When, where, and why the bottle comes out

a strange place to do research.

everyone is out of their routine, time is short, and normal purchase logic doesn't quite apply. what tips a browser into a buyer: placement, price, the weight of the bottle in their hand? and how do taste and even health come in when you're buying for someone else, or to impress, or because you're in transit and it's allowed?

we stayed on the cross-border moment.

mini focus groups in singapore and china with 28 to 45 year olds who had recently bought whisky or cognac at a cross-border store. we asked who it was for and what almost stopped them.

1. weeks 1 to 2
   Recruitmentvendors in singapore and china recruited for us, and each recruit's recent cross-border purchase was verified.
2. weeks 2 to 3
   Guide & translationthe discussion guide was translated into mandarin, then back-translated to check nothing had drifted.
3. weeks 4 to 5
   Fieldworkmini groups in both markets, with our team observing and passing questions through.
4. week 6
   Transcriptstranslated transcripts checked against the recordings for tone as well as meaning.
5. weeks 7 to 8
   Analysis & presentationorganised findings around the purchase occasion rather than the brand, and presented them to beam suntory.

the occasion is the product.

brand loyalty and habit don't work the same way in transit. a bottle bought on the move is a different purchase from the same bottle on a shelf at home, so the story around it has to be different too. the findings fed into in-store strategy and messaging for a high-margin channel.

suntory doubled down on singapore.

it opened its first direct route-to-market in southeast asia here in 2024, and the world's first hibiki concept restaurant in december 2025.