Bally looks back on a year of landmark moves in travel retail and beyond. This includes strengthening its foothold in China, opening its breathtaking flagship boutique in Milan, and launching its long-term mountain preservation project — the ‘Bally Peak Outlook Initiative’.
As reported, Bally has heavily expanded its travel retail network in Asia in the past year. This is particularly true for Mainland China, where it opened doors across domestic and international areas of airports in Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou. The brand’s new flagship store in China World Mall has also become a benchmark for the brand’s commitment to serving the Mainland Chinese customer, further solidifying its presence in China. The fashion brand first entered the Chinese market in the 1980s, and now has a retail network of 50 stores in both travel retail and domestic Chinese markets.
Bally has also secured key mono-brand locations across the world’s leading airports and downtown duty free malls, with the help of its strong Trinity partnerships. Bally’s mono-brand store in Hong Kong International Airport is a great example of the brand blending digital and real-life experiences across its network. The store features interactive LED screens and a virtual mix-and-match tool, a first of its kind for Bally.
Bally has also announced a European expansion for Q1 2020. There are plans to renovate its flagship store in Zurich Airport, and open a new store in La Samaritaine Paris.
Bally CEO Nicolas Girotto spoke to customers and trade press at the brand’s event during the recent TFWA World Exhibition & Conference in Cannes. During the event, he presented a positive outlook for Bally’s performance in travel retail and unveiled the brand’s grand ambitions for the channel in the coming years.
Girotto said: “This year alone, we have secured locations in the world’s most important airports and downtown duty free malls, working closely with the top travel retail operators in the business and adding exclusive experiential touch-points.”
“Not only have we been able to significantly grow our global distribution footprint — which now spans across 66 countries, with 311 retail stores and 500 multi-brand points of sale — but in addition, we have ecommerce channels servicing 34 countries,” he added.
Bally also opened its Milan flagship store in August 2019 in the prestigious intersection of Via Montenapoleone and Via Manzoni. The Bally Haus takes centre stage at Milan’s golden quadrilateral and establishes the brand in one of the fashion capital’s busiest shopping districts. The three-storey boutique is spread across 560sq m and exemplifies Bally’s omnichannel approach. Hi-tech LED video panels are placed on each floor, showcasing Bally’s digital content, while in-store iPads allow customers to view the full Bally inventory online.
According to Girotto, “The unveiling of Bally’s flagship in Milan is a celebration of our brand identity. In opening the doors to this store, we want to create a destination for cultural engagement, where customers can experience Bally’s complete lifestyle offering.”
In addition to this, pop-ups and events have also heavily influenced Bally’s marketing strategy over the past year. The brand’s latest pop-up store in Haitang Bay will promote the brand’s rich mountaineering heritage and highlight its Autumn Winter 2019 campaign. The pop-up is set to run throughout the month of October, coinciding with China’s recent Golden Week celebrations.
As reported, Bally also launched its Peak Outlook Initiative. This is a long-term sustainability programme that protects some of the world’s most extreme mountain environments and surrounding local communities.
Bally sponsored its inaugural clean-up expedition to Mount Everest’s summit during April and May this year. It was led by Dawa Steven Sherpa and was made up of a team of climbers and guides from the native Himalayan Sherpa ethnic tribe. The team successfully removed over two tonnes of waste and helped restore the alpine landscape between the Everest Base Camp (at an altitude of 5,380 m) and the Everest summit (altitude of 8,838 m).
Finally, Bally also showcased highlights from its Autumn Winter 2019 range during the Cannes presentation. This includes the updated Janelle buckle bag, which now features a smaller silhouette, adjustable straps, and a gold foil script name tag. The Janelle bag now also comes in seasonal twists through new colours and materials, including Bally’s archival diamond quilt pattern. The Janelle shoe family has also expanded to include the Jay boot. The new boot features the same buckle as the Janelle bag and comes in a warm autumnal colour palette.
Meanwhile, the menswear range also gets a stylish update with the High Point range. The 17-piece collection was launched in spring earlier this year and features the brand’s signature Bally stripe. The carryall bags come in colourful micro-grain leather colourways accented with Bally’s signature stripe, contrasting colour stitches, and Bally Switzerland leather patches. Key styles include the Harper backpack, Harvey crossbody bag, the Hazard barrel-style duffle bag, and Hakab bum bag.
For Nicolas Girotto, the past year has been an excellent showcase of Bally’s commitment to constant innovation and growth. He said: “Suffice to say, Bally has been at the forefront of travel and retail since our founding in 1851. Not only did we have flagships from Geneva to Montevideo over 150 years ago, our founder, Carl Franz Bally, compellingly put purpose before profit, thinking of ways to better the brand.”
In collaboration with Globuy
As a lead partner of The Moodie Davitt Report, this story will also appear in coming days in Chinese and with a consumer voice on fast-growing Chinese B2C WeChat social media account Globuy [玩转全球免税], as part of a new collaboration between Globuy owner Extra-Aile Media in Shanghai and The Moodie Davitt Report.
Globuy aims to become “the KOL of Chinese travel retail” and already has 400,000 followers and a monthly audience of 1 million views for its WeChat social media platform promoting new launches, product availability, promotions and special offers.
Going forward, selected stories from The Moodie Davitt Report.com’s lead brand partners in beauty, fashion, luxury, confectionery and premium spirits will also be published by Globuy. These will include product reviews by the Globuy team.
Globuy will promote The Moodie Davitt Report’s platform to China’s travel retail sector and to the platform’s consumer audience in China. The Moodie Davitt Report will subsequently also publish a curated selection of Chinese consumer feedback on the chosen stories and also reveal the results of regular consumer surveys conducted in association with Globuy.
