The following article was published in Frontier Magazine, June – July 2013 issue:
In this month’s category report, Luke Barras-Hill rounds up the latest business activity from some of travel retail’s most prominent tobacco suppliers.
Agio Cigars
Renowned Dutch cigar manufacturer Royal Agio Cigars is pushing forward with innovative store concepts this year.
Visual planograms, gondolas and interactive screens are just some of the techniques being used to illustrate more appealing category displays and inform consumers about selected lines; bolstering the experience for purchasers while simultaneously educating the company’s sales staff.
An example is a new pop-up store gondola based on the popular Balmoral Dominican Selection line, already drawing interest from travel retailers in Spain, Turkey and the Netherlands.
“Unknown means unloved – if the staff know nothing about cigars then people hesitate to talk about it,” explained Agio Export Manager, Gertrude Stormink. “Therefore offering training to the staff of our travel retail consumers is very important.”
A recent exhibitor at the TFWA Asia Pacific Conference & Exhibition, the company remains committed to driving product sales across the growing markets in Asia through its Balmoral range and Agio Filter Tip series with the latter a duty free presence in Hong Kong and Singapore with the DFS Group, as well as at other locations in Malaysia, China, Korea and Thailand.
New product additions include a five-pack Balmoral Short Corona selection that seeks to capitalise on the invariable time restrictions on smoking in airport areas while waiting to board.
Meanwhile, an existing joint venture agreement with Chinese company Great Wall Cigar has also seen the introduction of four new cigars; two cigarillo and two small panatela varieties in original and flavoured tastes to develop brand awareness in the Chinese domestic and export markets.
“Focusing on gift incentives and points of purchase, we have to constantly follow the key points, right products, right price and right assortment presentation,” concluded Hans Rijfkogel, director, Asia Marketing Services who act as sales and marketing co-ordinators for Royal Agio Cigars in Asia Pacific domestic markets and in travel retail.
