Schiphol–Diageo GTME partnership drives ambitious Formula 1 activation

The main focal point of the Step Inside the Circuit campaign at Schiphol is the central store showcasing a replica F1 car

UK. Diageo’s travel retail team, in partnership with Schiphol Airport Retail and Schiphol Media, has unveiled a powerful Johnnie Walker campaign at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol to coincide with its sponsorship of the Formula 1 racing season.

The Step Inside the Circuit campaign is the outcome of a Trinity-style partnership between Diageo Global Travel & Middle East (GTME), plus the travel retail and media divisions of Schiphol Group. Crucially, the campaign was funded in equal parts by airport, retailer and brand owner.

Running from 3 May to 30 June, the initiative adapts the existing Johnnie Walker Black Label Step Inside the Circuit consumer campaign and was developed to leverage the appeal of travel retail’s number one liquor brand and Johnnie Walker’s sponsorship of the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team.

The activation shadows the traveller journey through the terminal, engaging them at the airport, through check-in and en route to the departure gates.

Trinity partnership: Schiphol Media Key Account Manager International Maurice Boonen, Schiphol Airport Retail Director Peter-Jan Rozenberg and Diageo GTME Regional Director Europe Paul Downing at the retailer’s Lounge 2 store

The commercial benefit of supplier, retailer and airport authority pooling resources and ideas to create such a bold execution are already looking highly positive, Diageo stated. Although the campaign has been running for only five weeks, sales are ahead of forecast, up more than double year-on-year versus a promotional period in 2010. (For some of the key results to date, see below.)

The campaign seeks to drive engagement, retail footfall and conversion with the F1-themed VIP experience. Passengers have the chance to win a pair of VIP tickets to the Belgian Grand Prix (26-28 August), and there is also a free scratch card competition with a variety of “˜instant win’ prizes for travellers.

Passengers arriving at Schiphol are greeted with this immense billboard outside the terminal

High-octane journey: How the promotion works

The experience takes Schiphol’s passengers on a high-octane journey that begins on the airport forecourt, where they are greeted by Johnnie Walker on the media mast and a Johnnie Walker video of the two stars of the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team, Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton.

Further media sites invite travellers to visit the duty free store to see the full-scale replica F1 car once in the airport. This same messaging then continues through the check-in halls, through passport control and into the departure lounges, where brand ambassadors invite passengers to have their photo taken with a cut-out of Jenson Button before entering the store. At this point they are also given a free branded lanyard to enter the competitions, with entry deposit points sited throughout the terminal.

Passengers can have their photo taken with a cut-out of FI driver Jenson Button before entering the duty free store

Each of the terminal’s three major duty free stores displays a different aspect from the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team kit. The main focal point is the central store showcasing a replica F1 car, while the two other stores house colourful displays of a team driver’s replica race outfit and a steering wheel. In-store, shopper engagement is intensified by brand ambassador interaction, and by playing on integrated iPads to explore the world of Johnnie Walker.

An innovative Double Black merchandising unit is at the heart of the whisky section in Lounge 2

The campaign takes in security gates at the store front to draw passengers in

Outside the store one of the main travelators (between Lounges 2 and 3) has been converted into a race track – complete with grid position decals on the floor and green-red start lights overhead – and there are two further VIP-style photo opportunities (one airside and one at the entrance to the central store). The final opportunity to enter the prize draw and to purchase a bottle of Johnnie Walker comes at the Johnnie Walker store on the concourse. It is the first time Schiphol Airport Retail has allowed this retail space to be controlled by a brand.

Travellers can play on integrated iPads to explore the world of Johnnie Walker Scotch whisky

Multi-dimensional experience

Diageo GTME Europe Marketing Manager Louise Jobson said Step Inside the Circuit had taken Diageo’s F1 promotional programme into top gear. “In past activations, we have brought distinct elements of F1 into the terminal, with powerful effect, but this time we’re bringing the whole F1 circuit experience closer to the traveller at multiple touch-points throughout their airport journey,” she said.

“Travellers will enjoy a great multi-dimensional experience from the moment they arrive at Schiphol, and we’ll reach them all the way through the lounge right to the gate. We have a series of truly startling “˜interruptions’, designed to stop them in their tracks, engage them in exciting and memorable opportunities to enjoy not only the thrill and fun of F1 but also the allure of Johnnie Walker.

“This progression is an indicator of how our Trinity-style partnerships have been consistently consolidated with our key retail and airport partners and the scale, quality and excitement of this latest activation is a pioneering demonstration of just how memorable and leading-edge the travel retail experience can be. As an industry, we need to deliver engaging, exciting and commercially effective activations and Step Inside the Circuit has certainly taken pole position in travel retail,” she said.

