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A brand is born: It’s almost time to Explore Delhi International Airport’s new Terminal 3 |
INDIA. Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) and its lead shareholder GMR yesterday unveiled a major new retail brand for the commercial areas at the new Indira Gandhi International Airport Terminal 3, due to open in July.
The brand is called Explore, and is designed to add coherence to the diverse, ambitious commercial offer at the new terminal. It will feature in a wide range of executions across T3’s varied suite of consumer services.
The brand identity was revealed at a GMR/DIAL-hosted T3 concessionaires’ conference yesterday, chaired by The Moodie Report.
GMR and DIAL invited concessionaires and other stakeholders for a site preview of T3 on Monday, followed by a two-day conference which concludes today with further presentations chaired by DIAL Chief Commercial Officer Gavin McKechnie.
The highlight of a packed programme yesterday was the unveiling of “˜Explore’ by Dutch marketing, branding and communications agency THEY.
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Explore can be adapted to a wide range of marketing, promotional and transactional uses |
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GMR Chief Commercial Officer and Head of Strategic Planning Suredj Autar: “Terminal 3 will set new standards” |
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Roland van der Vorst and Tjaco Walvis of Dutch agency THEY, which came up with the Explore concept |
Company Founder Roland van der Vorst spoke of the driving principles behind the brand before unveiling the vibrant, spectacularly coloured motif to applause from the audience.
He said: “We asked: “˜What could be the core promise we are delivering for customers?’
“We also asked what could be the brand story that sets us apart from [key airport competitors] Dubai and Singapore?”
The agency focused on notions that would lend Delhi T3 a unique identity. These were joy, progress and diversity.
From those elements a brand story was created revolving around “joyful discovery”, and of excitement where something new always lies around the corner “waiting to be discovered”.
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Martin Moodie (right) interviews Roland van der Vorst, Tjaco Walvis and Suredj Autar |
Van der Vorst continued: “This translates into a very diverse, forward-thinking and jubilant experience.”
And from there the agency asked: “If T3 is the building, what is its meaning?”
The answer, he said, was “˜Explore’. “For us, Explore exactly captures the diversity and forward-looking way in which India is progressing – and at the same time it’s a promise, a link to the customer; an invitation to the customer to explore all the great things that can be found in an airport.”
“˜Explore’ will be embraced by all the airport’s commercial services providers, several of whom delivered speeches at today’s proceedings.
Earlier the conference began on a powerful note as GMR Chief Commercial Officer and Head of Strategic Planning Suredj Autar delivered an ebullient, upbeat presentation on GMR’s vision for the new Terminal.
“We have a tremendous opportunity in India to become a world leader in the aviation business,” he told the audience.
“T3 will set new standards,” he promised.
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Aer Rianta International-Middle East General Manager Operations James Prescott outlined the ambitious duty free offer being created together with local company IDFS. The alliance will operate the duty free in a joint venture with the airport. |
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Conference moderator Martin Moodie: “Something special, I think we all feel, is being built here” |
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Travel Food Services Managing Director Rajeev Panjwani and Jo Pennycuick, Director of Redesign Interior Architecture, got delegates’ taste buds working with a compelling presentation outlining the world-class food & beverage offer at T3 |
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Robbie Gill of The Design Solution, which has led T3’s retail design, said Delhi T3 could become the world’s best airport |
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Plaza Premium Lounge Chief Executive Officer Song Hoi See asks a question about the new Explore concept |
Autar focused in particular on the spirit of collaboration between DIAL and its business partners at T3. “We want to be a different type of partner,” he said.
“Only together can we create the world’s leading airport. There is no us and there is no you – there is only we in this airport business. Only we can capture the consumer. Only we together can deliver the promise. Only we together can increase the pie of the business.”
After a busy day’s proceedings, delegates gathered for a relaxed cocktail party sponsored by specialist consultancy ACTM which has worked closely with DIAL for the past year. The ensuing gala dinner began with a compelling stage interview with the Chairman of GMR’s Airport Business Division Kiran Grandi, conducted by Martin Moodie.
Grandi reiterated the group’s ambitions to deliver a world-class proposition at T3. Pressed to assess how good it will be, he replied “10 out of 10”, to loud applause.
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Martin Moodie welcomes Kiran Grandi, Business Chairman of GRM’s Airports Division, to stage |
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Kiran Grandi spoke poignantly about GMR’s great journey from aviation sector newcomer to industry powerhouse |
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Last night’s cocktail, sponsored by consultancy group ACTM, adopted a suitable airside theme (above and below) |
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Tomorrow is here: It’s nearly time to check in at Terminal 3 |
We’ll bring you a full report on this landmark conference over coming days. And look out for a special report on T3 in a forthcoming issue of The Moodie Report print edition, followed by a special edition dedicated to the opening, slated for July.
COMMENT: Prepare not only to Explore, but to reach for the superlatives. If – and there are, as always in Indian travel retail, mighty challenges to overcome – DIAL, GMR and their business partners can deliver on the promises outlined yesterday, then the new Terminal 3 will be a world-class airport indeed, writes Martin Moodie.
Certainly it won’t fall short on ambition, passion or a genuine spirit of collaboration that has taken shape between DIAL and its many business partners. Speaker after speaker yesterday outlined their vision for a new level of excellence in airport consumer services – not just within India but on the world stage.
The choice of brand name, Explore, seems perfect in capturing the allure, diversity and surprises of this great nation – but also the vibrant tapestry of airport services that will be on offer at T3. The quality of some of the design elements and retail and food & beverage executions previewed yesterday was at times jaw-dropping.
During my concluding remarks I noted that there had been too many false dawns in Indian travel retail. But T3 smacks of the real thing. This could be the one that finally silences the critics. From a journalistic point of view it’s one of the great travel retail stories of recent times and how it plays out in coming months promises to be enthralling.
Kiran Grandi’s passion and belief resonated loud and clear from the stage last night in my interview with him. Given GMR’s track record to date, few would bet against him and his team delivering the “10 out of 10” proposition that he promised.
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On Monday delegates visited the sprawling T3 construction site, where Martin Moodie and Robbie Gill donned hard hats |
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NOTE (2): The Moodie Report India, part of our dedicated regional news section on this website, contains all stories on India’s travel retail industry dating back to early 2003. You can access it via the dropdown menu on our home page under Regional News or by simply clicking here
NOTE (3): Airports Council International (ACI) and The Moodie Report last month announced the launch of India’s biggest-ever airport commercial revenues Forum, to be hosted by GMR. “˜The Power of India – New Horizons for Airport Commercial Revenues’ will take place in New Delhi on 22-24 September. Programme and registration details will be announced soon.
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