Category commentary:
The spirits brands’ perspective

Diageo Global Travel Managing Director Eduardo Barp: Diageo Global Travel has been in partnership with Delhi Duty Free (DDFS) since the day it launched in 2010. Over the years our teams have worked hard together to build a hugely valued and trusting relationship, working collaboratively to explore and create opportunities while taking on the industry challenges that have ultimately influenced our success to date.

We have worked very closely with DDFS to create the best shopper experience for Delhi passengers. With Diageo-owned brand Johnnie Walker maintaining its position as the top-selling brand in global travel retail (IWSR Drinks Market Analysis 2019) and with it being a much-loved brand in India, we worked with DDFS to create its very own luxury execution, paying close attention to detail to ensure we engaged with our Indian shoppers. The new store environment in departures displays some the best-selling Johnnie Walker lines, along with rare and fine offers.

Driving penetration is critical to the industry, and our brand strategies and plans are designed to recruit new drinkers. A great example of this are the recent innovative launches of White Walker by Johnnie Walker and the Game of Thrones malt collections, collaborating with a cultural phenomenon for many millennials, appealing to fans of the world’s most-popular TV show.

In addition, our new store retail design environment also reflects our recruitment strategy, rooted in the authentic brand story of the original John Walker grocer’s store in Scotland, but taking on a more modern, gender-neutral look and feel to attract and engage both existing and new shoppers within DDFS.

The new store layout is a beautiful space and offers shoppers an easy to navigate and hassle-free experience where they can browse from whisky to gin and select what they are looking for with no fuss.

DDFS often gets limited editions from Diageo Global Travel, such as the Johnnie Walker Black Label Cities Edition series. Collections like these bring exclusivity and differentiation to the retail space and tap into key consumer shopper motivations including gifting, making this aspect appealing to consumers and adding an extra layer to the retail space for travellers.

The malts area of the new store layout is another stunning section which offers shoppers a variety of different taste profiles, as does the ‘Grab and Go’ section which appeals to travellers who have a little less time to explore the whole store.

William Grant & Sons Managing Director, Global Travel Retail Ed Cottrell: The William Grant & Sons Travel team were there to see it at first hand in March. We had a very collaborative meeting with Ashish Chopra and his team, where we could see the opportunities for our brands and were made to feel part of their promotional strategy for the new store.

I like the fact that it is a walkthrough with lots of space for vendor partners, including our competitors, to really show off the brands with both physical and digital assets. There’s real scope for getting brand messages across.

Walking through you pass through the categories one by one, in the case of spirits with dark spirits on one side and clear spirits on the other. It’s not liquor on the right and cosmetics on the left and so on, as you often see; I feel that what they have done is both practical and logical, and will I’m sure be successful.

Lastly, it has all been done rather elegantly. The colours in the shop are warm and regal, giving it a Taj Mahal-type feel. It is very Indian and I think also very chic.

What I like about Delhi Duty Free is that when we agree something with them, they execute it brilliantly and they have really delivered for its partners – and importantly, in equal measure, the consumers – with this new store.

Eduardo Barp (Diageo): As India’s progressive economy continues to grow, so does the opportunity to progress travel retail in Delhi. Our partnership with Delhi Duty Free is crucial to developing our communications with shoppers whether that is through social media, digital and/or out-of-home media throughout the traveller’s journey. Global travel is ever-changing and it’s important that we are ready to adapt and evolve with it.

Within the new store layout at DDFS there is a striking personalisation zone at which we plan to elevate gifting and personalisation through Johnnie Walker, both at scale and via more bespoke elements. When shoppers purchase a bottle of Johnnie Walker, they will now be presented with the opportunity to choose a charm with their initials for the bottle neck and get the label of the bottle personalised – with the addition of gift wrapping, gift bags and occasion-led ribbon.

Additionally, we are delighted that the permanent visibility of Johnnie Walker within the arrival and departure halls will remain and we will also have the opportunity to experiment more with our gin and liqueur brands. Tanqueray Sevilla’s role is to recruit millennials with Baileys Strawberries and Cream having the objective of driving penetration and recruitment all year. Both are a testament to our growing partnership and outlines the predicted trajectory ahead.

We want to ensure we are relevant for shoppers and offer them one-of-a-kind experiences, such as products based around cultural moments. A recent example of this is the launch of the Game of Thrones Single Malt Scotch Whisky Collection. This includes eight limited edition whiskies, each of which has been inspired by and paired with a ‘House’ from the epic TV series Game of Thrones. Innovations like these make variants more accessible to the next generation and will be a continued focus of Diageo’s moving forward.

Ed Cottrell (William Grant & Sons): I see it as one of our most dynamic opportunities in global travel retail at the present time. You have to: India is the biggest whisky market in the world and people have a great sense of sophistication about whisky.

Arrivals is where most of the business is in airport stores – in our case about 70% – so the combination of this great store and the resources we have put into this location will underpin any new growth.

We have a travel retail team of two permanently stationed in Delhi and another in Mumbai – Hardeep Sethi, Manmeet Kaur and Kishor Jankar – and we have a really good team of brand ambassadors on the shop floor that know our products inside out. BAs are our most effective sales drivers, attracting travellers from the concourse and into the store and then converting into purchases.

This customer base expects to see the best of international whisky brands and Delhi Duty Free is absolutely delivering that. William Grant & Sons brands are integral to that offer – a lot of Indian consumers are familiar with the names and seek out our products, which are very well presented. That is what will drive the growth.

Sorcha Breen (Brown-Forman): There is a fantastic opportunity to grow our brands within Delhi Duty Free, and this can be highlighted by the recent purchase of seven barrels of both Woodford Reserve and Jack Daniel's. The Delhi Duty Free Woodford Reserve barrel selection was the first private selection in Indian travel retail. Brown-Forman is one of the global leaders in whiskey and we have a wide range of premium American whiskey brands. We believe that with the positive partnership with Delhi Duty Free, expanding brand visibility and ensuring we engage with consumers on digital platforms will set us on the right trajectory for continuous growth.