Mondelez WTR underlines commitment to Asia Pacific with renewed category vision
A Toblerone brand activation in Istanbul
Mondelez World Travel Retail (WTR) has reinforced its commitment to growing the confectionery category in the Asia Pacific region. At the 2023 TFWA Asia Pacific Exhibition and Conference, the Mondelez WTR team outlined the three key pillars of its elevated category vision: a winning portfolio, to address growing need states and changing shopper preferences; elevating category awareness, through more physical and mental touchpoints; and delivering unique experiences, with outstanding and significant concepts.
The renewed approach builds on the decade-old vision pioneered by Mondelez WTR, “Delighting Travelers”, which underlines their dedication to engaging with shoppers, exceeding expectations and enhancing shopping experiences.
Mondelez WTR hosted industry peers during a breakfast event on May 9 at the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, highlighting how they have driven greater penetration across global travel retail and how they intend to bring that success to the region, now that major travel restrictions have been lifted across key Asia Pacific hubs. The session began with opening remarks from Mondelez WTR Managing Director Jaya Singh, who welcomed attendees while emphasizing the company’s commitment to driving accelerated conversion through their brands.
Building on his remarks, Beatriz de Otto, Head of Customer Marketing, and Carlos Granados Moyano, Head of Global Sales, highlighted how Mondelez WTR has implemented various elements of the evolved vision through disruptive POS, engaging touchpoints, and experiential activations to increase conversion and penetration.
Mondelez WTR’s evolved category vision has so far been widely actioned across Europe and the Middle East through a diverse range of campaigns, showcasing how digital innovations, relevant unique experiences and powerful partnerships are key to driving recovery and growth. For example, initiatives like the world’s first airport Oreo Café in Doha, the Ghana Tricycle Project activated in Paris, and the roll-out of Toblerone’s new equity and advanced sleeve printer in Istanbul have shown how joint value creation leads to confectionery emerging as a conversion catalyst and main category attraction as opposed to a secondary purchase. Mondelez WTR’s vision is to now apply a formula fit for the Asian Pacific region to achieve the same successful results for retailers and deliver unique experiences for travelers.
“If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that together we are stronger," said Singh. "Together we can. And together we will. There is a new traveler profile stepping through those doors and we must be prepared to meet their needs. And to ensure we go above and beyond, we need to strike strategic partnerships to deliver unique moments and experiential activations. Most of the success we have seen in the past few years has been in Europe because that is the region that recovered first; from Europe we have seen that what we have done has delivered very impressive results, which gives us real confidence for the Asia Pacific region.
We set our sights on Asia Pacific with the goal of leading through innovation, insight, creativity and most importantly dialog. We are here to work together to do more and do more differently to achieve new goals and reach new heights. And we can’t wait to see how we can grow confectionery in the region – together.”
