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HONG KONG. Heinemann Asia Pacific yesterday celebrated the Grand Opening of its Sweet Dreams by Heinemann stores at Hong Kong International Airport.
The Moodie Davitt Report Chairman Martin Moodie and Regional Correspondent Melody Ng were on location to record the celebrations, which started with a ribbon-cutting in the morning and culminated in a tour of the eight-store network in the afternoon.
Each store has a distinct theme: Carnival Dreamland; Waterpark Dreamland; Galaxy Dreamland; Space Station Dreamland; House of Candy Dreamland; Candy Cave Dreamland; Upside Down Dreamland; and Hot Air Balloon Dreamland.
In between, the retailer hosted a fascinating chocolate (French premium brand Valrhona) and wine pairing session for key opinion leaders (KOLs), Airport Authority Hong Kong executives and The Moodie Davitt Report – the exclusive travel retail media present for the grand occasion.
[Look out for a full report on the day, complete with extensive pictorial and video footage, plus brand, retailer consumer and airport reaction in a forthcoming edition of The Moodie Davitt e-Zine].
[“Excitement, playfulness and colourfulness to attract young and old”: Click on the icon above to hear Heinemann Asia Pacific CEO Marvin von Plato sum up the importance to the company of its newest Asian operation.]
Throughout the day The Moodie Davitt Report brought real-time coverage of proceedings, supported by intensive social media activity by Melody Ng on Instagram Stories and other platforms to generate both B2B and consumer readership.
As revealed exclusively by The Moodie Davitt Report, Heinemann was awarded the concession last September – the first time the airport authority has offered confectionery as a stand-alone contract. The three-year contract covers eight airside units in Terminal 1, ranging in size from 57sq m to 186sq m.
The ribbon-cutting and opening speeches were held in the 180sq m Water Park Dreamland (East Hall South) store.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Heinemann Asia Pacific Chief Executive Officer Marvin von Plato said: “This is a very exciting project for us and after six months of opening shops step by step we are very proud of this Grand Opening today.”
He described the opening as an exciting step in the Asia Pacific region for Heinemann since its initial set-up in Singapore and subsequent openings in Malaysia, Indonesia and Australia.
[“A multi-sensory and multi-dimensional experience”: Click on the icon to hear Heinemann Hong Kong General Manager Victor Chan talk about excitement and discovery in-store.]
Airport Authority Hong Kong Executive Director, Commercial Cissy Chan said, “I have to thank you [Heinemann] for these eight very pretty stores. In fact they are even prettier than the very impressive renderings we saw in the tender submission. We see our retail objective as being to delight our customers and here at Sweet Dreams we think the concept is really good… and packed with fun.”
Q&A with Heinemann Asia Pacific CEO Marvin von Plato and COO Johannes Sammann
The Moodie Davitt Report: Tell us about the significance of this opening from a Heinemann corporate perspective. What kind of showcase does HKIA represent for Heinemann and what does this concession say about the company’s reach and ambitions in Asia Pacific? Marvin von Plato: HKIA is one of the key airports in the Asian region and after the retail presence in Sydney and KLIA2, Hong Kong was the natural next step for Heinemann. HKIA gives Heinemann the opportunity to tap into close to 72 million passengers every year, and these numbers are only growing continuously. Heinemann’s presence via eight distinct concepts under the Sweet Dreams by Heinemann banner further strengthens the confectionery category presence for the company in the APAC region What are Heinemann’s aspirations for the new stores and indeed the wider confectionery category? Marvin von Plato: At Heinemann, our aspirations have always been about delivering the best shopping experience for our customers, while at the same time creating value for our partners. This remains the same for the new HKIA stores. What were the key principles behind the development of the Sweet Dreams concept? Johannes Sammann: Considering the nature of the category, we were clear from the beginning that our concepts had to be fun and unique. Just as an airport represents a gateway to a new destination, we wanted our eye-catching dreamlands to stand ready to welcome travellers into new whimsical worlds, making the Hong Kong International Airport confectionery experience one to be savoured. How do in-store digitalisation and engagement feature in Sweet Dreams’ approach to the consumer? Johannes Sammann: We have been able to integrate an exciting array of consumer engagement initiatives into each of the thematic store designs. Featuring virtual reality zones, selfie booths, personalised packaging stations, Nintendo switch, Mr. Hammer and Candy crush – there is never a dull moment at Sweet Dreams. Through social media and digital geo fencing & targeting, we have been able to bring our campaigns and offers into the mobile devices of people, thereby helping us reach a much wider audience and helping drive penetration |
WATERPARK DREAMLAND
HOUSE OF CANDY DREAMLAND
GALAXY DREAMLAND
CANDY CAVE DREAMLAND
MEET THE MASCOTS
Sweet Dreams by Heinemann has introduced a quartet of mascots who represent four key target consumer profiles. They are Candis (Modern Mummy); Leland (Business Daddy); Tu (a playful 5 year-old child); and Etta (a Millennial). All were on hand to greet consumers during the Grand Opening.
