Insight & strategy In good spirits Agile working, how to get the best from agencies in the insight space and the democratisation of knowledge were just some of the topics covered when Colette Doyle spoke to Paul Thomas and David Baxter, part of the insights team at international premium spirits producer Beam Suntory I f youve ever enjoyed sipping on a Courvoisier or a 10-year-old Laphroaig whisky, then you are already familiar with the brand portfolio of multinational Beam Suntory. The company employs almost 5,000 people globally and produces an extensive portfolio of well-known spirit brands. International insight director Paul Thomas and David Baxter, insights director for the companys Scotch, Irish and gin brand house, only joined the firm at the end of last year but are already industry stalwarts. Thomas was a director at The Forge and global director at Asahi International prior to that, as well as having worked client-side at drinks multinational Diageo and chocolate manufacturer Ferrero. Baxter, meanwhile, can lay claim to a 12-year stint at Ipsos and was previously global head of consumer insight at Glasgowbased spirits company Edrington. Turning first to how Beam Suntory successfully managed to weather the pandemic, Thomas notes that one of the key trends in the alcohol sector was premiumisation and the concept of accessible luxuries. In fact, the pandemic amplified that because a lot of people realised they needed to look after their health but still wanted to treat themselves, so they sought out premium spirit brands for that reason. Baxter adds that the crisis affected different brands in different ways, depending on whether they derived significant revenue from on-trade One of the key trends in the alcohol sector was premiumisation and the concept of accessible luxuries [on-premise consumption in bars and restaurants] or off-trade [retail outlets that sell spirits for off-premise consumption, such as supermarkets and off-licences] activity. If you were more, say, on-trade focused, or if you were maybe an emerging brand, then what you lost was not only people going out, but the touch point. That had a huge impact on markets like Spain, which is one of the biggest on-trade markets in the world, as well as Asia where its not traditional to consume alcohol at home; people usually go out to eat and drink with their friends. Well-known brands were able to manage the challenges by being in close proximity to the point of purchase across a wide range of channels. The most iconic brands tended to come out on top because another consequence of Covid-19 was that consumers 36 Impact ISSUE 39 2022_pp36-39 I&S Beam Suntory.indd 36 23/09/2022 15:16