Masters of the craft

Lagardère Travel Retail has introduced the Discovery Area, which the retailer says is an opportunity to both promote new brands and attract new consumers passing through the airport.

Robert adds that such zones can act as a gateway to attracting new consumers to the retailer’s wider offer.

Heinemann aims to go further with the focus on craft, with opportunities in rum, tequila and even mescal, according to Kay Spanger. Gin however remains a core driver of craft for the Hamburg-based retailer.

Earlier this year Heinemann ran a promotion called Ginspiration Days at Copenhagen Airport to promote both craft gin newcomers and more established brands, a campaign that proved so successful it will now be introduced by the retailer in other airport environments.

Gebr Heinemann Head of Activity Management Liquor Tobacco Confectionery & Food Ann-Kathrin Fürer says: “The Ginspiration Days represents a perfect example of creating a powerful experience that promotes the distinctiveness of the travel retail environment.

“Above all, the combination of regional and global brands, as well as top sellers and newcomers, makes the experience highly varied for passengers. It’s further proof that special travel retail campaigns can contribute to reaching amazing results for our brands.”

Meanwhile, Dufry has partnered with craft spirits brands to run eye-catching in-store promotions. A recent campaign in partnership with Chase Distillery saw a Land Rover car take over part of the store in a number of airports to draw attention to the brand before customers were invited to try the products.

Speaking about the positive impact of that campaign, Chase Distillery Business Development Manager Global Travel Retail Katherine Berry adds: “Large-scale activations and sampling have really worked for Chase to help portray our unique ‘Field to Bottle’ message. We have recently invested heavily in our first ever advertising campaign ‘All in the Chase’, which celebrated the Chase business championing field-to-bottle spirits. In travel retail, ‘All in the Chase’ made its out-of-home advertising debut in Heathrow Terminal 2 as part of a six-week JCDecaux digital campaign.”

A proprietary concept that Dufry (World Duty Free) has seen deliver boutique brands to travellers over many years is World of Whiskies. For two decades, in fact, it has helped champion rare, small-batch craft whisky brands alongside collectibles from the larger whisky houses. One could say that this represented the first true craft liquor concept in travel retail.

Yet craft whisky is not a new trend in the same way as craft is for other spirits, and Halewood’s Roffe says that other spirits should be given the same treatment by the biggest duty free retailers. “It would be wonderful to have distinct ‘Craft Gin Collection’, ‘Artisan Rum Range’ and ‘Premium Vodka Variety’ areas in travel retail to spotlight these small suppliers,” he argues.

Other brands agree that more can be done by retailers to capitalise on the potential of craft. Tito’s Managing Director International John McDonnell says that his brand aims to create a sense of in-store theatre through sampling and that retailers should maximise engagement opportunities like this. “Engaging with consumers is key to success, so we implement sampling initiatives to get consumers to experience the Tito’s taste profile and create retail theatre, so they learn about the Tito’s craft story at the same time,” he says.

Katherine Berry from Chase Distillery adds: “[I would like retailers] to be able to offer the craft spirit brands the opportunity to activate at key trading periods to really maximise growth and to also portray their key brand messaging.”

That is the challenge for some, but also the category’s wider opportunity. Consumer curiosity about craft is acute, and with the right space and the right products, travel retail environments can tell a story like no other channel.