William Grant & Sons will present its latest travel retail offer in an engaging booth at the upcoming IAADFS Duty Free Show of the Americas (booth 100/11).
New packaging for the travel retail-exclusive Glenfiddich Cask Collection will be highlighted in a dedicated area on the stand. Here, customers will be able to sample each of the expressions. The range, based on the Solera vat process pioneered by Glenfiddich in 1998, has been reworked to provide clearer shelf stand-out, improved consumer appeal and help better signpost Glenfiddich.
The packaging, first shown to buyers at the TFWA World Exhibition last October, will begin its roll-out in April. William Grant & Sons Global Travel Retail Director Ed Cottrell said: “We were very encouraged by the response in Cannes and are confident of a similar response from the Americas, where Glenfiddich is a core brand for us both North and South.”
For the Select and Reserve Cask, shades of blue were chosen to reflect a step up between the two and to encourage consumers to trade up, while the Vintage Cask features copper colouring.
The main booth will focus on Drambuie, Hendrick’s and Monkey Shoulder. Drambuie now features new packaging, inspired by the brand’s 270-year history, which will be on-shelf in the Americas in the first half of 2017.
Drambuie’s new bottle styling is cast in dark amber glass, topped with Drambuie’s signature red cork closure. The brand will have its own feature wall at the Duty Free Show of the Americas. WGS said the brand has “tremendous potential” given the current classic cocktail resurgence.
To celebrate World Cucumber Day on 14 June, William Grant will feature its ‘Master Serve ‘O’ Matic’ bicycle at the IAADFS show. Customers will be invited to pedal the bicycle to deliver a slice of cucumber which can be enjoyed with a Hendrick’s & Tonic. The bicycle unit, along with floor and wall graphics, is designed to bring the Hendrick’s brand to life in a fun and innovative way.
The back wall of the main stand is devoted to Monkey Shoulder, which William Grant says continues to perform ‘extremely’ well in the Americas. WGS said the brand’s positioning of “100% Made for Mixing” supports its versatility as a premium blended malt whisky that can be enjoyed on its own or in cocktails. Visitors will be able to enjoy some of the classic Monkey Shoulder cocktails from the bar area, along with other drinks from the wide portfolio.
William Grant & Sons Regional Marketing Manager Richard Bush commented: “2016 was a challenging year in the Americas due to a number of factors, including the strong US Dollar and devalued local currencies, the severe economic downturn in South America and the ongoing political crisis in Brazil.
“In spite of these obstacles, we were able to hit and even exceed our sales targets and ended up well ahead of 2015. While we are still facing a lot of the same headwinds and it’s sure to be another challenging year, we remain optimistic and motivated at the start of 2017.
“We are excited to be exhibiting once again at the Duty Free Show of the Americas, it is a highly valuable event for us and we look forward to meeting with our regional and global partners both to discuss our 2017 portfolio and to show how WGS brings its brands to life with exciting, engaging and educational activations that suit the DNA of each individual collection.”
