Robbie Thain
Founder, CEO
AI-generated illustrative image. Not an official campaign image.
Perrier-Jouët’s airport program pairs guided tastings with retail offers. Makai examines the staffing, shopper flow and measurement implications.
On October 6, Maison Perrier-Jouët’s House of Wonder opened in Terminal 2E at Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG) with Extime Duty Free, according to The Moodie Davitt Report. Pernod Ricard Global Travel Retail is bringing the experience to Paris and Miami International airports for the second consecutive year of the airport program. The Miami activation is scheduled for November 30 to December 27.
The Moodie Davitt Report describes a retail activation built around a limited-edition Perrier-Jouët Belle Époque 2018 cuvée created with Dutch artist and couturier Iris van Herpen. The bottle and gift box connect the artistic presentation to a product travelers can purchase. In Paris, brand ambassadors lead nosing and tasting experiences featuring Belle Époque, Grand Brut and Blanc de Blancs at an anemone-adorned bar.
The commercial details differ by location:
The Miami schedule coincides with Design Miami Art Fair, according to the report. That places the planned activation within a cultural context that fits its art-led presentation, though the operational point is simpler: each market has a defined retailer and a different purchase offer.
Two boundaries matter when reading the announcement. The report gives the Paris end date as “runs at 9 November,” so that date remains unclear. It also publishes no campaign sales, conversion or Return on Investment (ROI) results, making this a design case rather than proof of performance.
Our view is simple: make the welcome warm and the next step clear. A premium environment can earn attention, but the operating plan still needs to connect the product conversation with a commercial opportunity. For beverage and CPG leaders, that connection deserves as much attention as the installation itself.
We have connected brands with people through live experiences, retail programs and national activations since 1995. Our retail demos, product sampling programs and roadshows bring brands face to face with audiences across multiple locations. Those programs are designed to drive trial, build consumer relationships and accelerate retail velocity.
That background shapes our reaction to House of Wonder. We see value in the connection between a distinctive product, an ambassador-led tasting and a purchase opportunity. The interesting feature is not simply that the environment contains art; it is that the product being discussed is also available to buy.
Separate travel-retail research from Oliver Wyman provides useful context. Among travelers who encounter something new in airport retail, it reports that 44% purchase immediately, 27% purchase later and 13% plan to purchase. The analysis does not define the timing of “later,” and planned purchases are intentions rather than completed sales. These are broader findings, not House of Wonder results or a forecast for its performance.
For Makai, the practical lesson is to give trial a clear commercial destination. That may be an immediate retail purchase or a qualified lead that supports later follow-up. The distinction matters when a marketing leader needs to explain what the experience was designed to accomplish.
House of Wonder’s reported mechanics create several operating responsibilities: explaining the product, conducting the tasting and communicating the local offer. The following implications are Makai’s assessment of those mechanics, not a description of the campaign’s internal procedures. They are also relevant to retail demonstrations and trade show activations outside airports.
The Paris ambassadors are not described as simply distributing Champagne. According to The Moodie Davitt Report, they introduce travelers to nosing and tasting across Belle Époque, Grand Brut and Blanc de Blancs. That gives the human interaction a specific product purpose.
Our retail demonstrations use trained brand ambassadors to drive in-store sales through real conversations and product trials. From that perspective, the staffing brief belongs close to the commercial brief. The product story and purchase offer should support the same conversation rather than compete for attention.
For a comparable activation, the evidence supports clear product and offer information as the foundation of the ambassador role. It does not support treating a friendly welcome as a substitute for product knowledge. That is why planning field-team responsibilities belongs alongside creative development rather than after it.
The Paris format links an artistic presentation with an ambassador-led tasting bar and retail purchase options. For Makai, the floor-plan question is how those functions relate to one another. A visually strong display and a useful tasting conversation still need to fit within a coherent visitor journey.
We designed and managed a 40 by 20 foot trade show environment for Glanbia at Natural Products Expo West 2025. It brought think!, Isopure, Optimum Nutrition and Amazing Grass into one coordinated space. Our team handled concept, operations, staffing and breakdown, with more than 14,000 recorded product samples distributed across the activation stations.
The relevant lesson here is the scope of coordination. Multiple products and interaction points belong to one operating environment, even when each has a distinct presentation. That experience is why we believe giving each part of a booth a clear job is a stronger planning lens than judging the footprint only by appearance.
An airport pop-up is not a trade show booth. The transferable principle is to plan the relationship between attention, product interaction and the commercial next step without pretending that the venues share the same operating requirements.
The reported Paris and Miami incentives are not interchangeable. Paris ties its boxed pair of flutes to qualifying purchases of €300 or more while supplies last. Miami links one flute to any Belle Époque purchase.
Our reading is that a shared creative concept still requires market-specific commercial information. The retailer relationship and purchase offer belong in the local execution plan, not only in a central campaign presentation. Otherwise, the experience may look consistent while the sales conversation becomes inconsistent.
That is a useful distinction for national CPG programs. Consistency does not have to mean identical offers everywhere. In Makai’s view, it should mean that the ambassador’s explanation matches the offer available at that location.
The Moodie Davitt Report identifies paid Uber, Meta, travel-retailer platforms and airport advertising as support for Paris. The operational implication is that the physical experience needs to make sense to someone arriving after seeing that media. The product story should remain recognizable when the traveler reaches the tasting space.
For Makai, this is where promotional campaigns and face-to-face execution meet. Our promotional work connects digital and real-world touchpoints to boost visibility and spark brand conversations. Our retail demonstrations give the resulting encounter a product trial and a real conversation.
The reporting categories should remain distinct. Samples distributed describe activity; purchases describe transactions; qualified leads describe a different commercial opportunity. We believe connecting live experiences to revenue evaluation starts with naming the intended outcome before treating all engagement as equally valuable.
For a CMO, the practical value is a brief that makes those relationships visible. Creative review can then address the environment while operational review addresses the product conversation and retail handoff. Measurement has a defined purpose instead of being asked to explain success after the experience is already built.
Pernod Ricard Global Travel Retail Brand Director for Prestige and Ultra-Prestige Spirits Andrew Bardsley described innovation and premiumisation as tools for creating memorable occasions that “convert into sales,” according to The Moodie Davitt Report. He also connected that ambition with building brand equity.
For Makai, that ambition belongs in the operating brief as well as the creative presentation. A warm welcome and disciplined execution are complementary. The artistic environment gives the encounter character; the product conversation and retail offer give it a commercial direction.
As a CMO or VP of marketing, will you review your next activation brief today and identify who owns the handoff from product trial to purchase or qualified follow-up?
Airport tastings risk losing their commercial focus when the product conversation and purchase opportunity become separate jobs, making the connection between trial and sales a central part of the activation plan. Makai’s retail demonstrations use trained brand ambassadors to drive in-store sales through real conversations and product trials.
30 Years Experiential & Retail Activation Partner for CPG & Beverage Brands | Multi-Market Demos, Roadshows & Costco/Club Programs That Actually Sell
