Brown-Forman possesses globally recognisable brands such as Jack Daniel’s, Woodford Reserve and Benriach.

In a wide-ranging interview, Aude Bourdier, VP Managing Director at Brown-Forman Global Travel Retail, talks to TRBusiness about the road to recovery; succeeding Marshall Farrer in the travel retail hotseat; the continued rise in appeal for American whiskies; and the significance of Jack Daniel’s ‘Make it Count’ campaign.

How would you characterise 2020 and the effects on Brown-Forman’s GTR business (including before Covid-19) and have there been any bright spots?

So much has been said and written about 2020 and the fallout from the pandemic within travel retail that to elaborate further would be boringly repetitive. Suffice to say, 2020 was unprecedented in the economic, emotional and physical harm unleashed upon the world.

We can only hope that history holds sway and we won’t be visited by such a plague again for another 100 years or so. Yet, there is hope on the horizon with the fast-tracked vaccines showing promise as well as a greater understanding of Covid-19 and how to prevent its transmission, which allows at least a semblance of normalcy in life.

As for Brown-Forman Global Travel Retail, we have joined with our friends and competitors in the channel in seeing our business pretty much grind to a standstill. But perhaps Brown-Forman has fared better than others in that we have been buoyed by our business and operating philosophy.

Let me explain: 2020 marked Brown-Forman’s 150^th anniversary and, obviously, it has not been the celebratory year we anticipated. Still, the occasion has forced us to reflect on the company’s history and re-examine the obstacles and setbacks it overcame to become one of the world’s leading spirits companies.

The key to Brown-Forman’s resiliency – and success – has been a diminished reliance on short-term or temporary goals and a steadfast focus on long-term objectives and business development. The Brown-Forman travel retail team has followed this philosophy closely during the current shutdown and used the time afforded to us productively.

We have brought our training to a higher level and emphasised critical skill development, while at the same time deployed members of our staff to important internal projects aimed at formulating strategies and preparations for the inevitable return of international travel. When business returns, we will be ready to assist our travel retail partners and capitalise on the opportunities presented.

What are the key product focuses for Brown-Forman GTR right now? Is the aim still to increase visibility for Woodford Reserve to sit alongside Jack Daniel’s? 

Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey remains one of the most popular spirits brands in the world and will, of course, remain a key focus of Brown-Forman Global Travel Retail. We recognise that we still have a lot to do to give the brand the space and exposure it deserves in the travel retail channel.

A positive step in that direction is our participation in the Jack Daniel’s ‘Make it Count’ campaign (see below). Launched in fall 2020, the campaign is global in scale and represents a serious investment of money and resources in Jack Daniel’s executions on television, social media, digital media as well as out-of-home and print platforms.

Brown-Forman Global Travel Retail is an important part of the campaign and for us it represents a major asset that will be fully leveraged with our travel retail partners on behalf of Jack Daniel’s.

Woodford Reserve has been a key priority in our travel retail portfolio for some time now and will remain so alongside Jack Daniel’s well into the future.

Woodford has been widely embraced in travel retail and was growing at double digits before the crisis. Given the strong popularity Woodford has enjoyed in domestic markets during Covid, we fully expect to see its momentum resume in travel retail when international travel returns.

Tell us how the Scotch portfolio (Benriach, Glendronach, Glenglassaugh) has fared in GTR?

Much like its bourbon and Tennessee whiskey counterparts, our travel retail malt portfolio of Benriach, Glendronach and Glenglassaugh was performing extremely well before the pandemic: enjoying double-digit growth albeit from a smaller base.

The appeal of these malts no doubt stems from the fact they are of the highest quality, boast popular single-cask programmes and have a number of much sought-after vintages. We will proudly put our malts head-to-head against any of our competitors.

There is much excitement now within the Brown-Forman Global Travel Retail team for the Glendronach Kingsman edition, a contributor to the popular Kingsman film series and the latest malt to join our portfolio. This is the second Glendronach single malt to be released in conjunction with the three-film action, spy, comedy series.

The Glendronach Kingsman was created in collaboration with Matthew Vaughn, the film franchise director. It is a 1989 vintage, limited-edition single malt and helps celebrate the February 2021 release of the latest film in the series, The King’s Man.

American whiskey has witnessed a resurgence in appeal in recent years but Covid-19 and the impacts of tariffs levied by the EU has threatened this trajectory. What is your assessment of the current state of the American whiskey market? 