CARNIVAL DREAMLAND
THE CHOCOLATE AND WINE CHALLENGE
Does fine chocolate go with fine wine? That was the question posed during a fascinating tasting hosted by French premium chocolate house Valrhona and Heinemann Asia Pacific, led by Valrhona Travel Retail Manager Faozia Math-Ly-Roun and Hong Kong wine expert Elliot Faber.
Five Valrhona expressions, from the accessible milk-chocolate (40% cacao) Jivara to the blockbuster bitter darkness of the sensational 85% cacao Abinao. Five excellent wines to match. Does life get any better?
INSTAGRAM STORIES BRING SWEET DREAMS TO LIFE
The Moodie Davitt Report’s Melody Ng brought the Grand Opening to life via captioned photos and videos on social media platform Instagram Stories (used by over 200 million people daily, now more popular than SnapChat).
Some of the highlights follow below. We’ll bring you more in our e-Zine report in coming weeks.
Heinemann also invited several KOLs (Key Opinion Leaders) to the opening. We’ll also examine the impact of their social media coverage in our special report.
THE MOODIE VERDICT
Yesterday’s Grand Opening represents a vindication of Airport Authority Hong Kong’s decision to break out confectionery as a stand-alone concession from the former all-embracing airside general merchandise contract.
I have said many times that confectionery is often sold short in airport stores. It’s frequently boring, template-driven, the result of sound disciplines of category management being taken too far at the expense of retailer flair, gut-feel, risk and vision. Confectionery should be about fun. Colour. Vibrancy. Variety. And in the age of the Millennial shopper (or non-shopper) it needs also to be about differentiation, engagement, interaction, personalisation, provenance and localisation. There’s lots of that with Sweet Dreams by Heinemann, including some lovely digital projections in the high-profile promotion zones, virtual reality, 3d-printing, selfie booths, retailer exclusives, Hong Kong products and packaging, and much more.
Heinemann has recognised the universality of confectionery’s appeal across demographic profiles and served up a tasty fusion of 21st century interactivity with the traditional sense of wonder that a sweet shop filled with goodies evokes in all of us.
Heinemann doesn’t make its HKIA debut as a generalist retailer. Here it is an out-and-out specialist. It simply has to make the category come alive. It has to lure travellers into the store as curious browsers and send them away as satisfied shoppers. By backing its hunch that a dedicated retailer, undistracted by other businesses, could make confectionery take off, Airport Authority Hong Kong potentially transformed the category landscape here. It just needed a retailer to take up the challenge.
In its tender, the authority demanded fun, flair and consumer engagement. Despite the constraints posed by sometimes less than optimum retail spaces, featuring low ceilings and shallow confines, Heinemann has responded with imagination and no little daring. It has recognised the universality of confectionery’s appeal across demographic profiles and served up a tasty fusion of 21st century interactivity with the traditional sense of wonder that a sweet shop filled with goodies evokes in all of us.
FROM OUR INSTAGRAM STORIES PLATFORM
