Absolut set to introduce new era of activations in Asian travel retail

MALAYSIA. Pernod Ricard Asia Travel Retail and Eraman Malaysia celebrated the official opening of the world’s first Absolut brand store at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) with the launch of Absolut Hibiskus last week.

Taking place on 27 September, the launch event – attended by VIP guests and media including The Moodie Report – formally unveiled the 45sq m dedicated brand space which soft opened last month. As reported, the store is an important initiative in Absolut’s quest to create “next generation shopping arenas in the global duty free/travel retail market”.

Located within Eraman’s new lifestyle and shopping experience zone among leading fashion, cosmetics and luxury brands such as Bally, See By Chloé and MCM; Absolut is the only spirits brand with an exclusive store presence.

The world’s first Absolut brand store in KLIA soft opened in August

The launch of Absolut Hibiskus provided an opportunity to demonstrate the potential of the store to build and strengthen brand image and consumer brand recognition.

Upon entry into the store, guests were greeted by an Absolut host inviting them to taste a range of Absolut Hibiskus cocktails from the bespoke bar. They can then become part of a crowd-sharing platform by voting for their favourite Absolut Hibiskus cocktail on the Absolut Drinkspiration app. An LED screen at the front of the store features real-time ‘check-ins’ from Drinkspiration app users around the world, with their choice of Absolut cocktail and their location displayed in the style of an airport’s Flight Information Display System. New digital innovations are also delivered through projection mapping designed to capture the imagination of the traveller.

For added consumer engagement, mixology classes were available for a number of guests; a body artist was also brought in-store to draw semi-permanent hibiscus flower tattoos on guests.

Absolut Hibiskus joins the full range of Absolut products in the new store, hailed by Pernod Ricard as the only place in the world where travellers can find and buy all the flavours in the Absolut portfolio. Inspired by the Malaysian national flower, this exotic new flavour is infused with hibiscus and pomegranate to appeal to Malaysians and the wider Asian traveller, making it an ideal souvenir for visitors to the country, the company said. It will be available in Asia travel retail until 31 October 2013.

Pernod Ricard Asia Travel Retail Managing Director Con Constandis commented: “The launch of the Absolut brand store is a key step for us and one which reflects our aim to deliver engaging experiential experiences to travellers. We are pleased to host VIP guests today in order to effectively communicate the commercial strengths and potential opportunities this initiative provides, whilst amplifying the launch of a dedicated Malaysian flavour relevant to this important local market in Asia travel retail.”

Officiating the ribbon-cutting ceremony were (L-R) The Absolut Brand Company Area Director Global Travel Retail Brand Development Henrik Ohlstenius, Eraman Malaysia General Manager Fawzy Ahmad, Pernod Ricard Asia Chairman & CEO Pierre Coppéré, and Pernod Ricard Asia Travel Retail Managing Director Con Constandis

The significance of the Absolut brand store opening is three-fold, Constandis added. “First of all, in the duty free and travel retail industry, a world where whisky and cognac are very dominant, this represents a big commitment to a key emerging category.

“Secondly, this is the first time we have taken a brand out of the traditional shop environment around other lines of spirits and created a new territory, one that’s surrounded by what I’ll call contemporary premium lifestyle representation. I think this is the perfect fit for Absolut, and that’s the unique thing that gets me excited, because we’re actually redefining a territory. Is there a future for this type of shop? If the brand is right, yes. And Absolut is the right brand for that environment.

“Thirdly, we have transformed what has been essentially a shopping activity into what I would now call experience and engagement. This location has given us the ability to engage with consumers at a higher level.

“So in every dimension, this has scored a home run, and that is why we are very proud of it. And for us as a business, we recognise one simple premise: our consumers going through these airports are travellers first, just going from point A to point B, and we have a very narrow window to engage them. But if we engage with them properly, we can convert travellers and passengers into consumers and buyers.”

Speaking to The Moodie Report, Constandis explained that while luxury brand spaces in travel retail have usually been devoted to premium Scotch whisky and cognac, the Absolut store has a different value proposition altogether.

“We’re not moving into territory previously occupied by Scotch whisky and cognac; we’re moving into a new territory,” he said. “The consumer base for Scotch whisky and cognac is very different from that of vodka: Vodka consumers are younger and made up of more females. If you look at the evolution of consumers in travel retail and even the middle affluent consumers that are growing and emerging in China or Asia, there’s a youthful element and a female element there. So we actually don’t see it as going and interrupting the development of Scotch and cognac, we see it as going into a new territory that is very complementary.”

The Absolut brand store was a hive of activity at the launch of the new Absolut Hibiskus

Consumers can ‘check-in’ through the Absolut Drinkspiration app with their location and choice of Absolut cocktail, and these details will be displayed in real-time on an LED screen in-store

According to Constandis, the emerging new consumer is a departure from the wealthy high net-worth ‘businessman type’: Resourceful young people in their mid-20s coming into their own, who want to travel and see the world – a target market well aligned with the new store. “So really, it comes down to the consumers. We’re just giving them what they’re looking for, and I have a strong belief in Absolut in Asia and in travel retail simply because of the way that the consumers are evolving.”

