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The new Emporium lounge at Dubai International Airport aims to create a new standard for the shopper experience |
DUBAI. Diageo GTME, Möet Hennessy, Dubai Duty Free, Dubai Airports and Le Méridien Group yesterday launched a unique collaboration with the opening of Emporium, a luxury spirits, fine wines and Champagne retail store and bar at Dubai International Airport Terminal 3.
The move is a world first and a first for Dubai, the world’s largest single duty free sales location, and marks, according to the partners, “a new standard for the shopper experience in travel retail”.
The new unit, which replaces a service area on the main concourse at T3, combines luxury retail space with a stylish contemporary bar and experiential zones, and is designed to drive footfall and conversion among shoppers of high-end liquor. Some 70% of sales are expected to come from retail, with the remainder from the bar.
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Dubai Duty Free Managing Director Colm McLoughlin, Diageo GTME Managing Director Jane Ewing and Dubai Airports Vice President of Retail Eugene Barry celebrate the opening of the Emporium |
Emporium hosts a combined presentation from the Diageo Reserve portfolio of brands and the Möet-Hennessy portfolio, including Johnnie Walker Blue Label, Zacapa, Tanqueray No 10, Ketel One and Don Julio, plus Hennessy Paradis, Hennessy Richard, Hennessy XO, Dom Pérignon, Veuve Clicquot and Möet & Chandon.
Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffiths noted the “˜Trinity’ collaboration with airport, retailer and brand owner each playing a role. “We wanted to use this prime retail space to engage the customer, and this will become an oasis in the airport for passengers, especially the many who have three to four hours here in transit. We want to create points of interest that will enhance passengers’ dwell time and blend service, retail, entertainment and food & beverage into one seamless experience. Importantly, everyone wins, whether it’s the brand owner, the airport or Dubai Duty Free.”
He noted the sensitivity around sampling liquor in Dubai, and said the execution of the concept respected that sensitivity. “We see the airport environment as separate and distinct from the local market, as a part of the journey, and we are an international marketplace. As we extend the number of routes, and as transit times grow, we want to create a broader, more tempting offer for travellers who spend time with us, and enhance their experience in Dubai. Over the next five years we aim to be the biggest and the best airport in the world – we’ll overtake Heathrow as the world’s biggest international hub in the next three to four years – and we are taking every step possible to improve passenger satisfaction.”
Diageo GTME Managing Director Jane Ewing said: “Today is a very exciting day, where we are trying something new and different in travel retail.”
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The lounge aims to elevate the consumer experience at Dubai Airport |
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The Emporium is opened Colm McLoughlin on a landmark day in Dubai |
Diageo GTME Gulf General Manager Hugo Mills added: The Middle East is often perceived as a particularly challenging region for a liquor company to do business in but the fact is that, with the right approach, it represents a massive opportunity. Our approach with Emporium is built on an exceptional portfolio of our luxury Reserve brands, that appeals to the airport’s increasingly discerning audience, delivered through amazing relationships and always fully understanding and respecting the region’s unique character and demands. In tandem with our strategy in the region, we aim to deliver growth to the whole liquor category.”
Dubai Duty Free Managing Director Colm McLoughlin noted: “Our aim is to ensure that the retail experience at Dubai Duty Free is a guiding beacon for the travel retail and airport industries in the 21st century. We have become the world’s largest single airport retail operator by maintaining our commitment to providing the best possible shopper experience through an international level of customer service, as well as through partnership, innovation and the optimal presentation of the world’s finest luxury brands. Emporium is a hugely significant expression of that approach.”
Dubai Airports Vice President Retail Eugene Barry said: “As an airport operator, we have a strong spirit of innovation but we can only action that with the right quality of support from our partners. Emporium is a wonderful example of the sort of high quality, innovative thinking we want to see at Dubai International as we continue to develop the airport’s role as a leading global hub and key destination of the region. This partnership approach has created something truly exceptional.”
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(Above) Alongside the core Diageo offer, Hennessy Cognac is one of the key showcases in this luxury environment; (Top) Moët Hennessy Market Manager Gulf & Eastern Africa Stéphane de Meurville (right, pictured with Diageo’s Hugo Mills) explains the significance of the partnership for his company’s brands |
Moët Hennessy Market Manager Gulf & Eastern Africa Stéphane de Meurville said: “The opportunity that Emporium brings for the Möet Hennessy portfolio is very exciting and provides an unparalleled luxury environment that perfectly complements our highly premium brands. Dubai is a unique location and has a growing profile of high net worth passengers, especially those from China, and Emporium provides a new and powerful route to those shoppers.”
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(Left to right) Diageo GTME Gulf General Manager Hugo Mills, Diageo GTME Managing Director Jane Ewing and Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffiths at the Emporium opening on Monday |
Johnnie Walker Brand Ambassador Jonathan Driver conducted a tasting of The John Walker, saying it was the “perfect environment” in which to conduct sampling of the super-premium line.
At Emporium during December, shoppers can personalise The John Walker through the free personal gifting service, including their choice of engraved messaging on the bottle itself and bespoke gift-wrapping.
