Editor’s Note: On Monday, Dufry Group said it will become Avolta, a new brand name and identity representing the Dufry and Autogrill combination (read more here). Steve Johnson, president and CEO, Avolta North America, spoke to AXN’s Carol Ward about what the change will mean for the North American market.
Ward: Tell me a bit about the new brand name – what does it mean?
Johnson: The idea is to bring everything under one name, and it doesn’t mean we lose our identity. It doesn’t mean that Hudson goes away or HMSHost goes away. It means that we’re under one umbrella [called] Avolta. It’s a strong name, rooted in Volt. It’s a nod towards energy, towards something that’s new and different, something that’s exciting, something that moves, that has power. That’s what we’re excited about.
Ward: The Avolta name carries a “Journey On” tagline. How are you going to bring that to life?
Johnson: I think it’s exciting. It’s an active tagline. An airport is an adventure. Even if it’s a business trip, it’s “journey on” – go to someplace new, go do something different. If you’re on a leisure trip, it’s “journey on” – go create memories, go find something in a city that you didn’t know existed.
Ward: What happens to the brand names like Hudson and HMSHost?
Johnson: Those names have such legacy behind them. It’s going to be Hudson News by Avolta, or HMSHost by Avolta…. Think of it as Marriott Bonvoy, with many different brands under one umbrella. [Avolta] is for our loyalty program, it’s for investors, it’s for our employees, something to rally behind so that they know that they’re all part of one team and not just three separate businesses.
Ward: Can you share what travelers are going to experience, specifically in North American airports, with this new company and its expanded vision and commitment to experiences?
Johnson: It starts with the traveler at the center, and what can we bring that’s unique and different to them. We have the ability to operate in all three phases of commercial: duty paid, duty free, food and beverage. We can start to talk to the traveler in a lot of different ways. [For example}, through our loyalty program, if someone comes into one of our restaurants and loves the drink that they’re drinking, maybe that bottle of scotch is available in the duty free location and they get a percentage off.
The idea is, if this is just about having three companies operate the way they do today, then it’s a failure. It really is about bringing them all together and giving the consumer something completely different, something they didn’t know existed. The journey itself needs to be as important as the destination. When you think about airports, the only real exciting part about an airport is usually the commercial piece. The fact that we can do something in duty paid, duty free, and food and beverage, [connecting] with the same consumer, [means] the value proposition that we can give … is unlimited and we have to unlock that.
Ward: How will you enhance digital engagement with travelers?
Johnson: I think it’s going to live on your phone. When you go to one of our restaurants and there’s a QR code, it’s going to pop up and to talk to you about the opportunities that are available. You might be able to order duty free from the restaurant and have it delivered to you there. It could be that when you purchase something in one of our convenience stores and you’re part of the loyalty program, that there’s a percentage off or a deal [at the traveler’s destination]. We can talk to that consumer throughout their journey.
Ward: What about potential benefits to airports or landlords?
Johnson: We have over 1,200 brands that we can operate with, so from a scale standpoint we can really give them what they need for their airport. It doesn’t matter if it’s local or if it’s a national brand, we can bring it all to them. And they can get all three phases with us – no one else can bring that to them.
