The new Maker’s Mark pop-up at JFK Terminal 4 is the perfect example of what Suntory Global Spirits wants to do more of in the region, Nathan Ellingson, Suntory Global Spirits Regional Director Americas GTR, tells TMI’s Michael Pasternak during an exclusive interview at the official opening of the new activation.
“We are hoping that this activation can be a calling card to say we have one of the strongest, if not the strongest, portfolios of American whiskey in the world. Maker’s Mark should be our next global superstar brand, and it’s got great awareness in the Americas,” Ellingson tells TMI.
Suntory Global Spirits wants to activate in the region in the right spaces with the right partners, says Ellingson.
“DFS is a great partner with a real understanding of branding. Their customer is generally skewing higher end, which ticks one box immediately. Spaces like this don’t come up all the time. For us it’s about that partnership, the right opportunity, but then also making sure that we have something unique to back it up. And we do here at JFK with Maker’s Mark,” he says.
“The hope is we turn this into a success and we get some attention. Obviously, in addition to DFS, we’ve got great partnerships with International Shoppes, and other important retailers, and we want to make sure that we are getting opportunities like this in front of the right consumer.”
Suntory has been undergoing an evolution in the Americas travel retail market over the past year. Ellingson joined the company to lead the company’s growth in the market in May 2024, and has been adding new hires to his team to help the company achieve its ambitious goals in the region, not just in airports, but on the borders and cruise as well.
“As part of our ability to support the Americas our structure has evolved. Most of the people that are on our team now were not here a year ago. The U.S. had not been a priority. It had been a little bit neglected. But the company realized that there was an opportunity here. Gareth Jones joined a month or two after me. He oversees the Americas and all the business in Europe. My position is new. Olivia Baskett-Regan, who is Assistant Trade Marketing Manager, is new. We’ve got two new key account managers coming on board,” he says.
The company has also brought in Monte Wilson, who has more than two decades of travel retail expertise, to consult on the Americas structure and American whiskeys.
“I have never been as fortunate as to come into a position like this, where there is this outside consultant who is going to mentor you, get you up to speed, help set the strategy for the Americas in terms of structure, and then also help us chart the path on a global level for our American whiskeys,” says Ellingson. “We’ve been super fortunate to have someone like that come in from the outside and sprinkle all his knowledge.”
With this new structure, Ellingson says Suntory Global Spirits is set up to deliver high impact experiential activations like the new Maker’s Mark pop-up at JFK.
“There are really three things that we need to do. One is to re-establish ourselves credibly with our retail partners. We need to unlock opportunities like this that are really close to home, that are relevant to our brands and to our retail partners and customers, and we need to own this account. I think the message that is behind that is we’re putting our money where our mouth is. We’re making the right investments, and that we have a portfolio that’s full of diamonds, maybe a little bit in the rough, and we want to polish them.”
