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“The timing is just right for us to have a significant presence in travel retail“ |
Jim Perry Vice President and Managing Director Global Travel Retail Brown-Forman |
Brown-Forman has celebrated several years of strong growth in travel retail sales – and it’s all down to a number of key factors, the company has revealed to The Moodie Report.
It’s a well-known fact that the Americans’ sense of the significance – and sometimes even the existence – of duty free is not as developed as it is across Europe and Asia. But this is not the case at Brown-Forman, where the top brass has fully embraced the concept of travel retail. And travel retail is becoming a real driver of growth at the US drinks giant.
So what is the recipe for success? Brown-Forman Vice President and Managing Director, Global Travel Retail Jim Perry believes the dedicated team he has built over his four-year tenure has been crucial. And that team happens to have an almost 50:50 mix of men and women, as about 40% of the company’s recently increased travel retail team are female – including eight in management positions. Today, a total of 32 members make up the travel retail unit – up from 19 when the highly respected drinks executive Patrick Moran handed over to Perry.
Speaking about the team’s recent expansion, Perry noted: “The timing is just right for us to have a significant presence in travel retail. The company has embraced what travel retail offers to brands, and it’s ready to make the leap into travel retail and give it focus. Our senior leaders recognise travel retail and are supportive of us, both in terms of our activities and people.”
Indeed, travel retail has contributed significantly to Brown-Forman’s overseas sales. Some 58% of the company’s total turnover is now generated outside the US – and travel retail is one of the major contributors.
Super-premium brands such as Jack Daniel’s, Chambord and Woodford Reserve dominate the firm’s line-up in travel retail and are the most successful.
Interestingly, Brown-Forman’s research has shown that some 40% of purchasers in travel retail are female, and an upcoming project centred on shopper insights seeks to explore this further.
“A larger percentage of women are travelling now compared to the past,” said Perry. “Brown-Forman recognises their buying power and we want to develop this often neglected consumer segment.”
Some six months ago, the company launched Little Black Dress vodka, which Perry described as an “innovative” brand that is targeted at women and designed by women. It is not sold in travel retail. In addition, Jack Daniel’s Honey brand is successful with female consumers, he added.
Good talent
As he cast around for new hires, Perry sought “good talent” from inside the Brown-Forman stable as well as outside. “Brown-Forman has a policy of open positions being made available to internal candidates. I saw that there was good talent inside the company – people who said to me: ‘I really want to work in travel retail’.
“I’m hiring the best people I can find in supervisory positions,” he added. “It’s sheer coincidence that many happen to be women. The whole team gets on well and they work together as a group. We have really raised the profile of travel retail in Brown-Forman.”
The female hires include the Finance Director Suanna Leslie, who is a direct report to Perry, in addition to others across the marketing and commercial functions. They are: Nadia Bolzon, Travel Retail Manager Australia & New Zealand, Barbara Burdina, Area Manager Travel Retail, Central and Eastern Europe; Sandrine Herisson, Key Account Manager, Birte Syska, Area Manager Nordic Travel Retail, Hannah Lyons, Trade Marketing Manager, Western Europe, Jeannine Wise, Portfolio Marketing Manager, Felicity Sparrow, Regional Coordinator Middle East, North Africa, Ana Coca, Area Manager Travel Retail, Middle East and North Africa, Sylvia Murray, Territory Manager US and Canada Duty Free, Toma Sedziute, Sales and Marketing Manager, Greater Europe and Africa, Terri Cloud, Administrative Assistant, and Susana Flores, Key Account Manager, Mexico.
The Moodie Report spoke to two of Perry’s dynamic female team members to find out what makes them tick.
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Brown-Forman Global Travel Retail Trade Marketing Manager Western Europe Hannah Lyons |
HANNAH LYONS
“Retail is detail”, so the saying goes. And no-one knows that better than Trade Marketing Manager Western Europe Hannah Lyons, based in the UK, who is instrumental in “details and display” and executing promotions. After one year spent at Brown-Forman, and before that five years for the Bacardi/Brown-Forman UK collaboration, Lyons transferred to the travel retail team.
“I’ve always had an interest in travel retail,” she said. “It’s such a dynamic channel, fast-paced and fast-moving. We try new things and platforms; it’s non-stop and it’s exciting!
She added: “We want to create dynamic platforms and displays and promotions. Our aim is to grow our brands and grow our customer base and get repeat purchases.”
One example of new platforms was the June 2012 launch of The Essential Collection at London Heathrow Airport Terminal 5, targeting budding home mixologists.
The Essential Collection is an inventory of Brown-Forman’s premium and super-premium brands, including Jack Daniel’s Gentleman Jack and Silver Select Single Barrel, Woodford Reserve, Southern Comfort Special Reserve, Chambord, el Jimador Tequila, and the new Finlandia Platinum Vodka.
The Essential Collection was the company’s first marketing foray that groups together its entire premium spirits portfolio as well as Brown-Forman Travel Retail’s first use of an “˜umbrella’ approach to in-store marketing.
The brands were laid out across two stand-alone displays, a large wall display and a full-service bar. During June, visitors to the collection’s promotional area in World Duty Free were given instructions in cocktail-making basics and as well as a complimentary cocktail guide.
Lyons, aged 34, said: “The Essential Collection can be rolled out globally. The company was very excited about it and we pushed the boundaries. It was a testbed and very exciting to work on.”
Other recent projects Lyons has worked on include an American whiskeys promotion in London Heathrow. In April, the company set up a bar with World Duty Free in Terminal 5 to convey the message that American whiskeys are well made and crafted spirits.
“Our aim was to convert Scotch whisky drinkers to American whiskeys, which is a more relaxed category than Scotch.”
Brown-Forman called on Lyons’ ingenuity for a recent Harley-Davidson promotion at London Gatwick Airport in which a motorbike was placed in the South Terminal. “We all thought there was no way we could get the bike in there,” said Lyons with a smile. “It was blood, sweat and tears but we embraced the challenge. World Duty Free loved it and we enjoyed a new way of working.”
Lyons is also responsible for Brown-Forman’s stand at the TFWA World Exhibition in Cannes, where the company stages events each day of the show. “This year’s stand will be bigger and better,” she promised.
Lyons and her team are seeking to attract more women into the travel retail liquor category. To that end, the company is launching Chambord in the UK, which is designed to be both a self-purchase gift for women and a gift for a man to buy a woman.
“I want to open up the category and bring women into it more,” said Lyons.
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The Essential Collection promotional exhibit at World Duty Free’s Heathrow Terminal 5 store ran in June 2012 |
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The Essential Collection is Brown-Forman’s first marketing foray that groups together its entire premium spirits portfolio, which includes Jack Daniel’s Gentleman Jack and Silver Select Single Barrel, Woodford Reserve, Southern Comfort Special Reserve, Chambord, el Jimador Tequila, and the new Finlandia Platinum Vodka |
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Brown-Forman’s Chief Entertaining Officer Tim Laird (left) discussing cocktails with Heathrow traveller Stewart Buchanan |
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Territory Manager US and Canada Duty Free Sylvia Murray |
SYLVIA MURRAY
Based in Atlanta, Territory Manager US and Canada Duty Free Sylvia Murray has worked at Brown-Forman for seven years, entirely in the duty free department.
“I grew up with duty free,” said Murray, who was born in Colombia. “I knew about duty free exclusives and value” – unlike many Americans, who have no idea about the travel retail proposition.
She added: “This lack of exposure to duty free was reflected in our first approach to travel retail. When I first started, it was just my boss and me running big areas. Now our team has evolved and grown. I have a commitment to grow this channel and it’s exciting.
“I’m relishing working on travel retail projects for the customers,” she enthused. “We start with a great idea and we activate engaging programmes at the airport. We touch the customer and plant these seeds in people. I travel a lot and I love airports.”
One of Murray’s biggest and best challenges was working on the Jack Daniel’s shop-in-shop in Las Vegas McCarran Airport (see pictures below), which is located inside The Nuance Group’s main duty free store at the new Terminal 3. She helped the design team on the floorplan and the products carried there. Murray already had experience of the first Jack store at Houston Airport, which began trading a few years ago.
“The new shop in Las Vegas is gorgeous; it showcases our lovely portfolio and it’s a wonderful opportunity for us,” she said. “We find that lots of people want to bring Jack Daniel’s back as a gift – it’s an honour to give Jack as gift.”
Murray’s favourite saying – which has been adopted company-wide – is: “Each bottle is like an acorn. We plant the acorns that travel and grow in new countries.”
We couldn’t agree more.
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A Harley-Davidson motorbike on display at the Jack Daniel’s shop-in-shop in Las Vegas McCarran Terminal 3 |
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The new Las Vegas shop-in-shop is the second Jack Daniel’s store to begin trading at an airport |
