Accolade Wines said it recorded a “significant” sales uplift at Sydney Airport during the period when its HardysHero omni-channel digital campaign was deployed.
The campaign, which launched in February this year, was geo-targeted at people who planned to travel through Sydney Airport and who lived or were staying within 100km of Sydney.
Alix Hardy, sixth generation of the Hardys wine family, hosted a tasting event with key digital media influencers and stakeholders to launch the interactive digital initiative.
The HardysHero Sweepstakes, created exclusively for travel retail, aimed to complement a category stage in Heinemann Tax & Duty Free. Deployed in English and Mandarin, the campaign celebrated the narrative of the Hardys brand story.
According to Accolade Wines, the campaign’s goal was to drive recognition of Hardys’ premium wines, educate connected consumers about The Journey – Hardys’ travel retail exclusive Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon wines – and to increase online engagement with the brand through travel-related prizes and in-store offers.
Accolade Wines Commercial Director Rupert Firbank commented: “When Heinemann first opened its Sydney store last year, it listed some of Hardys’ rarer and more premium wines, and we wanted to bring these to a wider audience. Recognising the ever-increasing use of digital media, we felt a digital campaign that would complement in-store features and have a wider reach than just the airport was clearly the best way. Working with both Heinemann and Sydney Airport allowed us to bring a truly integrated campaign to life that benefited all three stakeholders.”
The cross-channel campaign, which was advertised online, encouraged people to engage in a quiz microsite prior to travelling to determine which Hardys wine best suited their personality, life stage and wine preference. Customers were asked to choose five images that best defined their personality before an algorithm based on data points rendered a recommendation and encouraged players to trade up and try something new.
Travellers were then prompted to accept an invitation to taste Hardys wines at Sydney Airport through the mobile wallet on both IOS and Android devices. Leveraging IoT (Internet of Things) physical web technology deployed by Mighty Media Group, the web visitor received a notification to their device as they came in range of the category stage delivered through Ibeacons placed throughout the Heinemann Tax & Duty Free store.
Once consumers had purchased a Hardys product, they then had the chance to be entered into the HardysHero Sweepstakes for the opportunity to win one of 730 prizes. Prizes included: a luxury weekend for two to McLaren Vale with domestic flights; wine-tasting at Tintara Winery; a helicopter ride; an app-controlled Bluesmart cabin size suitcase and limited edition Hardys/SYD luggage tags from BagTag Design.
Other online activities included an Instagram photo competition, which invited travellers to take a “selfie” of their raised glass with the #HardysHero salute. The most ‘liked’ images each week won a limited edition Hardys SYD luggage tag or a Bluesmart suitcase. Digital adverts, in both English and Mandarin, were published on WeChat, Weibo, Baidu, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
“This was our first-ever digital campaign aimed solely at travellers, so it was a very important time for the company,” added Firbank. “We would like to thank both Heinemann Tax & Duty Free and Sydney Airport for getting behind the campaign and for contributing to the feature, advertising and execution in-store. We saw a significant sales uplift, so we are thrilled with the campaign.”
