Whisky Focus - William Grant Sets Sites On Japan

William Grant & Sons sets its sites on Japan as they head to TFWA Asia Pacific with premium Scotch single malts such as the new look Glenfiddich 21 and The Balvenie 21 Madeira Cask.

With the demand for exceptional Scotch malt whisky in Asia Pacific continuing to rise, William Grant & Sons will be focusing on two recent additions to their offer at TFWA Asia Pacific this year: Glenfiddich 21 year old in its new stand out packaging and Balvenie 21 year old Madeira Cask. Also high on the agenda are the recently launched House of Hazelwood, which can be tasted and explored on the William Grant & Sons stand in Singapore from 5pm on Tuesday May 10, and Grant’s Elementary collections.

"There is a growing demand from travelling consumers for unique, exclusive and unusual single malts, and nowhere is this more obvious than in the Asia Pacific region," says William Grant & Sons GTR regional director Asia Pacific Scott Hamilton. "Travellers are looking both for gifts that are not available domestically and elitist malt connoisseurs are looking to expand their collections with new expressions".

As a leading supplier of single malts to the travel retail industry, last year saw William Grant & Sons announce its new commitment to developing category management solutions to ensure continued growth of the sector. Research undertaken by the company has further confirmed the very high engagement of shoppers with single malts in the travel retail environment, particularly among high spending shoppers.

"What we’ve discovered is the importance of the in-store environment," says GTR Category Marketing Manager Sarah Catton. "Far more shoppers than expected are making their purchase decisions in store. This means the retail environment needs to be high quality and offer incentives to trigger purchase, ie with a good range. Higher spending customers are more confident and actively seek touch points that can help them learn about new whiskies and variants."

Influencing the consumer – particularly the higher spender – on their broader shopper journey is key, underlining the importance of highly innovative brand activations.

William Grant & Sons has led the field in creating outstanding theatre at key airport locations globally, with Asia Pacific a strong focus. This year has seen a major launch event for The Balvenie 21 Year Old Madeira Cask at Singapore Changi airport with DFS, aiming to highlight the craft and heritage approach to whisky making. Guests had an opportunity to sample The Balvenie 21 Year Old Madeira Cask, and also get up close and personal with The Balvenie Morgan, a handcrafted V6 Roadster built in collaboration with the Morgan Motor Company, experience a showcase of local craftsmen sharing their expertise in, leather craft, printmaking and shoemaking.

Following the success of the activation. WGS is looking to repeat the program in Taiwan Taoyuan Airport in July and August of this year. With strong representation across Australasia, William Grant & Son’s is seeking to both cement existing relationships whilst further building its business in the region. Japan is a focus for 2016: "We want to grow our distribution footprint in Japan via key partners and retailers," continues Hamilton. "The market is very mature and WGS has not been active here to date, so we see this as offering huge potential for us."

In addition, WGS is looking to continue its success in Australia and New Zealand with the appointment of Carolyn Mindham as the new Business Development Manager.

"The key is to create an offer so compelling to retailers and passengers that they cannot but be attracted by it. Combine exciting and engaging activations with superb packaging and highly giftable exclusive products and that can be achieved, driving footfall into stores and converting browsers into shoppers," continues Hamilton. "Our aim is to continue collaborating with our customer to offer exclusive products and promotions and keep coming up with some of the best and most original retail brand displays in our industry."

You will find William Grants current range of The Balvenie, Glenfiddich, Kininvie, and Grants blends available from specialist whisky shops such as The Whisky Exchange
 

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