20th Anniversary
Marking a milestone
Click on the link to view 20th anniversary video messages sent by friends and colleagues from around the world (more written messages on following pages)
The Moodie Davitt Report celebrated a special milestone on 16 September: our 20th anniversary, which we mark in the pages of this special eZine.
As we celebrate, we are especially proud to announce a stepping up of our Corporate Social Responsibility programme, beginning with an enhanced commitment to two of our longest-standing causes – cleft charity Smile Train and non-profit 501(c)3 environmental charity One Tree Planted. The programme includes sizable donations from our FAB Superstars and TR Superstars (Smile Train) and Trinity Forum (One Tree Planted) events.
We have pledged to fund 100 Smile Train operations (at US$250 per operation) in the coming year, helping to transform lives and putting more children with cleft lips and palates on track to a better future.
We will also give Smile Train further visibility across our platforms over the coming year. We are delighted to reveal that it is the chosen charity for our next Duty Calls Gala Charity Dinner. This will take place on 6 May 2023 in Singapore, on the eve of TFWA Asia Pacific. Details to follow soon.
To mark this special 20th anniversary eZine, we are also funding a life-changing Smile Train operation for every paid advertisement that appears in this edition.
In addition we will donate substantially through 2023 to One Tree Planted, our chosen environmental charity and a regenerative project close to our hearts. As reported, each delegate registering for this year’s Trinity Forum will result in a new tree being planted through our own Trinity Forest Project.
For every delegate at our 2023 events, The Airport Food & Beverage Conference and The Trinity Forum (and any others), we will also fund the planting of a tree.
So let’s roll back the clock. Our story began on 16 September 2002, when a new title in travel retail publishing – The Moodie Report – was unveiled via a six-page PDF report, produced initially in cooperation with Generation Group of Sweden.
Launch issues: The first edition of The Moodie Report (right) appeared on 16 September 2002 in PDF format; (left) our inaugural print edition from October 2003
The Moodie Report adopted (and has retained) a radically different publishing model. It rejected the traditional high subscription fee base and print format that had hitherto dominated travel retail publishing and instead made its information available to all under what became a familiar ‘Fast, Factual, Free’ tagline. High-quality content allied to speed to market and unrivalled market penetration was the constant mantra.
The first edition [written solely by Founder and Chairman Martin Moodie] pledged to change the traditional media formula and to focus not only on key business developments but also the industry drivers that underpinned them. The word ‘Report’ was carefully chosen to represent the voice of this new information service.
The major items in the first edition were:
- Travel retail braces itself for war [the second Gulf War –Ed]
- DFS losses curbed: Much hinges on Iraq, global economies
- Generation unveils 2001 figures – down -5% – due to post 9/11 slump
The likely invasion of Iraq was the big story though. “No question about it, war is in the air and many travel retailers are preparing for yet another drastic downturn in business,” Moodie wrote.
Early days of digital: How The Moodie Report.com – ‘The website that never sleeps’ – looked in 2003
Some six months after the launch of The Moodie Report in pdf, the brand was extended to include a website (informally dubbed ‘The website that never sleeps’, thanks to the unrelenting focus on keeping it updated throughout each day, and night, and across time zones that still characterises the service today) and an eNewsletter – another industry first.
In October 2003 the first print edition was launched, proving an instant success with a unique ‘Moodie’ sizing that ensured it stood out from its rivals and was easily carried by industry executives while travelling.
As an organisation we have continued to invest heavily in innovative digital media, which today features videos, podcasts, the hugely popular Moodie Blog, a Digital (& Print) Magazine (offering multi-media advertising as well as editorial) and much more.
The Moodie Davitt Podcast: A popular feature of our on-the-spot reporting from around the travel retail world
As with the pdf’s launch in 2002 and the website’s introduction in 2003, The Moodie Report eZine’s debut in late 2011 changed the face of travel retail publishing. The eZine features regular insight into the industry’s biggest developments, presented via a unique multimedia platform, with interactive content throughout. And as with all our products, it is optimised for mobile.
The Moodie Davitt eZine’s first edition (left) featured a poignant and moving interview with WDF’s Fraser Dunlop (since sadly passed) on his long and courageous battle with cancer; (right) the cover of our 200th edition on the stunning opening of T Fondaco dei Tedeschi by DFS in Venice in 2016. Below, our 300th edition to mark our 19th anniversary last year, and our early September 2022 edition (bottom).
The company has homed in on new markets too, in 2011 launching the industry’s only Chinese language title, The Moodie Report China, and (in the same month, August) The Foodie Report, dedicated to travel-related food & beverage.
Our China coverage has recently been reinforced with the launch of a fresh quarterly title dedicated to this key market, The China Travel Retail Report. That is complemented by our popular and fast-growing WeChat service, which now has more than 3,200 followers via the platform in China.
