PARIS: Drinks giant Pernod Ricard is restructuring its marketing teams to focus on "consumption moments" rather than individual brands in order to better connect with consumers.
People are "no longer specifically loyal to one single brand, but to a repertoire of brands linked to a range of drinking occasions", noted CEO Alexandre Ricard at a recent Capital Markets Day as he explained that "a consumer-centric model is the cornerstone of our priorities".
The company has highlighted four occasions in particular: night out, premium socialising/luxury, get together and aperitif/meal occasion.
"All over the world we must place one of our brands at every gathering, at every shared moment where there's a drink," Ricard declared.
Global business development director Conor McQuaid elaborated on the thinking, telling Marketing Week: "There is a logic to it, and I think there's a bit of a 'lightbulb moment' organisationally from an efficiency perspective."
"It can be served market by market in different ways by different brands," he continued. "What we don't want to do is start retrofitting the brand positioning."
McQuaid outlined other ways in which the company was addressing its commitment to consumer-centricity, including the placement of "social responsibility" messages in its top 14 brands by the end of the next financial year.
"What we're keen on ensuring is that this is seen as credible to the brand," he said. "It needs to form part of what the communication strategy is – you'll get called out from the consumer if not."
He pointed to the work the company had already done in this regard with its Chivas Regal and Jameson whiskey brands, the former creating a $1m entrepreneurial fund, the latter offering new filmmakers the chance to have actor Kevin Spacey star in a short film.
"In terms of millennial consumers, there's a real opportunity for us there to speak a bit more strongly to some of the work that's ongoing," McQuaid added.
People are "no longer specifically loyal to one single brand, but to a repertoire of brands linked to a range of drinking occasions", noted CEO Alexandre Ricard at a recent Capital Markets Day as he explained that "a consumer-centric model is the cornerstone of our priorities".
The company has highlighted four occasions in particular: night out, premium socialising/luxury, get together and aperitif/meal occasion.
"All over the world we must place one of our brands at every gathering, at every shared moment where there's a drink," Ricard declared.
Global business development director Conor McQuaid elaborated on the thinking, telling Marketing Week: "There is a logic to it, and I think there's a bit of a 'lightbulb moment' organisationally from an efficiency perspective."
"It can be served market by market in different ways by different brands," he continued. "What we don't want to do is start retrofitting the brand positioning."
McQuaid outlined other ways in which the company was addressing its commitment to consumer-centricity, including the placement of "social responsibility" messages in its top 14 brands by the end of the next financial year.
"What we're keen on ensuring is that this is seen as credible to the brand," he said. "It needs to form part of what the communication strategy is – you'll get called out from the consumer if not."
He pointed to the work the company had already done in this regard with its Chivas Regal and Jameson whiskey brands, the former creating a $1m entrepreneurial fund, the latter offering new filmmakers the chance to have actor Kevin Spacey star in a short film.
"In terms of millennial consumers, there's a real opportunity for us there to speak a bit more strongly to some of the work that's ongoing," McQuaid added.
Data sourced from Marketing Week; additional content by Warc staff
