Our regular feature, brought to you in association with Duty Free Global from Ireland, celebrates memorable scenes, moments, launches and campaigns related to the global aviation and travel retail sphere.
This is an almost certain choice as my favourite story of the year and it’s only August, writes Martin Moodie.
It’s a story that reaches far beyond the commercial and underlines the power of possibility travel retail possesses in championing critical social causes while showcasing the values that underpin myriad brands, retailers and airports across the world.
Today’s images in our popular column come courtesy of Mondelez World Travel Retail (WTR) which, as reported, recently concluded the charity auction phase of its hugely ambitious global Toblerone ‘The Ultimate Gift’ campaign featuring nine individually numbered Toblerone Crystal Bars handcrafted by Swarovski.
Each Crystal Bar is a replica of the original Toblerone chocolate bar and features 546 hand-cut crystal facets.
The promotion raised a combined US$55,251 for local organisations in association with travel retailers at nine airport locations. I believe it ranks as a seminal promotion in travel retail’s almost 80-year history.
Today we major on the beneficiaries of this great campaign.
To recap, throughout July, travellers were invited to bid on nine rare Toblerone Crystal Bars crafted by Swarovski. Proceeds from each winning bid were donated to a charity selected by the respective host airport.
The Crystal Bars were showcased at airports in Athens, Delhi, Doha, Dubai, Frankfurt, Madrid, New York, Singapore and Zurich. The nine beneficiary organisations support causes spanning education, healthcare and services for children and families.
Extime Paris Duty Free (the joint venture between Lagardère Travel Retail and Groupe ADP) also brought The Ultimate Gift project to Paris, where a tenth and final Toblerone Crystal Bar crafted by Swarovski is displayed.
In a LinkedIn post, Mondelez WTR said: “The most meaningful part of The Ultimate Gift is the impact it helped create.
“Across nine airport locations, the campaign benefitted local organizations working in education, healthcare and services for children and families.
“Each charity was selected by its host airport, with 100% of the winning bid from that location donated directly to support its efforts.
“While the auctions have closed, these organisations continue making a difference in their communities every day. We are proud that The Ultimate Gift helped bring greater visibility to their work.
“To our charity partners, thank you for giving the campaign a purpose that will last far beyond the journey.” ✈
