What’s Johnnie Walker Princes Avenue?
- Johnnie Walker Princes Avenue (JWPS) is an eight-floor customer expertise for the world’s best-selling Scotch whisky
- It’s the centrepiece of Diageo’s £185 million funding in Scotch whisky tourism in Scotland (introduced in 2018)
- A part of JWPS’s mission is to introduce Scotch whisky to potential new followers and problem conventional perceptions.
- One among its improvements is the Journey of Flavour tour, the place guests have their private flavour preferences mapped with drinks tailor-made to their palate while exploring the 200-year historical past of Johnnie Walker
You’re now 100 days into the position of Managing Director, Scotland Model Houses. Whereas I do know you might be constructing a wider Scotland Model Houses technique, we’ve got reached two important landmarks at JWPS. What had been your preliminary ideas on the location whenever you first began?
My first thought was concerning the alternative we’ve got right here. Diageo has only a few actually direct-to-consumer companies world wide. We’ve got malts.com we’ve got the Irish Model Houses. However actually our experience is in B2B. At Johnnie Walker Princes Avenue we personal the complete end-to-end shopper journey and the considered what extra we are able to do with this chance actually excites me.
My different preliminary thought was how we are able to help the broader GB and Luxurious enterprise. Having labored in international journey you get first-hand expertise of how huge Johnnie Walker is world wide. However Johnnie Walker is a comparatively small model in its house market. So, I see a part of our position is to work with the home markets to tug Johnnie Walker as much as the identical degree of iconicity and fame that Guinness has in Eire.
After which what concerning the JWPS operation itself?
Now I’m getting below the pores and skin of the particular operation, a lot is concerning the individuals – they actually make this enterprise. Now I do know that is true throughout all of our operations – however whenever you’re dealing with customers each single day, as they’re, it’s very true. If you happen to go on the Journey of Flavour Tour expertise, all the things from the tour guides, the actors who inform the story of Johnnie Walker, to the individuals who serve the drinks: the persons are completely very important. Their ardour to do a superb job for our guests is so necessary.
Is JWPS succeeding in its mission to recruit new followers to Scotch and problem conventional perceptions?
Completely. We’re actually happy with our Web Promoter Rating [a trusted metric for measuring customer experience] of 85. We’ve got additionally measured model conversion metrics, which have proven that 91% of tourists’ notion of Johnnie Walker has improved put up go to. Evaluation of customer numbers has additionally proven a virtually 50/50 female and male gender break up And it’s succeeding in breaking down boundaries together with these round how the drink must be loved by specializing in cocktail tradition.
And I feel it’s honest to level to variety of awards and accolades that we’ve got achieved within the final three years. This consists of the 5-star VisitScotland accreditation, the Icons of Whisky award for World Customer Attraction of the 12 months 2023, the World’s Main Spirit Tourism Expertise 2023 and this yr we had been awarded the Excellent Achievement for Model Expertise class within the thirtieth Annual Themed Leisure Affiliation Awards.
What do you see sooner or later for JWPS – what do the following three years appear like?
There are 4 areas of focus for me that I’ll construct additional success:
- Shopper-led development
We’ve had one million individuals by the doorways already. However as we take a look at the expansion potential of Johnnie Walker Princes Avenue, we all know we may be a lot greater. We’ve nonetheless bought quite a lot of room to develop – I feel we may be 4 occasions as large. And that will probably be a mix of extra footfall coming by the doorways and constructing recruitment.
- Construct the Meals & Beverage supply
I see a job for JWPS changing into world well-known for its foods and drinks supply; attending to the purpose the place if persons are coming to Edinburgh, they need a completely excellent meal with an unparalleled view of the citadel and a superb whisky tasting expertise, then with out query they’re coming to JWPS.
- Retail
We’ve got an unbelievable alternative from a retail perspective. The shop on the floor degree of JWPS is an incredible innovation. Diageo, globally, doesn’t have many direct-to-consumer retail premises. So the teachings we take from constructing gross sales on this retail house means our position ought to then be to tell the remainder of the Diageo world on what nice Scotch retail appears to be like like. We may be the pioneers for Johnnie Walker retail – not simply the check mattress.
- Bar and cocktail tradition
Diageo doesn’t personal many direct-to-consumer bar choices world wide both. Right here we’ve got Diageo staff working in our bar innovating with whisky. We’ve got Emma Walker, Shopper Expertise Supervisor, Scotch, coming in and dealing with them on the perfect cocktails to go along with sure whiskies. We imagine we might play a very vibrant position in cocktail tradition, each by way of creating an incredible activation in Edinburgh, but additionally creating stuff that may be socialized round the entire world for Diageo. After which there may be the meals matching factor. Whisky and meals hasn’t historically been a typical bedfellow. However truly we see that as a very key alternative for us up right here, and so you recognize whether or not it’s making good blended cocktails that go along with a sure course, or having it on the finish of a superb meal.
