Edrington Asia Travel Retail is stepping up the roll-out of The Macallan Concept Number 2 – the latest edition in the single malt whisky’s travel retail-exclusive Concept series.
The Macallan Concept Number 2 is the second release in the Concept Series – a collection that fuses the passion behind The Macallan’s whisky making with innovative art, music and culture.
Concept Number 2 blends music and whisky, two of The Macallan Whisky Maker Steven Bremner’s passions (he is also an avid house music DJ).
Edrington launched the exclusive expression in Asia via a month-long partnership in January with Taiwanese travel retailer Ever Rich Duty Free, a collaboration which is continuing with an innovative promotional campaign. Following the successful Taiwan launch, The Macallan Concept Number 2 is being introduced to other key Asian airport stores, supported by similar interactive promotions and digital activity that leverages retailers’ platforms.
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The Macallan Concept Number 2 was only available in Asia at Ever Rich Duty Free stores in Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport for the January launch period. A disruptive 360-degree campaign, bringing to life Concept Number 2’s house music story, supported the launch and will continue through to the end of March.
The launch campaign offers an engaging brand experience that encompasses retailtainment, focused in-store activations, digital exposure and KOL engagement through The Macallan’s local and Ever Rich’s social platforms. The campaign targets travellers before and during their arrival at the Taipei gateway.
Passengers are invited into the world of Concept Number 2 via its eye-catching visual identity featured prominently on personalised visibility and activation sites such as HPPs, outposts and digital advertising across Terminals 1 and 2.
Live DJ shows took place in January and February, during which a DJ entertained travellers with a 30-minute house music set while they sampled The Macallan Concept Number 2. Travellers were then invited to mix their own 30-second house music track which could be listened to and downloaded via a QR code.
The interactive track mixing activity is currently being replicated across other key activation sites across the airport, helping to create a buzz and generate strong shopper interest in the single malt whisky.
Travellers are encouraged to continue to engage with the whisky outside the airport environment by tuning into a Spotify playlist of house music curated by Bremner. To drive further awareness, the brand is collaborating with three well-known Taiwanese DJs to promote core connections between whisky making and music making on their social channels.
Edrington Global Travel Retail Managing Director Suzy Smith commented: “The launch of The Macallan Concept series has been another disruptive step for the brand in travel retail and we wanted to build on this momentum with a standout launch campaign for Concept Number 2 in Taiwan.
“The 360-degree campaign, supported by our esteemed partner Ever Rich, effectively communicates the whisky’s links to house music through consumer engagement and retail theatre – delivering a truly engaging and refreshing brand experience.”
An Ever Rich Duty Free spokesperson said: “Following the relaunch of The Macallan Boutique at Taoyuan Airport in November 2019, the exclusive Asia-first launch of The Macallan Concept Number 2 is the next strategic step in Ever Rich Duty Free and The Macallan’s long-standing partnership. The interactive launch campaign highlights our joint ongoing commitment to offer fresh, engaging and exciting brand experiences that delight shoppers.”
How Aer Rianta International hit the highest of whisk(e)y notes in Dublin As any student of rock or country music will tell you, whisk(e)y figures prominently in a surprising number of songs. Maybe that’s because of its ability to engender writers’ tears, which also happens to be the name of a great Irish whiskey. The Swedes also know how to celebrate drinking in song. “If only I could tie my whiskey to a string, so that every time I swallowed a shot, I could pull it back up again” – from, you guessed it, ‘Imagine I could tie my shot to a string’… France might be better known for Cognac and other brandies but it also produces some excellent whisky, including Armorik single malt from the Warenghem distillery in Lannion, North Brittany. You can almost see the scene in, say, a Jean-Luc Godard film, as the smouldering female draws on a Gitanes, reaches for a whisky and gestures her partner towards the boudoir. In my version she’ll break into song: “Cigarettes et whisky et p’tites pépées; Nous laissent groggy et nous rendent tous cinglés; Cigarettes et whisky et p’tites pépées; C’est ça la vie mais c’est bon de les aimer.” (“Cigarettes and whiskey and wild women; We leave groggy and they all make us all crazy; Cigarettes and whiskey and wild women; That’s life but it’s good to love them!”) But how to find a suitable Taiwanese song? Ah, you underrate me… how about these lovely lyrics, as smooth as a Kavalan single malt on ice? “Don’t be afraid to be weak; Don’t be too proud to be strong; Just look into your heart my friend; That will be the return to yourself” – Difang, ‘Elders’ Drinking Song’ (Taiwan) Read more of Martin Moodie’s research into the links between music and whisk(ey) on The Moodie Blog. |
