Introduction: Edrington Global Travel Retail has launched a new travel retail core range for The Macallan called the Colour Collection. The range is made up of five age statement single malt Scotch whiskies, spanning all the colours of the whisky spectrum and showcasing the natural hues derived from maturation.
The Colour Collection features a new visual identity inspired by the distillery’s heritage and its spiritual home, The Macallan Estate. The designs were created by long-time The Macallan collaborator American illustrator/graphic artist David Carson and underline the brand’s connection to nature and Jerez de la Fontera.
The major launch is being supported by a dynamic global campaign, which will feature six pop-ups at key airport and downtown duty-free locations, 54 high-profile promotions, an OOH campaign at eight airports and a series of immersive art exhibitions.
All these elements come together for what is an already spectacular launch, and one of the biggest in The Macallan’s recent history. To talk more about the inspirations and craftsmanship behind the Colour Collection, we sit down with The Macallan Master Whisky Maker Kirsteen Campbell and Edrington Regional Managing Director Global Travel Retail Jeremy Speirs, who outline what sets the range apart from other whisky collections in the channel.
They also discuss The Macallan’s ongoing premiumisation and harmonisation drive and the role that The Colour Collection can play in recruiting new customers and reinforcing The Macallan’s core range in the channel.
Could you tell us about The Macallan Colour Collection and the inspirations behind it?
Kirsteen Campbell: The Macallan Colour Collection is a visual journey through The Macallan’s 100% natural colour palette. The shade deepens with each expression, making age integral to this specific range, also making it easier for consumers to navigate across the range.
Together, the whiskies included in the Colour Collection showcase the remarkable spectrum of natural hues derived from maturation in The Macallan’s sherry-seasoned oak casks.
The range takes inspiration from both the vibrant hues of each whisky and the hauntingly beautiful Jerez de la Frontera region of Spain, where The Macallan’s exceptional sherry-seasoned oak casks are handcrafted to its exact specification. Fundamental to The Macallan, these oak casks are the single greatest contributor to the outstanding quality and distinctive aromas and flavours of its single malt whiskies.
What makes The Macallan Colour Collection unique compared to other whisky collections in the market?
KC: The Macallan Colour Collection celebrates The Macallan’s commitment to delivering natural colour and flavour through maturation in exceptional sherry-seasoned casks.
The Macallan Whisky Mastery Team is at the heart of the whisky-making process. The team is responsible for delivering the outstanding quality, natural colour and distinctive aromas and flavours of The Macallan. Taking a collaborative approach, the team use their skills, experience and craft to create and enhance The Macallan’s exceptional portfolio of whiskies and to build a legacy for the future. They oversee almost every step of the whisky-making journey, from cask selection to sampling, ensuring maturation and whisky making work hand-in-hand to bring out the best of spirit and wood.
Jeremy Speirs: The Macallan Colour Collection has been in development for several years and was designed to engage with discerning travellers who are keen to discover The Macallan and its incomparable craftsmanship and creativity. The range allows the consumer to discover new travel exclusive expressions from our portfolio, providing a refreshed opportunity for storytelling.
The introduction of an age statement collection of whiskies puts The Macallan in select company in travel retail, where the majority of single malt brands have developed non-age statement (NAS) ranges specifically for the channel. While we remain firm believers in the flexibility and innovation which a NAS approach can offer, we think that shoppers will appreciate the transparency and ease of navigation of age statements.
Age statements are a very helpful signpost, particularly for consumers who are on a journey to understand more about whisky. Consumers in our channel don’t always spend a lot of time making their decision and navigating across ranges, brands and category, so age statement is an effective navigational tool which also gives comparability across brands.
Of course, there is a place for both aged and NAS releases in our portfolio and we will continue to offer a wide variety of each to ensure The Macallan whiskies remain exciting and relevant to our customers worldwide.
The Macallan once again teamed up with renowned graphic artist David Carson to create the vibrant campaign and packaging for this range – what was this creative collaboration like?
JS: David is a key figure in the art and design space, having revolutionised visual communication in the 1990s. His ongoing collaboration with The Macallan marries heritage with the cutting-edge post-modernist design movement to create a dynamic partnership which visually defines the Colour Collection.
David took inspiration from the stunning landscape of Jerez, celebrating the region’s natural beauty and architecture. Influences of the Andalucian pale terrain are punctuated with bold lashings of modern colour to create a unique set of designs which feature on the Colour Collection’s vibrant packaging and form the basis of an exciting and disruptive campaign.
Throughout our longstanding collaboration, we’ve discovered that there are many similarities between whisky making and graphic design. Whisky making and graphic design both involve exploring new ideas and taking inspiration from our surroundings. There is a process that whisky makers and artists follow which involves understanding the subject we are going to work on. The Macallan Whisky Mastery team and David are passionate about what they do, keen to experiment and always push themselves to do the best possible work.
Launching an entirely new exclusive range represents a significant investment for The Macallan in travel retail. How does this reinforce The Macallan’s commitment to the channel?
JS: It is a significant investment, indicative of the firm belief in this channel when it comes to recruitment and brand building. If you look historically at The Macallan’s journey globally, travel retail has played a significant role as a showcase and a crucial touchpoint with consumers – whether that is through dedicated ranges and travel exclusives, the halo effect of ultra-rare bottlings or investments in retail experiences such as shop-in-shops and The Macallan Boutiques. We are willing to invest because this channel gives us unrivalled access to global shoppers in an environment where we can engage with them in meaningful ways.
