The Moodie Davitt ‘Roarport’ Day 3: High times in Hyderabad

The Moodie Davitt Roarport

The Moodie Davitt Report is providing exclusive daily coverage of Wild Tiger’s Roar Trip, one of travel retail’s boldest CSR initiatives.

Via phone and social media, we’ll be with Gautom Menon and Paul George V on every stretch of their epic 65-day road trip from Kerala to Cannes and be there to greet them on the French Riviera when they arrive on the eve of the TFWA World Exhibition. We are unlikely to be alone.

Duty free retailers: If you’d like to meet Gautom and Paul along the way (see their destination course below) let us know at Martin@MoodieDavittReport.com

DAY 3 – 31 JULY

HYDERABAD, INDIA. The intrepid Wild Tiger Rum duo are now well into their epic Kerala to Cannes ‘Roartrip’. Already the occasional perils of life on the road have become apparent as co-driver Paul George V was laid low most of the day with a mild case of food poisoning from the day before.

But it takes more than a dodgy tummy to dull the fire in the bellies of our ebullient entrepreneurs and Day 3 duly saw Paul and Wild Tiger Founder Gautom Menon arrive in Hyderabad, capital of the southern Indian state of Telangana, whose old city is described by Lonely Planet as “a teeming urban masala of colour and commerce”.

First ‘pitstop’ was a meeting with the local brand of  YI (Young Indians, a highly progressive organisation of young Indian entrepreneurs wishing to converge, lead, co-create and influence India’s future). Young Indians is the Roartrip’s official Support Partner and its members are meeting Gautom and Paul in every Indian city that they pass through.

Post-lunch, the Wild Tiger-mobile (a Tata Hexa) roared into Amaron, the Roartrip’s Battery Partner (and India’s largest-selling automotive batteries company) to ensure that the car was as super-charged as Gautom and Paul.

“They also treated us to ‘Irani Tea’ the most delicious tea we have ever had. It’s a staple Hyderabad thing to try for any visitor,” Gautom told The Moodie Davitt Roarport [Irani ‘chai’ long defined Hyderabad’s café culture, especially the old city. It was introduced in the 20th century by Zoroastrian settlers from the former Persia, now Iran, who were fleeing persecution].

The Wild Tiger-mobile gets as supercharged as its drivers

A key part of the Wild Tiger team’s Kerala to Cannes mission is to publicise the duty free industry along the way. So it was no surprise to see the Wild Tiger-mobile arrive at the acclaimed Hyderabad Duty Free operation, where Chief Executive Officer Manish Narisetti was on hand to flag Gautom and Paul off on the next stage of their journey. Mr Narisetti was accompanied by Chief Financial Officer Venu Madhav Tenjarla; General Manager & Head Category Krishnan Unny; Head – Operations Mithun Chitgop; and many staff members.

Then it was onwards to Hyderabad’s iconic landmark, the Charminar in the old city – a magnificent 16th-century mosque built to commemorate the end of the plague and featuring four giant arches that support towering 56m minarets.

“The landmark is strictly for pedestrians only but with a little persuasion and a talk to the local police chief we were granted special parking rights next to the monument to capture some shots,” said Gautom. “The rains played havoc and the Roar Crew were drenched but nothing can dampen our spirits.”

You don’t mess with these boys: Gautom and Paul stay on the right side of the law

A busy day in this throbbing 24-hour city ended with, of course, a dish of Biryani for which Hyderabad is world famous. A welcome opportunity to catch up with Wild Tiger’s Indian duty free distributor Rajesh Panda from SAIRP, someone who, like the Roartrip, is putting this fast-growing rum brand on the map.

The Roartrip’s central mission is to promote tiger conservation and Day 4 will bring the Wild Tiger combo in touch with some real tigers. A 5a.m. start and then 12 hours of driving to the famous Pench Tiger Reserve in Seoni, Madhya Pradesh, one of the world’s most important tiger habitats. Time for Gautom and Paul to truly earn their stripes.

*Footnote: Paul George V is recovered and roaring again. In fact he is feeling rum-tastic. Amazing what a shot of Wild Tiger will do.

#RoarTrip, #Roarforourtigers, #KeralatoCannes, #WildTigerFoundation #TigerConservation

HOW TO DONATE

Via the official website  www.roartrip.in

The donation page link is on the website, but anyone can donate directly at www.roartrip.in/donation or https://letzchange.org/projects/roar-trip-2019-an-awareness-drive-for-tiger-conservation

Please encourage your colleagues, friends and family to consider doing so.

En route to Cannes, the daring duo will be meeting up with other travel retailers. Those wishing to ‘meet and greet’ them are encouraged to make contact. Yes, Gautom will be checking his email: gautom@wildtiger.in

EARLIER ON THE WILD TIGER ROARTRIP…

DAY 2 – 30 JULY

BENGALURU, INDIA. Indian rum brand Wild Tiger’s Founder and Chief Brand Officer Gautom Menon and Brand Creative Head Paul George V have made the first duty free pitstop on their epic 65-day ‘Roar Trip’ from Kerala to Cannes.