The price-off message on Johnnie Walker Black and Double Black is a key one

The till point offers another reminder of the campaign to shoppers

Schiphol Airport Retail Director Peter Jan Rozenberg commented: “Schiphol Airport Retail is an entrepreneurial airport retailer at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, always trying to find initiatives to surprise our customers. Without the support of important brands it is impossible to realise this, so we are delighted with the Johnnie Walker event.

“At short notice we created in close co-operation with Diageo and Schiphol Group the idea and we stepped inside the circuit together to realise this Trinity approach to create a remarkable experience for our customers but also for our staff. In the end the sales results show that it pays off, which indicates that our customers love it.”

Schiphol Media Sales Director Gary Mey added: “When a brand, retailer and airport media combine forces they can create a phenomenal impact. As Schiphol has its own advertising sales-house with Schiphol Media, it is a lot easier to get those extra special one-offs such as, in this case, the branded travelator and temporary single branded store added to the total package. Normally these are never sold as advertising objects.”

Each year since its launch in 2010, Diageo GTME’s F1-themed promotional programme for Johnnie Walker has grown. Past highlights have included some of the most spectacular activations ever seen in travel retail, most notably in Asia Pacific and the Middle East.

The latest expression of the F1 spirit at Schiphol is the largest ever undertaken by Diageo GTME Europe and emphasises the company’s continuing global commitment to driving footfall, conversion and category growth through creative and innovative investment, the drinks giant said.

A travelator running from Lounge 2 to 3 has been dressed as an F1 starting grid

Results to date
In the period from 1 May to 7 June, sales in the deluxe category surged by +142% compared to the period last year, with Johnnie Walker Black and Double Black ahead +165%. Within this, noted the retailer, volumes are shifting more towards Double Black, which it said showed the value of its travel retail exclusive status, as well as the strong price-off message (one litre is priced €25.95 against a regular price of €34.95).

Consumers from the Netherlands account for 59% of purchases during the promotional period to date, with strong contributions from South Koreans (8%), Chinese (7%), Russians (6%) and UK passengers (6%). In the case of Koreans, Chinese and Russians, these figures are double their normal proportions as a percentage of liquor spend at the airport.

Scandinavian spends have also surged during the period, as shown by the strong performance of the Schiphol Airport Retail store in Lounge 1. This store normally represents 20% of the business but this has climbed to 25% during the activation, largely driven by Scandinavian spending around the event, said the retailer.

Sales generated by the activation have also represented 23% of all whisky sales at Schiphol during the period to 7 June, with Double Black taking 68% of deluxe market share during the event.

The striking activation continues with a strong Formula 1 theme in the Lounge 3 store (above) and on the concourse outside the store (below) as the campaign runs airport-wide

The pop-up store has also performed strongly, said Schiphol Airport Retail. From just two skus, Johnnie Walker Black and Double Black, sales are already half what they were under the previous cross-category, multi-brand Chocolate & Bubbles concept.

Schiphol Airport Retail has also created a “˜dashboard’ around the activation, which tracks the sale of every bottle sold during the period by store and by date and time. This enables the retailer to measure the progress of sales in real time and to tweak the promotional activity in each location. The information also includes each purchasing passenger’s destination, nationality plus, crucially, their overall basket size.

Diageo GTME Regional Director Europe Paul Downing said: “We hear that it’s difficult to create powerful activations at European airports but this took just seven weeks from idea to execution, and was very much a partnership between Schiphol and Diageo.

“Why Schiphol? It’s because the airport and retailer present a cutting edge retail experience, great use of media, and it’s an airport that also believes in the Trinity. But that’s not going to happen if it’s not jointly executed, and critically, funded. This is the best ever Trinity activation in Europe. We admire what we see in other regions but this shows that Europe can stand strong as a global region within travel retail for powerful and engaging activations.”

During the period of the promotion some 7 million passengers are expected to pass through Schiphol offering what Diageo said was an invaluable platform on which to drive retail footfall and conversion.

Rozenberg told The Moodie Report: “At Schiphol Airport Retail we are small, agile team. If we develop a good idea internally we can implement it quickly. We are part of Schiphol Group, so that is positive but as a retailer we also have independence.”

He added: “Two years ago our stores were very much supermarkets, but now we have taken a department store approach. We separate the store by category but within that we try to create space for “˜hero’ brands, of which Johnnie Walker is one. You’ll see that approach taken to a new level at Lounge 3, when it is completed later this summer.”

Schiphol is Europe’s fifth-busiest international airport, with annual traffic of almost 45 million passengers.

The latest expression of the F1 spirit at Schiphol is the largest ever undertaken by Diageo GTME Europe