The Scotch whisky’s global brand director, culture, content and partnerships, tells Tim Healey why senior marketers need to spend time where consumers actually are, how brands can stay relevant as attention shifts and why curiosity is essential in a fast-changing media culture.
You began agency-side in Australia before moving brand-side and later into global roles with Pernod Ricard. How did that journey lead you to Ballantine’s?
I grew up on Sydney’s northern beaches in Australia, a place that’s got a really strong sense of identity. Looking back, that’s probably where my fascination with brands and culture began. There were a lot of surf and skate brands, and music was a big part of our lives growing up. I was definitely interested in how people express themselves and where they fit in.
I’ve been fortunate to build a career in marketing. Looking back on it, it’s always been less about selling products and more about understanding people and culture and how brands fit into that.
I first joined the workforce in an advertising agency. I worked across a couple of different agencies, one quite big, and then a more boutique agency. It was there that I really learnt the fundamentals of strategic thinking, creativity and consumer insight: how to solve problems through creativity and also how to work with creative people.
I then moved brand-side and built out my marketing experience across a range of different disciplines. I entered through a typical brand marketing role, progressing to assistant brand manager and then all the way up to senior brand manager. I made the decision to be quite open and curious about getting experience laterally.
My time working brand side in Australia really taught me the foundations of brand marketing. I learned that great marketing is not one campaign through one channel. Instead, it is the power of the mix of the marketing ecosystem and leveraging all the different parts to land your distinctive point of view.
It is that thread which has run through my career journey since that time: the intersection between brand, culture and consumer. That began during my time in Australia, but really was unlocked when I moved into my next role, which was with Pernod Ricard in New York City.
Moving from the northern beaches of Australia over to New York to work in the spirits category with some of the most incredible brands in the world was exciting personally and professionally. I was the engagement director for the U.S. market across brands like Jameson Irish Whiskey, our tequila portfolio and cognac brand, Martell.
The main focus of my time there was working on Jameson, which is a major brand in the United States. I was leading the implementation of a music engagement platform, to drive relevance for Jameson across the 50 states. It was a fascinating challenge which set me up for my global role today.
After almost four years in New York, and delivering some of the most exciting work of my life there, I was then brought to London with Pernod Ricard again, where I became the global brand director for half of the portfolio in London.
I was lucky enough to work on Absolut Vodka, a super-iconic brand. We implemented cultural ideas to drive engagement with UK consumers by bringing different voices together to land the brand’s point of view. That was my first role in the UK, then four years ago I took on the role that I’m in today as Global Brand Director, Content & Partnerships of Ballantine’s, the world’s second biggest Scotch whisky, a brand that’s really been anchored in music culture.
Ballantine’s has been activating with music culture for over 10 years. This year, I’m leading the evolution of the culture strategy as we move into the next era of True Music, our culture platform.
You said that you learned how to work well with creatives. How do you make sure creatives are briefed well?
This is something we’re constantly reminding ourselves of at Pernod Ricard. You can get caught up trying to put everything into a brief, but we really hold ourselves accountable to the same philosophy: distilling a brief down to its core.
We’re a global brand with very diverse markets. We have to make sure that we’re really clear on what we stand for, what makes us distinctive and then also really clear on the job to be done. If those three things are defined then that sets the creative agenda and informs the brief.
This all needs to be balanced with creative freedom once you’ve launched from that brief. I really hold myself accountable there: I learned from time working in agencies, that you mustn’t let strategy kill creativity. The thing that I hate the most is when you can ‘smell the strategy’ in the work. You want to have the solid foundations in the brief and then let creativity do its thing.
What’s coming up for Ballantine’s in your marketing team over the next 12 months?
I think this is the most exciting time for Ballantine’s as a brand. We’re the number one Scotch whisky in Europe, second biggest globally, and our top eight markets all speak different languages, so we need to be very clear on our POV and platform. We are being really clear on how we want to build the brand through music culture, and putting global music partnership at the heart of our plans. That’s why it’s exciting to have just recently announced a new long term global partnership with COLORSxSTUDIOS, with a shared vision to remove barriers in music and create unstaged moments between artists and fans. And we know this is what consumers are looking for: we recently conducted research with nearly 10,000 music fans which showed that 9 in 10 fans see authenticity as the single most important factor in connecting with an artist today, not perfection or production, but realness
COLORSxSTUDIOS are one of the fastest growing music platforms globally. They get over 2 billion views a year and they’re a brand with which we have shared values. Ballantine’s has always been about authenticity – which is exactly what COLORSxSTUDIOS do when it comes to music.