The choice of KLIA as the location for the first such store of its kind was said to be both strategic and relationship-based. Eraman has a long and successful brand building history with Pernod Ricard, the company said, and the idea of the Absolut store was actually initiated by the Malaysian travel retailer and supported by Malaysia Airports, a strong advocate of turning airports into lifestyle destinations.

Pernod Ricard Asia Travel Retail Marketing Director John O’Sullivan said: “This is an example of a true Trinity; collectively we’re all working for the traveller. The risk in our industry is that if we keep doing the same thing over and over again, people will get bored, especially that emerging consumer – people who have never travelled before, people who have never been in a duty free store.”

Constandis commended Eraman for “a very bold and gutsy move” and credited the travel retailer for being “a driving force” in the project. When asked what more travel retailers can do to help brands such as Absolut grow in the channel, he replied: “I look at this example and I say, ‘Open your mind.’ Here was one retailer that didn’t assume they had all the answers, that was willing to try something out of the box and open a dialogue with us. And as long as people are open-minded in that sense, we’re going to discover new experiences and new ways to engage.

“We’re going to make some mistakes – both of us – but at least we’re exploring new avenues to deal with the very small window of time that people have coming through here. So, it all comes down to having an open mind and the willingness to challenge some of the paradigms and some of the existing rules.”

He continued: “I think what’s also going to help a brand like Absolut is if the airport authorities and regulators are willing to loosen up some of the rules and allow maybe an extra bottle or extra purchase to get into that basket, because the basket has room for another bottle. In some jurisdictions, the limit is just one bottle but a two-bottle allowance will open up the purchase for a friend or a family member.”

The 45sq m store will house every single flavour in Absolut’s portfolio

Are there plans for more Absolut stores in the region, or globally? “Where it merits, where it works and where the fit is right, we’re going to keep leveraging the successes and the lessons we learn here,” Constandis replied noncommittally.

Pernod Ricard Asia Chairman & CEO Pierre Coppéré believes that the Absolut brand store will benefit from the passenger growth that will result from the opening of Klia2 next year.”Absolut is one of Pernod Ricard’s two global icon brands. It’s a major key brand in the Americas and a growing brand in Asia. We have big ambitions in Asia. Since we acquired the brand [in 2008] we have managed to double its size in Asia and our ambition is to achieve one million cases in the coming three years – it’s a strong ambition which we hope this store will help us to fulfil.”

“The launch of the Absolut brand store is a key step for us and one which reflects our aim to deliver engaging experiential experiences to travellers“

Con Constandis Managing Director Pernod Ricard Asia Travel Retail

Commenting on Pernod Ricard Asia Travel Retail’s (PRATR) goals and focuses going forward, Constandis said: “Given we’ve just come together [PRATR was established earlier this year, incorporating the duty free activities of Pernod Ricard China and Pernod Ricard Japan with Pernod Ricard Asia Duty Free -Ed], one of the main objectives for me is getting the organisation effective in its new model.

“More simply put, our model is around three basic pillars: world-class customer management, marketing and portfolio strategy, and retail excellence. Those are the three key commercial approaches; my job is to make sure they’re integrated. We have to recognise the simple premise that customers/consumers don’t respect boundaries anymore; they’re globalised. We should start to be smarter in that model to leverage either local market capabilities or new international customers.

“Bringing China and Japan together helps because it allows us to put common strategies together, common practices all geared around the traveller: where are they and where are they going. That’s the initial focus for us. The long-term goal is to get more people into the stores and convert them into buyers. Those are the two simple strategies.”

Launch of Absolut’s new campaign: ‘Transform Today’

The KLIA store opening also offered guests a look at Absolut’s new global brand initiative, ‘Transform Today’, which was launched in early September. With this new brand ethos, Absolut aims to “transform the way the brand collaborates with artists and strengthen its efforts to connect global audiences through the common language of art”.

In line with Absolut’s long-standing tradition of working with cutting-edge artists, Transform Today features creative collaborations with four emerging artists from around the world: French multi-artist and musician Woodkid, American digital media artist Aaron Koblin, French Haute Couture designer Yiqing Yin, and Brazilian graphic novel artist Rafael Grampá. The collaborations aim “to connect with the creative spirit in us all and to inspire artistic transformation around the world”, the brand said.

Absolut VP Global Marketing Jonas TÃ¥hlin explained: “Transform Today is a call to arms – a rallying cry for a generation of creativity to break free from the idea that anything is predetermined and to take control of their future. The brand ethos manifests our belief that tomorrow is not a given, it’s for everyone to create.”

The idea of Transform Today was introduced in the US during preview events in Brooklyn and San Francisco, where entire streets were transformed into local artist showcases. The events were a demonstration of the type of tangible transformation that audiences can expect from upcoming phases of the campaign, Absolut said.

The campaign on absolut.com features artist profiles with videos introducing the creators, the ideas that inspire them, and the goals of their work. Beginning in November, collaborating artists will open up their creative processes for global audiences both online and in real life. Coming to life through a series of interactive events, the initiative will offer participants the opportunity to explore their own creative potential through a variety of media.