With the Colour Collection, we wanted to make sure that when a consumer sees The Macallan on the shelf – whether it is on trade, off trade, retail – it is very clearly signposted as The Macallan. After all, fundamentally the consumers that engage with The Macallan in travel retail will also do so domestically.
Part of this harmonisation includes the introduction of a refreshed visual identity for the brand. The Colour Collection is the first range to feature the reimagined visual identity that is inspired by the brand’s rich heritage and spiritual home, The Macallan Estate, highlighting its intrinsic connection to nature.
From a storytelling perspective, our true DNA is sherry-seasoned oak casks and the Colour Collection now plays much more into that rich territory. The Colour Collection is intended to showcase the impact of our extraordinary sherry oak casks and aligns to the storytelling in our domestic ranges.
Educating our consumers about the importance of our sherry-seasoned casks and natural colour credentials through this range helps us reinforce our messaging around premiumisation and what sets The Macallan apart from other whiskies.
Travel retail exclusives, particularly in spirits, is a key purchase driver in travel retail. How important is exclusivity to The Macallan and Edrington’s wider portfolio of brands?
JS: We know that shoppers in our channel seek out The Macallan so we have a strong focus on launches that meet this demand, engage shoppers and deliver memorable experiences.
The Colour Collection is part of our core collection, which is the backbone of our brand’s presence in travel retail. Having a consistently available range, which resonates with travellers wherever they are in the world, is hugely important. Limited editions and collectibles remain an important part of our approach but getting the core range right ensures we have a uniformly strong presence in the channel which shoppers can discover and explore.
Ranges such as the Colour Collection are important because they represent an opportunity to recruit new consumers as well as offering existing consumers of The Macallan something different – but with the same signature Macallan taste – to what is found in domestic channels. Additionally, the Colour Collection provides consumers with the opportunity to purchase exclusive age statements such as 21 Years Old for their collection.
We continue to challenge ourselves to build our retail presence and visibility to deliver stronger, better and more captivating activations and permanent visibility placement to ensure that our consumers can discover the brand in the right locations and within the right environment. Our continually evolving Boutique and shop-in-shop footprint demonstrates how important this is for our portfolio of brands.
Speaking of recovery – could you give us some insight into The Macallan’s recovery in travel retail? Where are the growth pockets in terms of region and channel?
JS: Edrington’s annual results statement, released in June, highlighted the strong performance of global travel retail as a key contributor to the business. In a year in which the company exceeded £1 billion in core revenue for the first time, the recovery of our travel retail business to above pre-pandemic levels is a sign that we are continuing to drive growth through premiumisation. It is really heartening to see how our commitment to retain and rebuild our travel retail team together with a clear vision and a strong pipeline of innovation and investment paying off.
We have seen extraordinary growth across the world since the borders have reopened, spreading West to East in terms of fastest recovery. The Americas, Europe and Middle East are all trending above pre-pandemic performance and even within Asia, which was last to open, we have seen strong recovery in Taiwan, Singapore and Thailand.
Of course, we cannot forget about Hainan, which has shone throughout the pandemic and continues to impress. The opening of our fifth boutique in Haikou bears testament to our long-term belief in this important region. Considering the growth in China’s appetite for domestic travel, we believe Hainan is here to stay and will play an important role in capturing the Chinese traveller share of mind.
How are you promoting The Macallan Colour Collection in global travel retail?
JS: Travel retail offers unparalleled opportunities for in-person engagement, so we’re ensuring that we deliver a major programme of promotional activations and pop-ups worldwide to support the launch of the Colour Collection. The launch activity includes six pop-ups at key airport and downtown locations, 54 high-profile promotions, an out-of-home (OOH) campaign at eight airports and a comprehensive retail visibility refurbishment programme. The six pop-ups aim to bring the collage art of David Carson to life via an immersive and sensorial experience.
To elevate the retail experience and provide an interactive in-store experience, we will use augmented reality to introduce customers to the collection. By scanning a QR code on the bottles available in-store, travellers will be able to learn the key messages of the collection and discover the different whisky notes for each age statement. Furthermore, a profiling tool called ‘Discover Your Expression’ – accessible via mobile devices or in-store – is available to help shoppers easily find their preferred expression.
We will also be entertaining trade, media, KOLs, customers and consumers at five carefully selected event locations to bring the story to life via an immersive art exhibition. Our key city locations of London, Dubai, Los Angeles, Shanghai and Singapore will provide exceptional backdrops for us to introduce our new range to the world through September and October.
Do you have a final message to offer to the industry about this new launch?
JS: The main objective of the launch is around harmonisation and the simplification of brand messaging, ensuring that we have a consistent look and feel to our brand. We want to drive home that we are one brand. When we consider retail channels, travel retail of course has different characteristics, but it is not distinct and completely independent from other channels. We want our shoppers to discover The Macallan with ease and enjoy the trademark Macallan DNA and flavour profile that comes from our focus on sherry-seasoned casks providing our wonderful naturally coloured whisky.
The launch is a major undertaking but it’s a statement of intent and a demonstration of our belief in this channel. The response from our retail partners has been extremely positive as they clearly appreciate this new range strengthens our premiumisation roadmap and will deliver growth and continued leadership in luxury spirits.
KC: We’re extremely proud of our new The Macallan Colour Collection, which introduces a slightly sweeter, more citrus flavour profile led by sherry-seasoned American oak casks. Collectively, the whiskies form an exceptional collection of single malts, which perfectly capture The Macallan’s ongoing pursuit of uncompromised excellence. ✈
