Another stor(e)y takes shape in the garden of Changi

The following two tabs change content below.
Martin Moodie
Martin Moodie is the Founder & Chairman of The Moodie Report.

I’m back in London following a long route home via Changi, Hong Kong International and Abu Dhabi International airports. After a hectic week at the TFWA Asia Pacific Exhibition & Conference it’s good to be back on English terra firma and enjoying the mild spring weather rather than the blazing heat of the past fortnight.

As always there were lots of nice moments at the show, some of which I’ve captured below, together with some images that underline why Changi is simply a great airport.

sing view 2

[The breathtaking view from my 35th floor room at the Marina Bay Sands,  The Moodie Davitt Report’s Interim HQ for the week]

TFWA gummy1

[What do you get when Haribo and Crystal Head vodka are neighbours on the exhibition floor? Gummy bear vodka of course! Great Canadian vodka poured over frozen gummy bears. Simply delicious. Deliciously simple.]

TFWA gummy 11

Danzka

[Licence to chill: Now this is what I call a really cool communications campaign. Waldemar Behn Managing Director Rüdiger Behn (right) and ‘Mr Danzka’ himself (Waldemar Behn Global Sales Director) Torben Vedel Andersen show me the new communication for Danzka vodka – ‘Designed to chill’. The campaign underlines the core values of the brand, highlighting its Danish roots, design and lifestyle.]

1 sing with the team

[What’s that old adage… “Behind every good woman there’s a man”?

The superb table-topping Moodie Davitt United team at the Opening Cocktail: (Left to right) Colleen Morgan, Helen Pawson, Claire Wates, Sarah Genest and Connie Magner, together with special guest, The Lady in Red, Paul & Shark’s Catherine Bonelli]

jr

[One of the highlights of TFWA Asia Pacific each year for me is my breakfast with the senior management of JR/Duty Free. CEO Milton Lasnitzki and Evelyn Danos are great company and Evelyn’s firm, founded by her late father David Mandie, is one of the great family success stories of our industry.]

sing 2 paul and dd and m

[The Moodie Davitt Report was the top bidder in the Flemingo auction at the retailer’s cocktail party for a limited edition bottle of Scapa single malt whisky to support the retailer’s latest Corporate Social Responsibility initiative. Flemingo has lent its support to a group that purchases musical instruments and tuition for society’s disadvantaged. Nice idea. With Director Paul Topping I’m joined by the Davitt in The Moodie Davitt Report, Dermot Davitt.]

1

[Honestly, there was a good reason for this copy of the Kama Sutra (dubbed ‘The art of making love to a woman’) being in my hotel room. It’s all down to Flemingo Director Paul Topping who chose the famous work as the company’s gift to guests at Monday night’s cocktail party. An Indian takeaway with a difference.]

Prunier 1

[Above and below: The closing day of the show brought breaking news which underlined what a great industry we work in. As regular readers of this Blog will know, Cognac Prunier has been auctioning a bottle of 60yo Cognac especially bottled to recognise my recent 60th birthday (no it wasn’t ten years ago) for my favourite charity, Hand in Hand for Haiti.

The highest bidder also receives a bottle of Prunier Cognac with an age statement of their choice. And guess what? A new highest bid came in on the final day, 1750 Euros from a leading retail executive. Who was the mystery bidder? You’ll find out soon.]

Prunier 2

m - changi dfs duplex 2

[The shape of things to come: (Above and below) DFS’s second duplex liquor & tobacco store at Changi Airport is taking shape at T2. The top level will open mid-year. But that, as they say, is another storey…]

m - changi ceiling

m - changi dfs duplex

m - changi dfs nice shot

[The magnificent Wine Reserve department inside DFS’s Changi T2 store]

m - changi jw

[Above and below: I really like Johnnie Walker’s ‘Joy will take you further’ campaign. What a brilliant theme for our industry.]

m - changi joy m - changi shilla

[Above and below: The Shilla Duty Free’s T2 perfumes & cosmetics store]

m - changi shilla laneige

m - changi garden more

[Above and below: Changi Airport is more than a passenger gateway or a commercial centre, though it does play both roles brilliantly. It is also an unexpected oasis of calm.]

m - changi sanctuary

m - chanmgi garden more 2

[Below: The new Straits Food Village at T2 is an eclectic and important addition to Changi’s dining offer with a taste-bud whetting array of hawker-style Asian food units. There’s a nicely innovative and consumer-friendly automated payment system too to avoid queuing.]

m - changi straits food vilalge

m - changi vietnames

m - changi food court m - changi food pay machines m - changi food pay

 

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *