Introduction: In this Q&A, William Grant & Sons Managing Director Global Travel Retail Rufus Parkinson discusses the spirits company’s standout initiatives, including the multi-brand shop-in-shop concept at Incheon International Airport, dynamic activations such as Hendrick’s Amazonia at Heathrow, and how it is elevating to meet the growing demand for prestige and prestige+ whisky expressions.
He also talks about striking a balance between profitability and experience-driven consumer-centric retail. Finally he discusses how delivering ‘wow moments’ can help William Grant & Sons stay front of mind for travellers seeking something extraordinary from trusted brands.
How is William Grant & Sons embracing experiential retail across its network?
The spirits category in travel retail is changing with customers increasingly on the lookout for something different, something outstanding from their trusted brands.
For example, our multi-brand shop-in-shop in Incheon International Airport with Shinsegae Duty Free addresses the need for memorable experiences in the channel. It features sense of place elements, lift and learn technology and multi-sensory innovations where travellers can discover key flavours in the whiskies. There is also a gifting station where we provide added interactivity and personalisation.
At the store, travellers enjoy engraving services in under 30 seconds. This speed and ease of use means that there is no time barrier to enjoying that service. Because sometimes if the service is too long or complicated, customers may skip it as they need to get their flight. We are now opening these up in Hong Kong and Hainan, and soon in the Western world too.
How is William Grant & Sons balancing profitability per square metre with offering memorable experiences to travellers?
Finding that balance is all about execution, because the execution has to fit the location.
For some of our key hubs in Asia Pacific – where we have quite high-spending consumers – they are more interested in our higher-age-range products and very premium experiences. Meanwhile, we have a shop-in-shop in Mumbai which is quite different. It’s equally stunning but showcases a lot more colour and is centred around consumers entering the category rather than highlighting our higher-price-point products.
William Grant & Sons recently made the announcement that it is acquiring Famous Grouse and The Naked Malt from Edrington. Tell us about that decision and how it is going to play out in travel retail?
The acquisition is a very exciting opportunity for William Grant & Sons. These are brands with strong heritages and are strong in certain markets. I think there is an opportunity there for further innovation and development.
We’re still in the process of waiting for approval from the market authorities, so we can’t really say very much. However, obviously from a business perspective, both brands are a great fit for our portfolio and are complementary to our distribution.
We have many brands in the super-premium category, such as The Balvenie and Glenfiddich, but we have many brands at other price tiers as well. Tullamore Dew, Grant’s and Monkey Shoulder, for instance, enable us to cater to diverse consumer needs across the portfolio and I think the acquisition will help us reach new consumers too.
While traffic is increasing, conversion and dwell time are slowing down in the channel. How is William Grant & Sons navigating this challenging environment?
Our key focus is to ensure that we’ve got clear hero SKUs and clear hero products that appeal to our target audience.
Our strategy, whether that be with Glenfiddich, The Balvenie, Hendrick’s or Monkey Shoulder, is to build an entertaining experience around those products. The question is, how do you make the hero SKUs more entertaining for people when they are shopping?
Travellers expect a different experience to domestic customers and the entire travel retail ecosystem is trying to deliver against that, whether it’s in this category or in different ones. Because going through an airport is different from going to the supermarket or the mall.
So, how do you do it? You can do this through the education and engagement offered by Brand Ambassadors, tastings that offer some of the most amazing liquids around the world, or through the experiences and activations that disrupt and provide travellers with surprises.
Recently, we did a Hendrick’s Amazonia activation in Heathrow Terminal 2 which is a great example of this. We had phone boxes, canoes and all kinds of fun things. You have to surprise people to get that ‘wow’ factor. You have to stand out.
In terms of providing that ‘wow factor’ to travellers, what can we expect from William Grant & Sons in the future?
Next year, our activation launch plan around Hendrick’s Sunspell will be quite exciting. It will be a different scale of activation than what you would’ve seen before from Hendrick’s.
In India, we’ve done DJ decks in Mumbai, disco balls in Delhi and other fun experiences for Monkey Shoulder geared towards younger consumers who are just entering the category in these new and exciting markets. We have more activations planned for Monkey Shoulder next year so watch this space.
In terms of prestige, we are starting to do things in a slightly different way. Looking beyond shop-in-shop, we’re offering more VIP experiences in partnership with retailers. For example, in South Korea we partnered with The Shilla Duty free to offer a ‘Distillers’ Library’ in the domestic market. It is a very exclusive space, based within Hotel Shilla in Seoul, which showcases our rarest products. We’re taking our VIP customers from the airport into the Distiller’s Library, creating a crossover with the travel retail and domestic markets.
We also have a Balvenie Bar in Seoul. These crossover opportunities extend the VIP experience beyond the airport; this is a new space for us and it’s very exciting.
The continued acceleration of prestige and prestige+ is one of the key topics in the spirits category, particularly in whisky. Can you tell us how William Grant & Sons is adapting to meet this demand?
Elevation remains key for The Balvenie because now our offer goes through all the ages from a 12 Year Old all the way to a 50 Year Old. The 12 Year Old Golden Cask is the latest addition to The Balvenie’s global travel retail-exclusive collection, alongside the 15 Year Old Madeira Cask, 18 Year Old PX Sherry Cask and 21 Year Old Portwood Cask.
Our Balvenie customers can experience very different whiskies and cask finishes across all those key ages. So, from the Balvenie perspective, that puts us in a very strong and complete position in prestige.
For Glenfiddich, we’re focused on enhancing the portfolio to appeal to that higher end of the market. Our 22 Year Old sherry finish is very appealing to an Asian consumer. We also have the Glenfiddich Grand Château, a 31 Year Old single malt Scotch whisky and the first release to use red wine casks from Bordeaux.
What are your biggest priorities for the year ahead?
We’re quite clear in our vision for the channel. We have a huge amount of innovation coming through in the next six months. Our main priority is getting that out to the right places and bringing those innovations to life in a memorable way for our consumers.
Our portfolio includes channel-exclusive, limited-edition and brand-new expressions that will appeal to a wide range of customers looking for new tastes and exclusive propositions.
Our brands ensure that we remain at the forefront of the spirits category, offering not only the right products but also the complete support of our retailing partners. ✈
