stucco, to give a very sophisticated allure to the entire collection. 

The Furla Cruise Collection 2015 also gives great attention to details and materials, with a focus on craftsmanship. The classic leathers  Saffiano, Cervo, Ares and Pop Star are highlighted with new Python Manaus, in three colours, and Ayers – genuine natural snakeskin.

New styles are iconic pieces: from the business totes to the new Plume bag with a de-constructed and unlined body, to a touch of Pop Graphic with new pochettes. Within the Basic collection there are new refined and functional totes. Offered in Saffiano in three sizes, each has side snaps so you can easily widen the gusset. The small tote features a detachable shoulder strap while the large version  is perfect for business needs and features a secure zip compartment. 

Other lines include the popular M Hobo and M Messenger in Cervo featuring new “F” branding. Both styles are convertible so can be worn as shoulder bags or crossbodies.

Within the Premium collection highlights include cervo totes in warm colourways – sophisticated and structured yet at exceptional price points! The sides can be worn “out” or “in” for a different look. 

Satchels are refreshed for Cruise with a new Small Key Item. Sure to be a best-seller, it is offered in a wide range of colourways from metallics to brights. 

Icon line Alice is re-launched in both deliveries with new silhouettes and updated materials, including pitone. There is a new practical top handle silhouette in two sizes along with a S Crossbody with chain strap functionality.  Twiggy, the second Icon line carries over the M Satchel and M Hobo styles with a relaunch in December playing on new materials and stripes in warm colourways for a sporty theme. On the satchel, the stripe is placed on a diagonal to follow the asymmetrical zip detail. 

The Fashion segment sees a fabulous new range of large and medium drawstring totes which are soft and unstructured in line with  market trends. Offered in two sizes in Vitello Pop Star, the styles perfectly represent the transition into the spring season. Inside there is a detachable envelope pouch with credit card functionality. 

There are also new styles of  Mini Crossbody bags with convertible straps for multi-wear and three internal compartments. Clutch bags continue to be big news and there are a variety on offer including a  structured minaudiere style pochette with closure detail.

No Furla collection is complete without the Candy bag!  For cruise, Furla is introducing a number of new designs and styles including a sophisticated holiday Glitter palette in gold, silver and multicolour at attractive price point.

Candy Vanilla

The Vanilla line is offered in a new sku of Nicolai Bergmann’s floral print , while for an element of fun and quirkiness, Furla introduces the new Lollipop concept. Each sku has a unique gomma gel base with words Love, Cool, Sweet and Dream. 

June 2014

LANSON CONFIRMS COMMITMENT TO TRAVEL RETAIL WITH INNOVATION PROGRAM

Champagne Lanson is reconfirming its commitment to the global travel retail industry with a new strategy to further develop the business through the introduction of innovative products and line extensions. 

'We have 250 years of historical heritage behind us and a dynamic management team since Lanson Champagne House integrated with family group Boizel Chanoine Champagne in 2006 (now Lanson-BCC),' says export director Olivier de La Giraudière. 

 'We believe we are at the top of our game in terms of offering quality combined with innovation  to travel retail, but have kept quite quiet about it. Now we feel the time is right to be more proactive in telling the industry what we are doing and what we can offer them.'

 The last four years has seen a number of initiatives from the company such as The Extra Age Range – a trilogy of high quality Brut, Rosé and Blanc de blancs; the continued development and selective offering of  the exceptional  Lanson Vintage Collection; and the launch earlier this year of the latest Pink Label Lanson Rosé Champagne. Decorated with sparkling hearts, the famous pink Lanson bottle underscores the brand's bold, creative spirit. 

The company is now in midst creation of a limited prestige cuvée Blanc de blancs "Clos Lanson", currently waiting for its perfect maturity in Lanson cellars. 'This is going to be something really very special which, for travellers looking for the very best of the best, will be a perfect addition to prestige airport outlets,' says de La Giraudière.

This year will also see a number of exclusive initiatives for travel retail, developed both for individual partners and the business as a whole. 'We've got some interesting projects in the pipeline which we will be announcing in due course,' adds de La Giraudière. 

In order to achieve its development in the Travel Retail business, Lanson is proud and happy to be working  with Essential Communication as its specialised communication agency.

June 2014