Services in the store include advice and tutored tastings conducted by leading mixologists and Diageo reserve brand ambassadors. The 2010 World Champion mixologist, Erik Lorincz (who is Head Bartender at The American Bar at The Savoy Hotel in London), mixed the first cocktails served in Emporium yesterday.
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The 2010 World Champion mixologist Erik Lorincz mixed the first cocktails served in Emporium |
The store was created by Portland Design, whose Creative Head of Environments Michael Fern said: “Diageo and Portland share a desire to create a step-change for the quality of shopper experience within travel retail, creating immersive shopper environments that engage with a shopper’s emotions. We wanted to create something unique, with an international feel, yet inspired by and fully respecting Dubai and the Gulf region.”
Walking the store
As passengers arrive at the T3 unit, they are greeted by the open central bar area, with its deep brown and gold tones, the focal point that aims to draw them in. The semi-opaque glass to each side of the storefront offers a glimpse of the brand displays and activities contained within.
When they step inside, Emporium is designed to offer strong engagement with the brands, across the Diageo and Moët Hennessy luxury portfolio. There is a high staffing ratio that enables the team of Brand Ambassadors and bar specialists to host guests individually. It takes the previous Mentorship Experience – also a three-way partnership between airport, retailer and brand owner – a step further at the location.
There are a number of contact points with the shopper in the outlet, including the bar, retail galleries, brand and category showcases plus an experiential zone.
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Emporium showcases premium vodka and rum alongside the core Scotch portfolio |
The Retail Gallery
Positioned at the front of the store, to each side of the central bar area, are the two Retail Gallery zones supported by Dubai Duty Free. The clean layout of the store is spacious and allows retail displays to recount the brand stories. The in-store brand communication aims to be subtle in style, with rare and premium items showcased in specially engineered displays. These are accompanied by information on the heritage, production and tasting notes of each brand.
Emporium’s two side walls and half of the back wall are dominated by the Category Showcases – an extensive display of the major highlights from across the Diageo Reserve portfolio and the Möet-Hennessy collection.
The left side of the rear wall is occupied by a Brand Showcase, a distinct and flexible display area that highlights each selected brand in detail, including variants.
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Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffiths on The Emporium opening |
This area will change every two months, featuring different brands and new experiences to ensure that there is always something new and exciting for regular travellers, said the partners.
Immediately in front of the Brand Showcase is the Experiential Zone, which includes special promotional space that reflects the targeted shoppers’ demand for new launches, exclusive products and limited editions.
In response to Diageo’s consumer insight findings, the range addresses specific demands from the target shopper for unique products for sale that they cannot buy anywhere else. Currently, the zone features Johnnie Walker Blue Label.
Within the Experiential Zone, the space is adaptable and will also be used as a Mentorship Theatre, providing shoppers with a more personal and in-depth brand experience. Shielded from the store front by the Retail Gallery, the Taste Theatre is said to be an “exciting attraction” that draws browsersn further into the store.
This will house added value services such as personalised gifting and will host a scheduled programme of in-depth mentoring sessions. Staff training is a key element through Diageo’s World Class programme, including master classes in-store led by some of the world’s top Reserve Brand Ambassadors as well as encouraging staff to participate in future World Class competitions.
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Jane Ewing and Colm McLoughlin enjoy a light moment at the opening |
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(Left to right) Hugo Mills (Diageo GTME), Saba Tahir, Colm McLoughlin (both Dubai Duty Free), Jane Ewing (Diageo GTME), Eugene Barry (Dubai Airports), Stephane de Meurville (Moet Hennessy) and George Horan (Dubai Duty Free) |
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Johnnie Walker Brand Ambassador Jonathan Driver delivers a mentorship class at the Emporium |
Diageo GTME also underlined the concept’s role in delivering on its pledge to double travel retail liquor sales within five years.
The brand owner said: “With footfall averaging around 23% across travel retail, typical conversion rates deliver only 50% of the travellers who actually step into the stores (much lower than the levels achieved at Dubai). As such, the industry’s overall penetration stands only just above 11%. With significantly higher average footfall levels being achieved in other categories, especially fragrances & cosmetics, it is clear that a shared strategy of insight, innovation and development of the shopper experience, such as Emporium, can bring liquor closer to those levels too.”
If average footfall was raised by 50% (from 23% to 37%) the category would be doubled at a stroke – and Emporium is a key initiative aimed at raising conversion.
A key barrier among non-shoppers is perception, noted Diageo. “Most non-shoppers simply believe that airport shops have nothing to offer them but Initiatives such as Emporium will convince them otherwise,” said Hugo Mills.
“The key fact that consistently occurs globally in Non-Shopper Airport research is that Non-Shoppers think the Duty Free liquor stores are “˜Good’ or “˜Very good value’. As such, they certainly understand the value messaging and the reason why they don’t shop is that they feel uninspired. They feel uninspired because they feel that the stores do not meet their needs. We are absolutely confident that Emporium can shift their minds, their feet and their shopping behaviour.”
