With a firm belief that digitalisation is a key driver for the travel retail industry, Ferrero Travel Market is reaping the rewards of its fun and engaging Next Destination digital campaign for its La Biscotteria concept, which has reached more than 10 million passengers since its launch in April.

In this sit-down interview filmed on location at the TFWA World Exhibition in Cannes in October, Sergio Salvagno, General Manager, Ferrero Travel Market, shared his thoughts on why leveraging digital is a key part of the strategy in successfully introducing new innovations into the channel.

The Next Destination contest invites shoppers to upload selfies with La Biscotteria products at the airport for the chance to win a travel voucher worth €2,500.

It has been deployed in key locations, including Nice International Airport during October (with a €1,500 travel voucher up for grabs).

As well, as achieving a wide reach, the campaign has earned more than 4.2 million impressions to date [October 2023].

“You cannot just show a new product without engaging the consumer,” said Salvagno. “We have already covered more than 10 airports with this activity, including Luxembourg, Frankfurt, Mumbai, and Bangkok, and the response has been amazing.”

Click the video to hear what he has to say on this and a number of other talking points…

Alongside digital, the “constant new development” of products and concepts is needed to cater to the needs of today’s travelling consumers, said Salvagno.

The La Biscotteria concept, which debuted in Cannes in 2022, is designed to drive innovation in the biscuit sector and build the category.

In turn, this is helping to encourage sales in the wider food and confectionery sector, according to the company.

By leveraging the appeal of much-loved brands such as Kinder and Nutella, La Biscotteria has brought eye-catching activations to approximately 35 leading airports around the world.

“We are delighted with the response to La Biscotteria and this concept is just getting started,” said Salvagno.

“The main success has been increasing visibility and giving specific place to a new category and the answer was really positive – both from the industry and the consumers.”

In Cannes, Ferrero Travel Market revealed a flurry of new products, including Kinder Kinderini under the La Biscotteria banner.

Marking the first Kinder product as a biscuit, the sharing pouch contains 24 pieces featuring a variety of expressions and will be available from January 2024.

There’s also Kinder Duo, a biscuit combining a milk and white chocolate layer on the top. Each box contains 12 pieces and will be available from April 2024.

Kind Happy Hippo, a hippo-shaped wafer filled with double cream (5 pack, available from February 2024), and a traveller exclusive bigger sharing pack of Kinder Cards (containing 12 flowpacks, each containing two biscuits, available from April 224), are also among the new wave of novelties.

In addition, Kinder has introduced its first plush, a koala, and a pencil case that can be personalised with a photos.

Looking ahead, we can expect to see Ferrero Travel Market continuing on the full worldwide deployment of its range of tablets.

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