Exploring Conviviality With Pernod Ricard
CASE STUDY, by Eliot Salandy Brown
Conviviality takes multiple forms and expressions when people come together. As a creator of conviviality, it is crucial for Pernod Ricard to remain a relevant and key enabler of these convivial moments. With lives and the fundamental conditions for conviviality changing rapidly around the world, the importance of constantly staying on top of emerging needs and aspirations is crucial.
With brands such as Absolut, Jacob’s Creek, Chivas Regal, Beefeater, and Havana Club, Pernod Ricard is the co-leading global producer of spirits and wines. Rivals pour billions of dollars annually into promoting their products and producing aspirational stories around their brands. Since 2008, across dozens of projects, ReD Associates has been working with Pernod Ricard gain the deep consumer insight that has proved key to making brands stand out to consumers in this emotive and competitive marketplace.
The thread in ReD’s work for Pernod Ricard over the years is that for each project, Pernod Ricard wants a change in perspective. They want to get a deeper understanding of people and why they go out. They want to understand what role alcohol plays in people’s lives and why alcohol is such a key component in one of the spheres of life that people apparently enjoy the most: the convivial times with friends and romantic partners.
Recently, Pernod Ricard and ReD have studied the baby boomer generation in Europe. For a company focusing its marketing usually to the 25 to 35 year olds it can be quite challenging to change the corporate mindset and allow a focus on an older generation. “One of the key benefits of the study,” says PR Europe vice president of marketing Francesco Taddonio, is that “nobody is now questioning the fact that baby boomers are another interesting target that we should address. That is a quite fundamental change.” The study of baby boomers has made it clear that addressing this generation with relevant offerings holds a big commercial opportunity. And according to Mr. Taddonio, the study not only led to a deeper understanding of the baby boomers but also to “some very specific insights that we could not have guessed before that will now help us develop excellent offerings.”
Whether the theme is ultra rich female champagne lovers in Tokyo, recession hit (but proud!) men in Italy, spring breakers in the U.S., ambitious career women in Moscow, or rural families in the Czech Republic, the goal is always to get a change in perspective, and to get closer to the aspirations and needs for richer social lives for people all over the world.
ReD works with corporate headquarters in Paris as well as Pernod Ricard affiliates all over the world.