Adding diversity: The Foodie Report & The Moodie Report China appeared in 2011. Below, the recently launched China Travel Retail Report, plus another regional special title devoted to Saudi Arabia, also new to the market.
Uniquely, all variations of our titles have remained free of charge to readers. All, too, have become clear market leaders in their respective sectors – the Print Edition going from a standing start in October 2003 to clear commercial leadership (which it retains today) by 2005.
We have marked some major stories and milestones in industry history with special publications, from the influence of the Irish on the trade in The World Rovers (left) to DFS Group’s 50th anniversary (right)
We have also tried to champion innovation and excellence as well as seek it. In 2003 we conceived The Trinity Forum, which has become the world’s most influential airport commercial revenues conference (now a partnership with ACI and ACI-Asia Pacific) and which has consistently sought to advance industry standards and challenge accepted norms.
In 2011, The Moodie Report launched its second successful event, The Airport Food & Beverage (FAB) Conference & Awards, which has become a beacon for that burgeoning industry sector.
The most recent edition was held virtually last month (click here for more), before a return to an in-person event in 2023.
Continued innovation
With the industry coming to a standstill in early 2020 due to COVID-19, we took our digital innovation drive to new heights, creating a series of digital events, led by the Virtual Travel Retail Expo, which later won a Frontier Award (for Best Collaboration with agency FILTR.QINGWA, now renamed Purple), following up the event in 2021.
In 2021, we also created a special awards programme to recognise the contribution of front line and back of house staff across the industry, from retail to dining. The Travel Retail Superstars and FAB Superstars Awards resonated across the sector, with the second edition of each taking place recently.
We maintained our innovation drive in other ways too, developing the acclaimed Spotlight series of eZines dedicated to key industry events, anniversaries, launches and campaigns.
We have led with new audio and video projects too. Complementing our regular podcasts is our TRI-POD series of video interviews, which we broadcast in partnership with The Seva Group.
Giving back
Giving back to the community and the industry has been an integral part of our ethos over the past 15 years. We’ve been proud to support many of the industry’s great charitable drives, from the Alpha Sri Lanka Tsunami Relief Fund (2004) to Hand in Hand for Haiti (launched in 2010), which became travel retail’s biggest single fund-raising project.
We are proud of our association with great causes, from the building of a school through Hand in Hand for Haiti to support for Smile Train, the leading cleft charity (below)
Cleft palate charity Smile Train has been a particular beneficiary, both from our first charity dinner back in 2007 and with a variety of other fundraising activities since. As noted above, we are delighted to announce that it will be the beneficiary of our 2023 Duty Calls charity dinner to be held on 6 May in Singapore on the eve of the TFWA Asia Pacific show.
In 2017 we launched The Moodie Davitt Report EGB Cancer Research Fellowship, a five-year, US$225,000 commitment to cancer research in association with London’s Royal Marsden Hospital, honouring loved ones of our own team who have been lost to the disease.
In December 2013, The Moodie Report Foundation presented a cheque for £124,000 (then US$202,000) to fund a vital cancer research study into genetic sequencing at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London, the hospital that successfuly treated Martin Moodie for stomach cancer in 2010 and 2011
Duty Calls: In May 2019 a sell-out gathering of more than 300 travel retail guests came together at Jewel Changi Airport in Singapore (venue for the Gala Dinner at the forthcoming Trinity Forum) to raise around US$265,000 for Southeast Asian children’s charity Friends-International, which helps children who have come from precarious environments, including those abandoned due to sickness or disability. The event will return next year.
In 2015 we began another new chapter. Founder and Chairman Martin Moodie took back full control of The Moodie Report parent company, Moodie International Ltd, after a brief period under outside control due to his own battle with stomach cancer in 2010 and 2011. The following year The Moodie Report was rebranded as The Moodie Davitt Report, reflecting Dermot Davitt’s vital contribution to the company and the changes to the ownership of parent company Moodie International.
After 20 years, we continue to grow. In March 2022 The Moodie Davitt Report website achieved an all-time monthly web traffic high of over one million page views. We have since consistently hit that figure, underlining our status as travel retail’s key B2B influencer, driven by the quality and regularity of content, with seven-day coverage of our sector produced across multiple time zones.
We aim to reinforce our market leadership with continued innovation, deepening our highly focused China strategy and with our successful drive into new regional markets (led by Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, India and Indonesia) all aided by the quality and unrivalled industry knowledge and relationships of our team.
Thank you for being with us on the journey so far as The Moodie Davitt Report turns 20. Here’s to the next 20.
Martin Moodie and Dermot Davitt
Partner's message
The Moodie Davitt eZine Issue 315 | 3 October 2022
The Moodie Davitt eZine is published 14 times per year by The Moodie Davitt Report (Moodie International Ltd). © All material is copyright and cannot be reproduced without the permission of the Publisher. To find out more visit www.moodiedavittreport.com and to subscribe, please e-mail kristyn@moodiedavittreport.com