Dufry
Our sixth 20-year retrospective discusses the variety of work we provided for the world’s largest duty-free retailer, Dufry.
Our work with Dufry, the world’s leading global travel retailer, spanned continents and utilised the full extent of our studio’s multi-disciplined approach. Initially, we helped Dufry to devise their global promotions, which entailed fresh creative every quarter promoting a raft of products. This was as much a logistical exercise as a creative one, as the communication had to be designed with local adaptation in mind from the offset. Our UK studio would create several concepts, with Dufry selecting one to move to artwork, with the artwork then being distributed to local agencies to fit varied airport locations worldwide.
Designers thrive within boundaries, and although on the surface, the brief was a simple promotion, underneath, the challenges were complex. For example, during the festive season, we had to be cognisant that not every global traveller celebrated Christmas, so it had to be inferred rather than direct. Every store is different, so we had to create with layout flexibility in mind and allow for varied languages and currencies across regions. Our biggest challenge was staying fresh, devising a new and different campaign style every three months and providing planogram guidance for local stores to add their creative flourish per the Garden of Delights example, where stores were encouraged to dress displays with bird cages. The campaign had to stand out from the crowd and ‘pop’ whilst also being premium in its approach and overall design; this was not an easy task as both asks can be perceived as opposites.
The Dufry campaign we are the proudest of is the ‘Premium Collection.’ With every store being different, we wanted to create a campaign that was easy to adapt to fit numerous locations, and we also wanted a design and theme that would ‘pop’ through its own merits and not with any added attention in store. Finally, we needed to balance strong sales, a sophisticated look and a clean product showcase. Retail stores try and use every square inch for product promotion; this provides a very ordered, eclectic background to any promotional materials. We wanted to create a clean look using white space to contrast with the busy store background and add further contrast with a powerful Dufry Red. Tying the campaign together was a sophisticated design featuring a ribbon & tag theme. Trying to sell white space to a retailer was probably the most challenging aspect of this whole project. Still, when launched in Q1, it tied in well with Valentine’s Day promotions and was an extremely successful campaign for Dufry.
As well as campaigns, eatsleepthink created in-store POS solutions, including a bespoke portable tasting station designed to expand and contract dependent upon use; a projected virtual store assistant that greeted customers when they entered the store, scratch card competitions, spin-and-win wheels, audio-visual experiences, planned photoshoots, further campaigns and so much more. When Dufry re-branded, we helped them build their brand guidelines, utilising our knowledge of their stores and business to help them re-shape their brand. Our tenure with them came to a close shortly after the re-brand following their acquisition of World Duty-Free and the need to bring a lot of the work we were doing in-house.
We enjoyed our time spent with Dufry. We were challenged, we had fun, and our work was appreciated worldwide.
If you’re a retailer seeking an agency partner with experience working with one of the world’s largest retailers, then please…