THE STORY
Every year Beam Suntory attends the Duty Free & Travel Retail Global Summit in Cannes France as the world’s third largest spirits company. The competition to stand out amongst key players is paramount to securing interest and brand placement in the global duty free arena.
THE OBJECTIVE
Create a unique comfortable space at the GTR conference to showcase Beam Suntory’s vast portfolio, hold key stakeholder meetings, and flagship brand events. More specifically, on one night, transform the space into the Bowmore Vault, to promote brand the new travel-retail range inspired by the distillery’s legendary No.1 Vaults, the world’s oldest Scotch maturation warehouse for a party of 75 guests.
THE RESULT
Cannes is known for its association with wealth, its luxury hotels and especially it’s yachts. As the summit takes place directly on the French Riviera, it made perfect sense to create an experience on the water unlike no other. We chartered the 121 foot Luxury Yacht “Grenadines III” and transformed it into Beam Suntory’s headquarters for the week long conference. The on-water environment provided a fitting and desirable getaway from the usual indoor exhibit spaces and proved a major success. The idea had the conference talking and as expected, there were a record number of visits. In addition, the event that was held for Bowmore Vaults proved a major success and the Bowmore travel retail range experienced an impressive number of pre-orders for international duty free locations. Since 2016, several other brand companies have followed in suit and have showcased their brands on yachts. The waterfront is now a must-visit part of the conference.
THE EXPERIENCE: THE YACHT
The jetty reception tent alongside the yacht provided an excellent space to offer guests a signature cocktail and get some brand experiences while waiting to get onboard. A massive 30 foot glass custom display of the entire Beam Suntory portfolio flanked one side of the quay along with some casual seating and cocktail tables. On the opposite side, a 70” monitor played looped brand footage to entertain guest. Upon boarding, guests could mingle about on 2 levels containing 2 bars, multiple lounge areas, and private meeting rooms. All areas of the ship were adorned with custom bottle displays to flow seamlessly with the layout of the ships look and feel.
THE EXPERIENCE: THE BOWMORE No. 1 VAULT PARTY
For one night only, Grenadines III was completely transformed into a recreation of the Bowmore No. 1 Vaults, the world’s oldest Scotch maturation warehouse for a party of 75 VIP customers and guests. All displays were switched out and custom vault doors were installed on the ships stern doors for a dramatic entrance. Guests enjoyed Bowmore elevated tastings, oyster luges, live bagpipes, and an authentic VR experience taking them directly to the real distillery.
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