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“Hello, I’m Dottie.”
No, this is not a reference to my increasingly eccentric ways but actually the welcome from a character created by China Duty Free Group (CDFG) earlier this year to celebrate the year of the rabbit. And as it turned out, a brilliant example of the retailer’s creativity in more ways than one.
I met Dottie last week when I visited the China Duty Free International offices in Wan Chai, Hong Kong. I was there to meet Zhao Feng, China Duty Free International General Manager and one of CDFG’s most senior and respected executives, along with China Duty Free International Deputy General Manager Celine Qiu.
We also met Mui Ling Lau, China Duty Free International Senior Manager – PR, Branding and Marketing Department; and Ting Yao, China Duty Free International Ltd Director Channel Management and Director & Deputy General Manager China Duty Free Cruise Services.
I was accompanied by our Hainan-based China Chief Representative Zhang Yimei, the former HTDF Deputy General Manager in Sanya who is doing a marvellous job building our presence in Hainan.
Yimei and I were there to discover more about CDFG’s burgeoning cruise division, China Duty Free Group Cruise Services (CDFCS), and particularly the retail offer onboard Adora Magic City, the first Chinese-built large cruise ship which has just begun sea testing and is expected to come into commercial service late this year.
Adora Magic City will feature CDFCS flagship cruiseline store, spanning some 2,000sq m and packed with luxury and designer brands, an extensive beauty offer, a dedicated ‘China-chic’ zone and much more. You can read all about it in my forthcoming feature, out soon.
After the interview was over, Yimei and I were each presented with a gift. The box was labelled Dottie, a marvellously ingenious celebration of the Year of the Rabbit. In Mandarin there is just one symbol difference between the words for ‘rabbit’ and ‘free’ (as in duty free). A dot.
Hey presto, like a magician pulling a rabbit out of hat, with the adept deployment of a strategically placed dot CDFG created Dottie as an emblem of its world-class shopping offer, one that pledged more products, services and privileges to celebrate the Chinese New Year.
Dottie appeared on an array of Chinese New Year consumer marketing and the China Duty Free International team even created a rap song starring her. Since I played it on WeChat I can’t get it out of my head. This is what I call duty free gift-rapping.
When I got home and opened the gift, I discovered a lovely rabbit-shaped silver lamp inside, called Dottie of course. Dottie now commands price of place on the desk in my home study, truly a shining reflection of CDFG inventiveness.
Indeed, it is very sweet and creative.