They roared into the Dufry-operated Bengaluru Duty Free shop today. And Gautom was quick to point out that the Bangalore store was the first to list his Wild Tiger Rum when it made its debut in travel retail in 2016.

At that time, Srinivasan Devaraju was Head Buyer and, as good luck would have it, Gautom bumped into Srinivasan (below), who now works with AirAsia, during his Bangalore visit today.

The intrepid Wild Tiger co-pilots then did a circuit at Kempegowda International Airport, flagged off by Dufry India Country Commercial Manager Neeraj Sharma.

They also managed to find an all-seasons ‘free air’ stopping place.

En route to Cannes, the daring duo will be meeting up with other travel retailers. Those wishing to ‘meet and greet’ them are encouraged to make contact. Yes, Gautom will be checking his email: gautom@wildtiger.in

DAY 1 – 29 JULY

COIMBATORE, INDIA. A brand odyssey is well and truly roaring after one of the most daring, ambitious and brilliant CSR initiatives in travel retail industry history got underway from CMS College in Coimbatore today.

Indian rum brand Wild Tiger’s Founder and Chief Brand Officer Gautom Menon and Brand Creative Head Paul George V have set off on their epic 65-day ‘Roar Trip’ from Kerala to Cannes, which began today (World Tiger Day) and finishes on 29 September.

Intrepid duo: Wild Tiger’s Brand Creative Head Paul George V (left) and Founder and Chief Brand Officer Gautom Menon pose at the start of their marathon trip

The Roar Trip is an awareness campaign for tiger conservation while promoting the duty free industry and Wild Tiger along the way.

Over 1,200 students marked the start of the Roar Trip with a human formation of the number 4,000 in tiger masks.

And they’re off: Environmentalist Meenakshi Arvind gets the 65-day journey underway

Dynamic duo Gautom and Paul were flagged off, naturally via a flag emblazoned with tiger stripes, by Meenakshi Arvind, an environmentalist and veteran roadie. She completed an all-women 70-day drive from Coimbatore to London two years ago and in a few days’ time is setting off on a new awareness-raising expedition across a Trans-Siberian trail.

During their Roar Trip, the Wild Tiger twosome will drive across 25 countries on a monster 25,000 kilometre journey. It will culminate in the most innovative arrival at TFWA World Exhibition in Cannes that you ever saw. We and many others will be there to greet these intrepid explorers in style.

Sole media sponsor The Moodie Davitt Report will be bringing you this ‘Roarport’ highlighting the adventures of our heroes on each day of their marathon trip.

#RoarTrip, #Roarforourtigers, #KeralatoCannes, #WildTigerFoundation #TigerConservation

The itinerary of Wild Tiger’s 65-day road trip which will finish in Cannes on 29 September (click to enlarge)

Words of encouragement from well-known travel retail personalities…

[Dubai Duty Free Executive Vice Chairman and CEO Colm McLoughlin]

[Harding Retail Managing Director James Prescott]

[The team from Concourse Display Management]

https://youtu.be/MLU5z8NEibY

[Skross Corporate Communications Manager Pia Kautz]

[Click on the icon to listen to Gautom Menon and Brand Creative Head Paul George talk about their Cannes-do, rum-tastic attitude and how The Moodie Davitt Report plans to catch a tiger by the (journalistic) tale.]

HOW TO DONATE

Via the official website  www.roartrip.in

The donation page link is on the website, but anyone can donate directly at www.roartrip.in/donation or https://letzchange.org/projects/roar-trip-2019-an-awareness-drive-for-tiger-conservation

Please encourage your colleagues, friends and family to consider doing so.

ABOUT WILD TIGER RUM: Kerala-based Wild Tiger is India’s first rum to be produced from a blend of molasses and cane spirit. The rum’s velvet tiger print stripe packaging reflects the fact that no two tigers share the same stripe pattern – so the stripe design of the sleeve has been designed and cut to ensure that no two bottles are alike.Wild Tiger made its Indian travel retail debut in February 2016 and is now available in 53 countries.

ABOUT WILD TIGER FOUNDATION (WTF): Wild Tiger Foundation is a CSR initiative by Wild Tiger Rum, which contributes 10% of its profits to the cause. It is a registered non-profit organisation headquartered in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India that focuses on the conservation of the tiger and its habitat by raising funds and creating awareness. It was founded in 2015 by drinks entrepreneur Gautom Menon and Coimbatore-based businessman Suprej Venkat.

The primary focus is the conservation of tigers and their habitats within the state of Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, specifically Parambikulam Tiger Reserve in Kerala and Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve in Tamil Nadu. Wild Tiger Foundation acts as an influencer and an enabler.India had around 100,000 tigers in the mid-19th century. Today it has around 2,200, underlining the urgency of the conservation cause.

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