Mondelez World Travel Retail (WTR) has concluded the charity auction phase of its hugely ambitious global Toblerone ‘The Ultimate Gift’ campaign. The promotion raised a combined US$55,251 for local organisations across nine airport locations.
Throughout July, travellers were invited to bid on nine rare Toblerone Crystal Bars crafted by Swarovski. Proceeds from each winning bid were donated to a charity selected by the respective host airport.
The Crystal Bars were showcased at airports in Athens, Delhi, Doha, Dubai, Frankfurt, Madrid, New York, Singapore and Zurich. The nine beneficiary organisations support causes spanning education, healthcare and services for children and families.
More information on each of the participating charities can be found here.
The charity initiative was central to The Ultimate Gift campaign, which Mondelez WTR describes as one of its most ambitious global travel retail campaigns to date.
Extime Paris Duty Free (the joint venture between Lagardère Travel Retail and Groupe ADP) also brought The Ultimate Gift project to Paris, where a tenth and final Toblerone Crystal Bar crafted by Swarovski is displayed.
The programme is running across 170 activation spaces globally. It combines physical retail, digital media, creator content and a travel retail-exclusive (TREX) limited-edition gifting offer.
This hugely ambitious undertaking is made possible in partnership with Avolta, Dubai Duty Free, FNA Group International, Frankfurt Airport Retail (the Fraport-Gebr. Heinemann joint venture), GMR Delhi Duty Free and Qatar Duty Free.
Mondelez WTR said the simultaneous activations and charity auctions extend the campaign’s reach beyond individual airport locations.
Although the charity auctions have concluded, The Ultimate Gift campaign will continue through the peak travel season.
A connected experience
The Ultimate Gift campaign engages consumers at multiple stages of their journeys.
Regional content creators documented the journeys of the Toblerone Crystal Bars from the Crystal Dome at Swarovski Kristallwelten (Swarovski Crystal Worlds) in Wattens, Austria, to their respective airport destinations.
The experience continues in-store at dedicated Crystal Bar displays, complemented by the limited-edition Toblerone Ultimate Gift Box.
According to the company, the campaign builds awareness pre-trip and converts that engagement into in-store engagement and conversion.
The campaign is being amplified through paid media, social content and creator activity. It generated more than 1,000 media clippings worldwide and has delivered consistent sales growth across participating activations, the brand owner said.
Mondelez WTR said the results underline its Destination: Value strategy, which focuses on increasing category penetration while delivering volume and value growth for travel retail partners.
The limited-edition Toblerone Ultimate Gift Box, remains available exclusively in global travel retail at airports worldwide.
This is accompanied by a Toblerone crystal luggage tag, enhancing its gifting appeal and drive transaction value.
Mondelez WTR Vice President and Managing Director Joost Rosmuller said: “The Ultimate Gift proved something we’ve long believed: when you turn airports into stages for experiences that exist nowhere else, everyone wins — brands, retailers, travellers, and communities.
“Across nine of the world’s most iconic airports, our partners did more than host a campaign, they embraced a shared ambition to make travel retail a destination in its own right. The result was meaningful charitable impact, category growth and over a thousand stories told around the world.
“Destination: Value is no longer a theory, it is a proven model, and we are just getting started.” ✈