Of course, the European Union tariffs have had an impact on all American whiskey companies. This situation was then seriously compounded by the challenges presented by the Covid pandemic. However, the core reasons that American whiskies – particularly Jack Daniel’s and Woodford Reserve –­ were winning in the travel retail marketplace remain intact.

They are authentic, premium spirits of the highest quality with a great taste and easy mixability. The future of American whiskies such as Jack Daniel’s and Woodford Reserve in travel retail and domestic markets around the world remains very bright.

Clearly, American whiskey continues to pique interests with your competitors Diageo, Beam and Pernod Ricard investing big in the category over the past few years. Do you believe investments in the category will continue despite the current situation? 

Prior to Covid, domestic and travel retail spirits markets were witnessing a surge in new American whiskey brands. For a time, it seemed as if a new label was being launched on nearly a weekly basis. Will this trend continue post-covid? No one can really answer that in the long term, but I will point out that domestic markets during the crisis have seen a surge in the purchase of established popular brands such as Jack Daniel’s and Woodford Reserve.

Our view is that people are experiencing enough uncertainty in their life that they reflexively turn to products that are known and proven at the expense of newer or lesser-known brands.

We feel that even when this crisis passes, there will be a period of transition where consumers will continue to stick with the ‘tried and true’ rather than experiment with new and novel products. However, given the ongoing popularity of American whiskies around the world, it is inevitable that new brands and products will eventually emerge to test the marketplace.

You assumed the GTR Managing Director role in August, taking over from Marshall Farrer. How has that transition been and – aside from dealing with the impacts of Covid-19 on the business – what have been your strategic focuses? 

Taking over from Marshall Farrer was quite a challenge given that he was not only Managing Director of Brown-Forman Global Travel Retail but also served on the company’s board of directors and is a highly-respected Brown family member.

If this wasn’t challenging enough, it was compounded considerably by the coronavirus and the resulting unprecedented crisis in the duty free channel.

Despite all this though, I feel the transition has been very smooth. It was aided considerably by the two years I had served as the team’s marketing director and my overall long experience with travel retail.

I must compliment the Brown-Forman Travel Retail team for being instrumental in the success of the transition. From the day of the announcement, the entire team have been positive, helpful, welcoming and as equally committed as me to building a stronger travel retail division.

This attitude has and will prove invaluable as we work and prepare to come back from this challenging period with an even stronger commitment to our partners and a determination to seize upon the business opportunities that present themselves, now and in the future.

How has Brown-Forman positioned itself for the restart with duty free and travel retail in mind? 

Brown-Forman travel retail has productively used this time to prepare for the inevitable return of international travel.

The team is motivated and eager to join with our partners in meeting the pent-up needs and demands of a travelling public.

While there is still a great deal of uncertainty as to the timing and scale of a travel rebound, it seems that Asia might be poised to emerge first followed by intra-continent travel in Europe and North and South America.

The Chinese island province of Hainan presents an enormous travel retail opportunity as it is a major domestic tourism destination, a focus of Chinese travel and is now fully duty free.

Many brands have had to pivot towards new segments to diversify revenues at a time of unparalleled pain in travel retail. What is Brown-Forman’s GTR division working on at the moment in terms of novelty and innovation? 

Even during the Covid-19 pandemic, Brown-Forman Global Travel Retail remains a dynamic entity that is constantly striving to anticipate and meet the always-evolving tastes and desires of the travelling consumer.

We have some very exciting new products under development in the wings…

Brown-Forman Corporation donated $1 million to Covid-19 response funds in 2020. Has the GTR division been involved in any philanthropic activities to help communities?

Brown-Forman has been extremely active in philanthropic and community support activities since the outbreak of the pandemic. Initially, the focus was in Kentucky – home of our corporate headquarters – as well as the Woodford Reserve and Old Forester distilleries, the Brown-Forman Cooperage and other supporting operations, and then in Tennessee where the Jack Daniel’s distillery is located.

We provided meals, masks and other supplies to first responders and medical personnel and then converted our distilleries to produce hand sanitiser on an industrial scale. Monetarily, we contributed $1 million to Covid support activities in our home community of Louisville, Kentucky.

Similar Covid assistance activities took place on the local level at Brown-Forman locations around the world and were supported by the travel retail team members based there. As appropriate, all activities were organised and carried out under the overall Brown-Forman umbrella rather than by individual departments or divisions.