In their very distinctive format, (a simple uncluttered studio environment and one microphone) COLORSxSTUDIOS have created a way to showcase music artists in their stripped back and most honest form. The partnership is built on one simple idea: strip away the barriers between artists and fans and deliver real music experiences and moments of connection. As a brand, Ballantine’s is all about authenticity, so there are a lot of synergies there. They are a perfect fit.
We launched the partnership with an event in Madrid at the end of May, which was super-cool and drove impact both locally and globally. We partnered with Ca7riel and Paco Amoroso, who are an Argentinian duo that are very authentic in the way that they show up.
They played an unstaged performance and really connected with their fans. There was a surprise moment where the artists poured drinks and DJ’d a set for a small group of fans which allowed them to see their favorite artists in a way they haven’t before.
The launch event in Madrid was the start of a series of True Music events which will take place in markets around the world. Our mission is to remove barriers between artists and fans and show artists in their most authentic form. All our events are free as this is one of the barriers we want to remove – we also saw in our recent research that 1 in 3 can’t afford to be in the room at all,which is why it was so important to this partnership to host a free event so that everyone who wants to join, has the chance to do so.
Wellness to whisky: you worked for 10 years at Blackmores, very much on the health side of marketing, then moving into spirits. What did you carry over, and what did you have to turn on its head?
For me, the exciting part of brand building is less about the product and more about finding the role of culture to drive relevance for that brand, that was true in wellness, which is a huge part of culture in Australia. In terms of a balanced life, wellness and socializing, play important roles.
Moving to spirits was an interesting and exciting transition. The difference being that I’m now working on some of most fun brands in the world. Working on Ballantine’s, working on brands like Absolut or Jameson, you really get to be part of people’s conviviality and socialization, so that adds another dimension.
Part of your job is the digital transformation of the Scotch portfolio. Scotch is about as tradition-bound as marketing gets – all age statements and centuries of craft. How do you combine ‘digital and tradition’?
What’s really important from a brand perspective is understanding how consumers are engaging in the world with brands. Digital has a huge role to play in the changing of consumer behaviors. We engage and reach consumers by leveraging digital technology to drive relevance.
I see digital as being a really important part of the mix and the journey to reach consumers. A brand like Ballantine’s that’s all about culture will use social media and a vehicle like the COLORSxSTUDIOS partnership to connect with the right audiences in a way that more traditional marketing never could.
The way that we’re going to engage with people is very much through social and digital, and it’s really important as a brand that’s living in the modern world that we’re showing up in the right ways.
Ballantine’s calls itself a friend to all humankind. Which is the harder job: selling exclusivity or selling for everyone?
I believe it comes down to the consumer and what they’re looking for. We’ve got a broad portfolio of products within Pernod Ricard. In some instances, things like the age statement and the liquid itself will be more of a focus in the storytelling.
For Ballantine’s, we’re really well placed to be a brand to drive relevance through culture and the portfolio of products we offer. If you look at the global context and what consumers are looking for in today’s world, they’re looking for great quality, accessibility and authenticity. Ballantine’s not only has that from brand positioning, but also our portfolio.
In addition to having Ballantine’s Finest, which is our core hero product, we also have a range of innovations that further unlock that accessibility. We recently launched Ballantine’s Sweet Blend product, which as the name suggests is a sweeter whisky taste, and is interesting for people that enjoy other types of spirits and who might now move into the Scotch category.
Our flavors range, which includes Sunshine Pineapple, Wild Cherry, and Brasil Lime, presents customers with interesting fruity flavors that give you the option to choose a Scotch whisky across a number of different types of occasions.
At one point in you ran the entire Pernod Ricard UK cabinet including rums, tequilas, champagnes, and more before narrowing down to Ballantine’s. What did running everything teach you, and then what changed as you moved to focus on one brand?
My role in the UK was a market focused role. My job was to look after that portfolio of brands within a UK market context. It was super-interesting looking at consumers and the market dynamics, then understanding which of those products is going to best meet the needs of UK consumers, and then deciding how to engage with consumers in a relevant way specific to the UK.
Being in a global role allows me to think more broadly across different markets, but through the lens of the one brand. We focus on finding ways to be distinctive as a brand and clear on what we stand for, but allow that message to flex across very different markets, very different languages, to reach consumers in a relevant way.
