SINGAPORE. Hennessy X.O. Cognac’s latest high-profile activation at Changi Airport has been hailed by the airport company and retailer DFS Group for its scale, ambition and consumer impact.
As first revealed in an on location exclusive report by The Moodie Davitt Report’s special correspondent Patrick Chew earlier this week, the Singapore activation is the concluding edition in a series of high-profile brand immersion engagements designed to create brand awareness and appreciation for Hennessy X.O. Cognac across key Asian airports.
“Changi Airport Group brings to passengers a multi-sensorial experience at the biggest Changi 1st outpost to date, together with Hennessy and DFS Group,” said Changi Airport Group Senior Vice President of Airside Concessions Teo Chew Hoon. “With the Social Tree as the centrepiece, this outpost invites passengers to explore the ‘Seven Worlds’ of flavours of Cognac in this integrated and interactive space, right here at Changi Airport.”
The 150sq m space, which as Teo says is the airport’s largest-ever pop-up, allows visitors to explore the ‘Seven Worlds’ of Hennessy X.O. that are brought to life in a short film directed by Ridley Scott (see below). The ‘Seven Worlds’ are creative interpretations of each tasting note, described by Hennessy’s Comité de Dégustation as illustrations of Hennessy X.O’s taste and feel: Sweet Notes, Rising Heat, Spicy Edge, Flowing Flame, Chocolate Lull, Wood Crunches and culminating in Infinite Echo.
The Seven Worlds pop-up store features huge screens, moving imagery, experiential booths, and custom-built tasting bars, all designed to deliver a multi-sensorial, interactive and immersive journey into Hennessy X.O’s flavours and heritage.
Visitors enter the pop-up and embark on a journey of all Seven Worlds, beginning with Flowing Flame. The circular nature of the space allows visitors to seamlessly experience the seven dream-like stories that convey the richness and complexity of Hennessy Cognac.
The journey continues with opportunities to create content at digital kiosks such as becoming the character of the ‘Wood Crunches world’ through an interactive motion-sensing activity. Visitors can heighten their sense of taste through unique food pairings in the form of spiced marshmallows dipped in dark chocolate and honey cinnamon lollipops. In the worlds of Chocolate Lull and Spicy Edge, exclusive scents have been created to engage the sense of smell. The experience is completed with a stop at the custom-built tasting bar, where visitors are invited to sample Hennessy X.O.
DFS Group Senior Vice President Spirits, Wine, Tobacco, Food and Gifts Brooke Supernaw commented: “Here at DFS, we take pride in curating not only an ever-growing collection of spirits, but also in experiences that elevate the customer journey to uncharted territory. A wide spectrum of touch points, creativity and innovation ensures an evocative and memorable experience for our well-travelled customers – assuring their return to our downtown T Gallerias and airport stores, as well as solidifying our position as the world’s leading luxury travel retailer.”
“At Hennessy, we recognise that travel retail goes well beyond being a key commercial channel. It’s an amazing platform to build brand desirability in front of affluent and worldly consumers,” added Moët Hennessy Global Travel Retail President Laurent Boidevezi.
“Furthermore, crafting experiences is at the heart of Moët Hennessy’s DNA, and this Hennessy X.O. Odyssey pop-up, the largest in terms of size and duration, is the perfect illustration of what we stand for.”
5 NOVEMBER: OUR EARLIER REPORT ON THE MOODIE DAVITT REPORT.COM
“The largest pop-up in Changi Airport’s history.” This sentiment was echoed throughout the grand opening of Hennessy X.O.’s The Seven Worlds pop-up store in association with DFS Group at Changi Airport’s Terminal 1 Departure Transit Hall. The 150sq m space — with massive screens, moving imagery, experiential booths, and custom-built tasting bars — aims to deliver a multi-sensorial, interactive and immersive journey into Hennessy X.O.’s flavours and heritage.
Beginning with Flowing Flame, visitors enter a circular space to seamlessly experience seven oneiric chapters. These feature interactive motion sensing activities, food pairings in the form of spiced marshmallows dipped in dark chocolate and refreshing honey cinnamon lollipops, and a scent bar with exclusively-created scents that heighten and engage the sense of smell.
At the end of the journey, visitors are then invited to enjoy a sip of Henessy X.O. at the tasting bar where they can also shop the brand’s latest offerings.
The scale of this brand activation — which will run till February 2020 — underscores Hennessy’s commitment to travel retail. “We see travel retail as so much more than just a commercial channel,” Moët Hennessy Global Travel Retail President Laurent Boidevezi says in an exclusive interview with The Moodie Davitt Report. “It is an amazing platform on which to build brand awareness and desirability through engaging our consumers.”
To him, travel retail offers a unique mix of audiences. “Affluent audiences,” Boidevezi reiterates. “Travellers from large established markets such as China form our core demographic. But we are seeing so much growth from emerging ones such as Vietnam, Malaysia and so on.”
The road forward for Moët Hennessy is clear: to offer innovative and ever-evolving experiences to an ever-evolving group of consumers. “The way to engage consumers now is changing because the consumers are changing massively. It is not enough to get a big billboard at the airport or do something small in a corner of a travel retail store. It will not resonate with the audience. They want to experience, they want to feel something. And that’s what we will do. Hennessy is so much more than just a product.”
Here is a snapshot of our on-location coverage at the Hennessy X.O. The Seven Worlds launch at Changi Airport.
All images and video by The Moodie Davitt Report special correspondent Patrick Chew.
