Pernod Ricard UK is to make “choiceful” marketing investments in the spirits brands it believes have the highest potential for growth, following the sale of its wine business.
Julia Massies, MD of Pernod Ricard UK, told The Grocer offloading its “strategic international wine” portfolio to Accolade Wines owner Australian Wine HoldCo would enable it to boost marketing spend on brands including Altos, Lillet and Jameson.
“Next year we’ll be investing more behind our spirits,” Massies said. “I can’t say precisely by how much because it is proportionate to how much we can grow our business. But the investment is protected and within that it is about us being smart and choiceful.”
Read more: Why Pernod Ricard’s wine disposal will diminish its UK presence
PRUK was able to leverage “a suite of tools” supported by data and artificial intelligence to measure the expected ROI of marketing spend on one brand relative to another, its MD said.
However, with the spirits category still in decline and budget finite, not all brands in its roster would receive an uptick in investment, she admitted.
“We need to make clear choices and double down on those,” she said. “These are really difficult decisions because there’s none of our brands that we look at and think have no potential. But if we scatter our investment and our people and our efforts and our creativity, we won’t get anywhere.”
Altos and Lillet campaigns
Altos – which is the third-largest tequila in UK grocery, having grown sales by 34.4% to £7.1m [NIQ 52 w/e 22 March 2025] – is set to return to TV as part of a six-figure ATL campaign kicking off from this month.
Meanwhile Lillet – recently the recipient of a brand refresh and packaging overhaul – will be supported by the brand’s biggest media campaign to-date, alongside off-trade sampling and on-trade activations in Côte, Young’s, Metropolitan Pub Company and Boule Bar venues.
Jameson will continue to receive investment as part of the brand’s ongoing partnership with the English Football League.
The EFL tie-up had been key in driving Jameson’s performance – sales are up 5.4% on volumes up 4.5% [NIQ 52 w/e 19 April 2025] – over the past 12 months, said Massies.
“It’s really resonating across our consumer demographics,” she added.
Redundancy consultation
Moving out of wine was clearly “a big change to PR UK”, Massies admitted, with wine brands including Campo Viejo, Brancott Estate and Jacob’s Creek making up around a quarter of the unit’s sales by value.
“Wine is what has enabled this company to grow its investment, its people, and to develop a successful spirits business,” she said. “We’ve put a lot of effort and love into brands such as Campo Viejo and some of our innovations like Greasy Fingers, but now the time has come to say goodbye.”
Following the sale, PRUK had entered into a redundancy consultation with a number of employees, Massies revealed. “As in any business, when your portfolio changes, there’s certain adjustments that you make. We will make some changes to ensure that we are future fit.”
Asked how many staff were likely to be impacted, Massies declined to comment.
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