INTERVIEW
Underlining commitment to the travel retail channel
William Grant & Sons Managing Director Global Travel Retail David Wilson discusses Glenfiddich’s biggest travel retail launch in the last decade
For William Grant & Sons Managing Director Global Travel Retail David Wilson, the new Perpetual Collection is a reflection not just of Glenfiddich’s commitment to the travel retail channel but its dedication to push the boundaries and stay true to its pioneering reputation.
Wilson underlines the distiller’s commitment to innovation and challenging the status quo to offer travellers both “intrigue and interest”. He comments: “It’s a huge credit to the family and William Grants & Sons that they continue to invest in ensuring that we offer high-quality and unique maturation whiskies to inspire our consumers as they travel.”
During The Perpetual Collection’s intimate launch event at the recent TFWA World Exhibition & Conference in Cannes, Wilson talked about what he believes sets The Perpetual Collection apart from other channel-exclusive launches in the whisky category.
In this insightful Q&A, Wilson discusses his overall ambitions for The Perpetual Collection in travel retail; how the line captures Glenfiddich’s pioneering spirit; and why he believes that striking, immersive and experiential launches like this will shape the future of the whisky category.
“Bringing modernity and energy into the channel” – David Wilson
What is singular about The Perpetual Collection?
What we are proud about with this launch is that it boasts a special Solera Vat maturation process which we use for our travel retail range. You can visit the distillery and see the four large vats which keep each of the whiskies, allowing them to carefully mature.
It’s a huge credit to the family and William Grant & Sons that they continue to invest in ensuring that we offer high quality and unique maturation whiskies to inspire our consumers as they travel. I also do believe that the new Glenfiddich Perpetual Collection packaging brings a modernity and energy to the channel. We’re really pleased with how it has turned out and we’ve had some great compliments already.
Tell us about your overall ambition for the launch in travel retail and beyond.
Both personally and as a business, we are hugely committed to the travel retail channel. Our hope is that this new range from ‘the world’s most award-winning single malt whisky’ further supports Glenfiddich’s leadership in the channel and continues to help stimulate interest and enthusiasm in the single malt whisky category. We have a responsibility to keep things interesting for consumers and we believe that The Perpetual Collection tells a great story, which offers intrigue and interest to our whisky shopping community.
How is William Grant & Sons celebrating the travel retail launch?
We have, of course, celebrated this launch both internally and externally. We were delighted to welcome our whole global travel retail team to Glenfiddich Distillery in July for our first annual conference since the pandemic.
Being at the Glenfiddich Distillery was the perfect moment to launch our new Perpetual Collection to our team, to let them see our new still house, the Perpetual Vats and to have their first taste of these amazing whiskies where they were made.
We also had an internal launch evening at our offices in Richmond and of course it was a pleasure to host our launch event to our customers and friends at this year’s Cannes.
How does the Perpetual Collection capture the essence of Glenfiddich?
We have stayed true to our heritage and craftsmanship, ensuring that every drop of whisky has been carefully distilled, matured and bottled. These are great whiskies to enjoy. They offer some very interesting taste profiles due to the wood maturation and bottling strength, while always retaining hallmark Glenfiddich characteristics.
The Solera Vat process, alongside the creation of the Vats, allows us to bring together a whisky which effectively never sits still, again another nod to Glenfiddich’s pioneering spirit.
Exclusivity is a powerful purchase driver for travel retail consumers, particularly in your category. What do you believe shoppers are looking for in terms of exclusivity, rarity and experience in travel retail?
We very much believe that exclusivity is integral for shoppers especially in the single malt category. The opportunity for shoppers to have greater dwell time in-store, their curiosity to find new and interesting single malts to try, to give as a gift or to share with friends and family is important. We are conscious that most shoppers will be keen to find something new or interesting, but also appreciate the reassurance that it is an offering which comes from a very well-known and highly respectable brand house.
Big, experiential pop-ups and animations have become an integral part of the travel retail landscape. What role do you think activations like this play in terms of sales, visibility and bottom line?
It’s important to consider the overall impact which experiential investment can have, especially in today’s world where technology can significantly amplify the brand’s voice.
Decisions on locations and shopper targeting will continue to be important. This will ensure the experiential opportunity continues to move forward and be relevant to today’s consumers, who are hungry for closer and more meaningful brand affinity.
What role does travel retail play for William Grant & Sons’ business today?
As I am sure you can gather from what we have said — and the clear investment that is supporting the new Perpetual Collection — travel retail remains very important to us.
The channel provides a great shop window for our customers, an amazing opportunity for shoppers to interact with sales consultants and use their travel dwell time to find new and interesting malts to acquire. It’s been great to see some of the new developments by our retail partners and we’re excited about how the channel will continue to develop and change going forward.
How do you see the prospects for the spirits business and your brands in travel retail as travel recovers on the one hand but as cost and other pressures become more acute on the other?
Undoubtedly the world is seeing real cost pressures in many areas. I think that in travel retail, we need to continue to work to change the value proposition towards more unique, experiential, and luxurious offerings.
Travel retail should be an environment to treat yourself and buy inspiring gifts. We need to ensure that we work hard to deliver a range of offerings which can deliver this to customers, who are becoming more and more discerning about their purchases.
What consumer trends will shape the coming years for your business?
We will continue to develop our brand offerings to inspire and engage a growing and more curious, more discerning shopper, who will judge us not just on our offer but also on the values our business stands for.
How should travel retail evolve to meet the evolving demands of consumers in the post-pandemic landscape?
We see presentation and experiential as important. We also see technology as something that will clearly be at the forefront of future shopper experiences and behaviours. We are excited to see the channel returning strongly. It is great to see our retail partners working hard to build the next chapter of growth through inspiring retail concepts and shopper connectivity.
Spotlight Series - November 2022