How important is creative risk taking when marketing Ballantine’s?
We are a brand committed to authenticity. We’ve got the freedom to be bold and creative. Freedom of creativity is really important to our team. I think through the COLORSxSTUDIOS partnership you can see that freedom has come to life, particularly through the content we created with Ca7riel and Paco.
We really wanted to showcase their personalities: that required us to hand over the reins to the talent and let them be creative. Ca7riel and Paco as musicians and artists are incredibly creative. Having the freedom to take creative risks in this way demonstrates authenticity, and authenticity is really core to our brand.
Is there an AI x human sweet spot, and if so, where is it?
There are so many different levels where AI is going to play a role for brands, what’s most interesting for me is the role it’s going to play in consumer behaviour. How is AI going to change the way consumers can decide where they’re going to put their attention, engage with brands through which platforms?
There’s a big question about where that’s going to continue to evolve, we stay very focused and curious about that. There are some areas where it’s an absolute no brainer, like streamlining processes to drive efficiency.
When it comes to creativity, that’s where there’s a bigger question. My philosophy (as someone who’s very open-minded and happy for my opinion to change as we learn), is that currently AI is a tool that is only as strong as the humans that are controlling it.
We have a responsibility to stay curious, get better at how we work with AI so that we can get the most out of it. Human input is going to be the difference between good and great.
Could you share with us a challenge you’re facing right now as a marketer, and what might your advice be for other marketers that are facing that challenge?
As a brand that centers itself around culture, there is an interesting evolution in how we define what success looks like. We’re showing up in a very different way than we have in the past. How do we know we’re winning? What are the tools that we can use to track success and see if we’re resonating with our audience?
The way for us to engage with consumers has shifted away from a more traditional approach to an approach that in many ways favors digital and social as core channels. It’s much less about ‘shouting as a brand’, and much more about showing up in a really relevant way through culture.
Consumers have more power in terms of where they choose to put their attention. We have to study what engages our customers. Landing our brand message is more about adding value, being entertaining, and showing up through the right channels. Once we have cracked that, we need to work out how to measure successful marketing in that space. It’s an interesting and live conversation, and one where AI can play an interesting role measuring past successes against how we perform today.
Drawing on your leadership expertise, what has your career taught you that helps to make a great team?
I would say three things that come to mind, and drawing on my experience across different markets because I found Australia, the US, the UK to be quite different. Firstly, the power of diversity: having a team that is varied in age, race, gender, experience, profile and background.
My current team has really different backgrounds and experiences. Some have joined us from the music industry, some are experts in social media, others are brand marketers with more of a traditional marketing background. Having the freedom to create a space where we welcome input from people that aren’t experts has also been quite powerful.
The second would be encouraging freedom and curiosity. Whenever I’m looking to build my team, I look for people that are curious and hungry. I don’t want people to read an article on what people are doing on TikTok. I want them to be across the social media channel spending time there and to be hungry to further understand it – that’s something that I challenge myself with – maybe I’ve gone too far because now I’m spending too much time on TikTok – but I think marketing is evolving so quickly that if you’re not hungry to understand how things are changing, you’re not going to be relevant.
The final thing I’ll say is remembering to have fun. Maybe that’s the Australian in me. For me, in all of the roles I have had, I think we do our best work when we can have fun along the way. It’s definitely a priority.
Your question from the last senior marketer I interviewed is this: when budgets tighten, what should marketers protect at all costs?
With efficiency in mind the thing that we should protect i s how as a brand trying to drive relevance we have to show up in the right way. Protecting the activities that get people to engage with you is going to give you a bigger bang for your buck and be more relevant to consumers in the long term.
What question would you like me to ask the next senior marketer that I interview?
How much time have you spent engaging with the channels where your consumers are engaging? Because as senior marketers, we’re time poor. We may not have the 2.5 hours a day that some people have to be on TikTok. But I think it’s super crucial to go in and live it and see what people are engaging with, what is trending and how people interact with what they experience.
If there’s one thing you know about marketing, it is?
It’s always evolving.
This interview is brought to you in partnership with Worth Your While – an independent creative agency based in Copenhagen, working globally. Named one of The Drum’s Indie Agency Top 100, WYW exists on the belief that time is humanity’s most valuable resource, and that the only ideas worth making are ones that earn it. You might die tomorrow. Make today worth your while. https://wyw.agency/
This interview has already appeared in The Drum. Discover the best campaigns, industry insights and interviews from world-leading marketers, creatives and more.
