ABM helped Avolta and Nestle enhance their passenger retail experience

CHALLENGE

Avolta, one of the largest international travel retailers operating in the aviation industry, regularly seeks new ways to enhance its passenger experience capabilities. A partner to many internationally recognised brands through its duty-free shopping outlets, Avolta regarded a new promotional campaign as a strategic priority.

As airport journeys can be difficult for young families, Avolta identified this target audience as an opportunity to simultaneously strengthen the customer experience and drive brand engagement for Nestle – one of Avolta’s premier retail partners.

To achieve these objectives, Avolta partnered with Blackjack Promotions, the largest travel retail, staffing, and creative agency in the UK&I – a core TradingDivision of ABM – to elevate its retail engagement. Blackjack was introduced to Nestle and tasked with creating a two-week end-to-end campaign with in strategically chosen airport retail spaces.

“We were thrilled by the out comes of the work with did with Avolta and Nestle, we're looking forward to future collaboration.”

— Leanne Nutter, Brand & Retail Director

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SOLUTION

Blackjack’s campaign centred around a combination of physical and digital creativity, specialist talent, and augmented reality (AR), which was under pinned by well-crafted storytelling, to drive brand engagement forNestle.

The campaign relied on a trinity approach, which was formed of three core areas of delivery: creativity, account management, and talent acquisition. Each area was led by its respective team of subject matter experts (SMEs). This enabled Blackjack to design, execute, and manage the end-to-end campaign. This agile approach also helped to provide strategic visibility for Avolta and Nestle.

The creative team organised and delivered all assets, physical and digital, that helped to drive engagement during the campaign. The team was responsible for arranging the AR tools, developing the 3D models that featured in the AR simulation, and creating all physical assets (which included stickers and campaign stands). As the AR element of the campaign took place on passenger’s personal mobile devices, well crafted physical storytelling was an essential part of converting their interest into quantifiable QR code registrations.

The account management team acted as the primary point of contact for the client, which also facilitated communication between key stakeholders. This involved regular reporting, client meetings to ensure maximum visibility, and collaboration to maintain alignment with the client’s objectives.

As the primary target audience for the campaign was young families travelling as airline passengers, the talent team was relied upon to identify the people most suited to execute the campaign. This process was essential for recruiting, training, and deploying the frontline team that managed Nestle’s live campaign. Given the importance of this task, Blackjack’s talent team took great care in vetting those who were entrusted to present Nestle’s brand.

The frontline promotional team delivered Nestle’s passenger-facing campaign and utilised all the creative assets to their fullest extent.Throughout the campaign, Blackjack measured success through several metrics, including QR-code registrations, the number of gifts distributed, and, more broadly, how many people engaged with the AR-based activities.

To capitalise upon the campaign’s success, Blackjack emphasised the importance of examining all available data, both qualitative and quantitative, as part of the post-campaign activities. This optimisation process was vital for identifying the most effective campaign touch points and opportunities for improvement.

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BENEFITS

• ‍Full-service promotional campaign: Blackjack’s trinity approach provided an agile end-to-end campaign planning methodology that addressed all essential elements, including creativity, staffing, and account management. This approach also enabled greater collaboration with Avolta and Nestle.
• Successful customer engagement: Nestle’s retail campaign was deemed a resounding success. It registered over 2,000 QR code engagements from passengers, many hundreds of distributed gifts, and delivered a promotional experience that conveyedNestle’s brand effectively.
• Brand management: Blackjack ensured that passengers experienced the true brand story and message of Nestle, so that the client’s target audience was able to build lasting brand resonance.
• Enhanced digital capabilities: This was the first campaign in which Nestle and Avolta utilised AR technology in their respective airline retail spaces. Asa result, Blackjack’s successful campaign delivery has provided additional insight for future campaigns.
• Effective storytelling: Blackjack’s creative team provided engaging narratives that supported the campaign’s digital creativity. Not only did this strengthen Nestle’s brand offering, but it also generated data on how best to reach audiences for future campaigns.
• Synthesis of physical and digital creativity: Nestle’s campaign combined elements of physical and innovative digital creative assets, ensuring that they complemented one another throughout the campaign.
• Effective talent and staffing: Nestle was able to work with Blackjack’s experienced campaign promoters to devise an overarching campaign brief, refine aims and objectives, and establish creative guidelines.
• Future partnerships: The campaign was viewed as a remarkable success, both for the resultsBlackjack delivered and the data it collected.It also demonstrated Blackjack’s ability to turn technological innovation and creative experimentation into measurable outcomes.