The Moodies
Most Impactful Recovery Promotion
Retail Winner
Aer Rianta International – Summer Recovery Plan
As parts of the world opened up (many only briefly) in Summer 2020, travel retailers worked quickly to develop creative marketing plans to entice shoppers back and ensure they felt safe and confident in the airport environment. Aer Rianta International’s (ARI) Summer Recovery Plan was among the most effective, with the marketing team tasked with promoting the offer at global level but also with local relevance. The recovery plan, said ARI, was designed to increase penetration and passenger average spend, while providing returning and new customers with a sense of reassurance and escapism in a retail environment post COVID-19. The plan was approached with an omnichannel lens, targeting sales and revenue recovery, re-engagement with the customer base, conversion of non-shoppers to buyers, and delivering a return on investment which would contribute to margin.
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The core pillars on which ARI communicated were around customer reassurance, value and the ability to shop in contactless ways, including online. It became clear shoppers were looking forward to treating themselves in the airport once again. In some locations, ARI changed the messaging from ‘Seize Your Summer’ to ‘You Deserve a Treat’ or ‘Treat Yourself’ to run more in line with the sentiment of travellers. There were also two adjacent campaigns in each store: the commercial campaign and the safety campaign. Online the campaign was brought to life on ARI’s B2C websites in Ireland, Canada, and New Zealand, through strategically placed banners, clear home page prominence and curated product landing pages. Digital, OOH and radio promotions also played a part, as did communications with staff.
Press activities across consumer and industry media included interviews and video featuring senior directors, which helped to bring the campaign alive. The results? Sales, penetration and social media engagement hit high levels in the return phase, showing the power of the omnichannel approach in this period. Online sales were particularly impressive, for example +25% against budget around the campaign and more than double 2019 levels.
ARI launched a vibrant communications campaign to underline its value offer across categories (Photos: Conor McCabe Photography)
Click on the video to hear Deirdre Devaney and Paul Hunnisett talk about the return to business and rebuilding traveller confidence in airport shopping in 2020
The Moodie Davitt eZine The Moodies 2021
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