UK. Blackjack Promotions has hosted 18 spirits & wines brands for a training roadshow dedicated to the category.
The event gave 60 Blackjack delegates from across the UK the opportunity to move around the brand spaces and hear more about the 2020 travel retail plans for a variety of brands, including Bacardi, Moët Hennessy and Diageo.
Commenting on the event, Brown-Forman Travel Retail Area Sales Manager for the UK Claire Brockwitz said: “We have worked with Blackjack for many years now with ambassadors placed across Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted. We always look forward to the roadshow as it allows us to connect with these representatives, put names to faces and update them on new directives and products.”
Accolade Wines Global Travel Retail Commercial Director Rupert Firbank added: “With wine being a very fragmented category, Accolade Wines puts a lot of value on being able to inform passengers about what we have on offer and to make sure that we are recommending wines that will suit them. Being able to deliver training to our partner Blackjack is a key part of delivering that customer engagement. We know that the more people learn about wines the more engaged they become and consequently the more they buy. From the point of view of Blackjack brand ambassadors, the more they know, the more confident and convincing they can be when selling our wines.”
With the company’s product line currently undergoing a rebrand, which is set for completion in June, The Lakes Distillery UK Trade Marketing & Events Manager Millie Forster said the event was an important opportunity to communicate the brand story. “As a growing brand, we don’t always have the capacity to get around to all of the airports and retail sites where our products are stocked as often as we would like. This roadshow makes it much easier to get everyone together,” she added.
The roadshow was one of the first to take place in the Blackjack Centre of Excellence: a new facility featuring five rooms of flexible training space and a 1,400sq m distribution centre. Commenting on the new facility, Florencia Schuab, who is a Blackjack brand ambassador at Heathrow Airport, said: “In the Centre, you have the space to sit down with brands without interruption. As the customer-facing staff, it’s a great opportunity to feedback common questions we are asked on the shop floor so that we can offer even better service and product knowledge.”
Oli Pergl from Jose Cuervo, a part of the Proximo Spirits Group, added: “The new building offers us a dedicated training space where brand ambassadors can circulate in small groups and get quality time with the liquor brands.”
Halewood Wines & Spirits is using the centre for some of its travel retail logistics. The company’s Head of Global Travel Retail Europe Eamon Prunty said: “I have worked with Blackjack for nearly three years and we have integrated bespoke ambassador training during that time, so I am not a newcomer to this initiative. However, today I have been extremely encouraged by the enthusiasm of these people who on a day-to-day basis are out there representing my brand.”
