Scaling new heights and discovering One World in the Year of the Dragon

“You’re gonna need a bigger boat,” exclaims awestruck Chief Brody (played by Roy Scheider) in Steven Spielberg’s 1975 classic Jaws after he first encounters the great white shark that attacks beachgoers at a summer resort town.

Well travel retail might need a bigger term for pop-up (or perhaps simply a bigger terminal) following Maison Hennessy’s introduction of its stunningly impactful Year of the Dragon activation at Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 1 in partnership with Changi Airport Group and Lotte Duty Free.

As we reported, the 70sq m sensory experience is Hennessy’s biggest-ever travel retail pop-up and one designed to usher in the Year of the Dragon with a splendidly compelling fusion of retailtainment and craftsmanship. And great Cognac.

I say ‘compelling’ from experience, having been immersed in the ‘Senses of Hennessy’ experience, claimed to be a first-of-its-kind at an airport. Senses, as in scenes, scents, sounds (music tracks). And, of course, taste.

The 360-degree sensorial journey engages guests through ravishing visuals, alluring aromas, and (courtesy of head phones) enveloping sound waves. Along the way, visitors discover their ‘perfect’ Hennessy match.

Visitors can pre-book a 15-minute guided tour of the pop-up, subject to availability, but courtesy of Moët Hennessy Travel Retail Asia Pacific Sales Director Nina Patricia Da Costa I was able to jump the queue and embark on my own beguiling journey, guided by the expert tutelage of Sales Ambassadors Ming and Chris.

The resultant 15 minutes were every bit as educational and engaging as I had hoped. And a whole lot of fun. My selection of stops along the scene + scent + track highway led me to James Hennessy as my choice of the day, a fine Cognac positioned between V.S.O.P and X.O bearing the name of one of the most influential figures in Hennessy’s global success story.

I must say, the personality test worked very well, for like me, James was an ardent globetrotter, having led various trade expeditions to faraway destinations such as the US (1794), Russia (1819) and India (1819) to establish the brand there. And the Cognac itself? Lovely. A mouthful of silky apricot-led fruit flavours, smooth on the tongue, long and clean on the finish.

I tried it and Hennessy X.X.O with and without dark chocolate (a marriage made in my kind of heaven); sampled Hennessy V.S.O.P and James Hennessy in little molecular pearls (warning – make sure you have your mouth closed when you break the skin); and I even hung my own personal wish for the Year of the Dragon on the Hennessy Wishing Tree.

There’s a lot more to the experience, including a WeChat mini-program offering incentives, but with a plane to catch, I headed on my way, the long satisfying Hennessy aftertaste accompanying me all the way to Terminal 3.

Later…

The website that never sleeps (and its around-the-clock Blog companion) are in full swing as I get down to business within my Interim SQ896 Bureau en route from Singapore to Hong Kong.

Time to recap. What a week it has been. Three amazing cities and airports (Hong Kong, Melbourne and Singapore), two great airlines (Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines), a diverse duo of travel retailers (Lotte Duty Free and One World Duty Free), two brilliant agencies (Jo Traikos Promotions in Australia and the superbly named Oomph in Singapore) and many fine and interesting people along the way.

My last Blog detailed my sojourn down under to Melbourne Airport to experience Campari Global Travel Retail’s brilliant Aperol Spritz boutique and related Australia Open tennis partnership.

The link with Lotte Duty Free continued this week as the morning after my return to Hong Kong I flew to Singapore to attend the grand reopening of the Korean retailer’s Central Duplex wines, spirits & tobacco store at Changi Airport Terminal 3 and the formalisation of its now fully open 19-store operation at the Singapore gateway.

What a great occasion it was. One that perhaps marked Lotte Duty Free’s true coming of age as a world-class airport retailer outside its native land.

I also caught up with Keira Zhang, the dynamic young Singaporean businesswoman, who has just soft launched the One World Duty Free (ODF) store at Singapore Flyer, the city state’s fourth most-visited tourist attraction.

The just-opened second floor space spans 3,735sq ft, boasting what ODF calls “a pure retail concept, steering away from the traditional designs of travel retail stores”. The first floor will open in Q2 and I can promise you it will bring a new dimension to travel retail, in keeping with Keira’s retailing philosophy.

“Innovation is at the heart of everything that we do,” she says. “When I founded this company, I realised competing in a male-dominated industry meant that ODF had to be different. We went in with the goal to disrupt – and that means the entire concept is based on deviating from what others are doing.”

Watch this space. In fact, watch just about any space that One World Duty Free enters, including Port City Colombo in Sri Lanka, where the company will open a downtown store later this year (as will China Duty Free Group).

There ODF will develop and operate a 1,250sq m duty free store, offering a blend of international brands spanning beauty, wellness, spirits & wines and fashion. It will be located within the 7,000sq m Port City Duty Free Mall shopping complex, close to international prestige hotels and casinos and targeting a diverse and affluent customer base of tourists, expatriates and locals.

If you want a more immediate illustration of Keira’s commitment to quality, look no further than Scotts 35A, the prestigious private member’s club she runs in a magnificent colonial house in downtown Singapore. We dined there earlier in the week along with her high-quality senior management team.

Managing Director Beibei Zhang spent over 12 years with DFS Group and is a particular expert in travel sector marketing while Marketing Director Gary Leong drove beauty-tech brand Foreo’s extraordinary travel retail emergence over recent years. Retail Head  Zhang Teng Yu is another accomplished retail professional having spent over four years with DFS.

What an evening. As the photos reveal, delicious cuisine and great wine. Great as in Champagne Telmont Blanc de Blancs, Antinori Solaia 2017 (the jewel in the Italian house’s glittering crown) and Château Latour 1995. Oh yes, One World Duty Free is serious alright.

And what a week. Almost too many stories for a single post. Clearly a case of “You’re gonna need a bigger Blog.” ✈