ARI ‘delighted’ with William Grant & Sons’ Auckland RWC activation

William Grant & Sons (WGS) and Aer Rianta International (ARI) have hailed the “positive effect” of Rugby World Cup (RWC) activations which took place at Auckland International Airport in September and October.

William Grant & Sons and Aer Rianta reflect on their Rugby World Cup partnership

WGS worked in partnership with Aer Rianta to bring rugby to “numerous” zones in the airport, including departures, arrivals and other touch points.

The activation gave travellers the opportunity to win RWC merchandise when purchasing any WGS product via a free scratch card. The top prize was a pair of tickets to the RWC finals at Twickenham, including flights and accommodation at the Jumeriah Carlton hotel.

The departures activation included a “flick footy” game, implemented to keep passengers in the promotional area for as long as possible. A brand ambassador then offered samples of “Dew and a Brew”, a combination of beer and Tullamore Dew, to educate consumers on a new way to drink the Irish whiskey.

At the beginning of October, a “Mix It Bar” was introduced to The Loop departures store. Travellers were offered samples of three different cocktails to both celebrate the RWC and reinforce the in-store promotion.

“We were really delighted with this in-store activation, William Grant & Sons really hit the nail on the head with this exciting and event specific promotion,” said Tom Byrne, general manager at ARI’s The Loop Duty Free.

“Experience is everything at The Loop Duty Free and we truly believe our customers experienced the fun and excitement with this activation. Particularly our lucky winner who flew to England to watch the RWC final!

“From a commercial perspective, we are delighted with the results. We can see the positive effect on passenger-average-spend, penetration and the sales uplift in Grants portfolio.”

Scott Hamilton, WGS Asia Pacific travel retail director, added: “At William Grant, we are always looking to run activations that are eye-catching and unique to each individual retailer.

“Winning a prize like this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for many. We wanted to reward travellers for buying our products, which not only pleases our current customers but hopefully encourages more travellers to buy and increase our brand awareness.”

William Grant & Sons first announced its Rugby World Cup campaign in August 2015.