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“The journey of differentiation is starting today“ |
Roland Abella Managing Director Diageo Global Travel & Middle East |
Johnnie Walker Scotch whisky has unveiled the Johnnie Walker Explorers’ Club Collection, parent company Diageo’s largest-ever investment in travel retail.
This major new global branding and marketing initiative is (and, importantly, will remain) exclusive to the travel retail channel. The new Johnnie Walker lines will bring to life what Diageo describes as the brand’s unparalleled links with exploration and travel.
The concept is based on the spirit of the “˜Travellers’ Room’ established by Alexander Walker at the company’s headquarters in the City of London in the 1890s. This was sited close to the shipping houses and docks from which its agents journeyed the world and gathered to exchange stories from their travels, offering inspiration to the company’s master blenders.
At TFWA World Exhibition in Cannes last week, Diageo Global Travel & Middle East (GTME) introduced the first range in the Collection, dubbed the Johnnie Walker Trade Routes Series – three new blends, all permanent travel retail exclusives.
The first, called Johnnie Walker, The Spice Road, is described as “an evocative expression of the spices, colours and fruits that the Johnnie Walker agents would have discovered in the thriving markets on their routes around Asia”. It will be available in global travel retail from the end of November at a recommended retail price of US$43/€36.90 for one litre.
The packaging around the iconic square bottle (its shape originally designed to reduce breakages as it travelled by ship) has taken similar cues, with a rich colour palette and embossed pattern reminiscent of decorative Asian panelling.
The debut line will be followed in 2013 by The Gold Route (recommended retail price US$95) and The Royal Route (US$159). A Collection pack will also be launched.
The Scotch whiskies will be displayed in high-visibility globe-shaped wall bays in travel retail stores as well as experiential pop-up clubs in selected airports. Each will be supported by striking advertising and activations.
Diageo GTME Managing Director Roland Abella told reporters that growth opportunities in the travel retail channel are “phenomenal” and that his ambitions are focused around three key areas – double-digit growth (ahead of category growth, thus increasing market share), premiumisation and differentiation. “The journey of differentiation is starting today,” he said.
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Roland Abella unveils the new concept during TFWA World Exhibition in Cannes last week |
GTME Marketing Director Steve White said: “Johnnie Walker is at the centre of everything we do at Diageo and we’ve got a really exciting innovation agenda focused on travel retail. That’s particularly important to us as Johnnie Walker has a rich history around travel – it’s actually been at the centre of what the brand has stood for and how it’s grown over the years.
“We’ll connect with the consumer about travelling and we’ll talk to them about Johnnie Walker’s relationship with travel. We’ll engage with them on their journey and make it more of an adventure. Within that we will provide propositions that are designed for travellers, inspired by them and available only to them.”
He added: “The campaign we are putting in place will be the biggest we have ever run for a launch proposition in travel retail – and by quite a margin. And that probably makes it the biggest play ever [in the channel], certainly in the alcohol category. Our intent is that this will be the big play for Johnnie Walker in travel retail”¦ this is where we believe the future of Johnnie Walker sits.”
COMMENT: This launch cuts to the very essence of two of the most important themes in travel retail over the past decade – particularly the need for differentiation from the High Street but equally the notion of the airport as being an exciting part of the journey, a factor so often forgotten in an age of security checks, long queues and low-cost flights.
We’ll examine in greater detail what we consider to be one of the most important and exciting launches of recent years in this week’s edition of The Moodie Report e-Zine.
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The journey begins: Johnnie Walker, The Spice Road is set to launch in global travel retail at a recommended retail price of US$43/€36.90 for one litre. | |
