Pernod Ricard Western Africa

THE SPIRIT OF CONVIVIALITY

Writer: Phoebe Harper | Project Manager: Kyle Livingstone

We are the creators of conviviality. It’s all about human connection and bringing good times from a good place.”

In July 2022, Pernod Ricard Nigeria (Pernod Ricard) turned 10 years old. In his role as Managing Director of Pernod Ricard Western Africa, Sola Oke has witnessed much of the company’s journey throughout an evolutionary and dynamic decade.

“When we came into the market, we seemed to be late to the party,” he recalls. “But in the past 10 years, we have evolved our business. We started with just four or five people trying to set up a company, understand the market, and build the brands all at the same time.”

Now, that team has grown to approximately +70 people directly employed by Pernod Ricard to evolve and strengthen an esteemed portfolio of brands across the wine and spirits industry. For Pernod Ricard, this began with Absolut as the most renowned brand within the company’s offering in Nigeria.

Fast forward to today, and Pernod Ricard’s solid position as a market leader is evidenced by Jameson’s sta tus as the number one whiskey brand in Nigeria. Complementing this is Martell, a cognac of international pres tige that is the second-most consumed cognac across the country. Oke also credits Pernod Ricard’s market growth in the mainstream segment to Imperial Blue one of the world’s best-sell ing whiskies by volume, which since becoming part of the Pernod Ricard family in 2002, has grown to become the group’s largest brand by volume. This upward trajectory contin ued for Imperial Blue since it was introduced to the West African market just a couple of years ago.

“It really is a significant milestone for such a young brand,” comments Oke. “It shows how we continue to accelerate and transform our business.

“Before, if you asked people who Pernod Ricard was, they wouldn’t know who we were, they would only know the brands, but as we’ve grown, our reputation has continued to build,” says Oke.

From underdog to market leader, we raise a glass to a decade of Pernod Ricard Nigeria with Managing Director, Sola Oke

A NEW GENERATION OF BARTENDERS

Africa Outlook: Could you tell us about your recent launch of the Pernod Ricard Bartender Academy?

Sola Oke, Managing Director:

“This is one of the new initiatives that we started this year, which focuses on educating and building our next generation. Bartenders are critical to our industry, but nobody takes them seriously. We are now launching a programme where we want to educate 55,000 bartenders in the next five years.

“This involves a two-pronged approach. First, we’ll develop the Pernod Ricard Bartender Academy. This will be developed through one of our partners – Co-Lab - who will develop a 3rd space educational facility where bartenders will receive training in pilot bars and classrooms. Here, they can train with products and learn about things such as localising ingredients, and even agriculture to grow their own ingredients that they can use in recipes. That’s a big commitment from our side that we will begin this year and continue to focus on.”

The foundation of building this reputation is a robust network of distributors and partners who fulfil a vital role in ensuring that products reach customers across Nigeria and the rest of Western Africa.

“We have strong partners in terms of our distributors, of which there are seven throughout Nigeria. They have been instrumental in developing our route to market, and they continue to support and be part of the growth of our brands.”

These relationships remain a major source of focus for Pernod Ricard, alongside developing strong links with trade organisations across Nigeria, as they continue to create favourable market conditions.

A COCKTAIL OF CONNECTIVITY Connection, and the concept of conviviality lie at the heart of Pernod Ricard – both in the consumer experiences it offers through its varied and premium portfolio of drinks, but also throughout the culture of the company itself and its collaborative approach to performance.

Although a vast global enterprise centred in France, what defines Pernod Ricard’s worldwide reach is its emphatically local approach to individual markets subject to varying geographies. It is this local touch that makes all the difference in becoming a market leader.

Watermark & Victoria

Watermark & Victoria is a leading experiential marketing and innovations agency in Nigeria that specialises in aligning a brand’s DNA to engagement activities with the aim of influencing consumer patterns through unforgettable brand experiences. The Agency does this by utilising different activation vehicles and experiential assets to drive and deliver impactful marketing and brand experiences.

With operations spanning 32 states across the six geo-political zones in Nigeria, WV works for brands in numerous sectors of the Nation’s economy, including FMCG, Telecom, Pharmaceuticals, Aviation, Digital, and Alcoholic beverages among others.

Watermark & Victoria has mastered the art of blending precision with creativity which has allowed the experiential-led agency to not only get ahead of challenging fastchanging consumer behaviour and technological explosion but also leverage both to the benefit and satisfaction of her ever-expanding clientele.

Among said clientele is our feature company, Pernod Ricard, which WV has executed over 50 projects in activations and experiential campaigns since their signing in September 2021; and these projects have contributed actively to the growth of Martell in the market share of Nigeria’s alcohol beverages sector as well as the launch of Beefeater London Gin in the country.

WV is relentlessly redefining the relevance of the Experiential Marketing sub-sector in the Integrated Marketing Communications industry in Nigeria, and for this, brands are beginning to understand the role of sensorial experience coupled with immersive storytelling in today’s consumer journey.

info@watermarkandvictoria

Tel:

809 261 3475

– SOLA OKE, MANAGING DIRECTOR, PERNOD RICARD WESTERN AFRICA

X3M Ideas

THE JOURNEY TO FINDING X BEGINS NOW

Every great story often starts with a humble beginning that morphs into great unexpected success. The story of the creative agency that is X3M Ideas isn’t any different. The journey started exactly 10 years ago with the vision of one man and eight other disciples who believed in a dream, now this dream has morphed into a reality that spans hundreds of people and even continents. And it continues to expand.

“The relationship that we have with our global brand companies and making sure that we’re able to localise ideas or concepts and bring them to life in a way that is specific to the market is a major factor for us,” Oke elaborates. “We introduce those local nuances into our brands allowing us to connect with our consumers with the necessary impact and belief.”

The essence of collaboration between the brand team and local market is made apparent through localised advertising tactics.

“You see this at play in several activities from a brand point of view,” he continues. “For instance, Jameson has a localised engagement activities through our Jameson Connects.”

Oke also cites Martell’s collaboration with Nigerian Afro-pop singer and celebrity, Davido, which ensures local appeal lies at the core of advertising strategy.

“This is relevant not only in Nigeria, but also across the whole of Africa as Nigerian music and Afrobeat take over African culture.”

The whole notion of connectivity is best embodied by Pernod Ricard’s goal of establishing a position as a “conviviality platform”, a powerful model for growth based on unleashing the power of human connection.

The three major ingredients behind this vision involve a potent mixture of a premium brand portfolio, expansive routes to market, and finally people – the talented and empowered collaborative teams that fuel the whole enterprise both in Nigeria and beyond.

As Oke attests, “we owe our markets success firstly to our people. We have a great team! We also maintain strong connections to our brand companies and our teams all over the world.”

CONSUMERS AT THE CORE

In the continually evolving realm of fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), the needs, preferences and demands of the consumer are constantly in flux, subject to changes in the market that shape drinking

In this 10 year period, the agency has attained some staggering feats, the most pronounced being that it is now 200 people strong and has extended its creative tentacles from Lagos, Nigeria into South Africa, Zambia and more recently, Congo, Kenya and Dubai. What has undoubtedly spurred this growth is the agency’s ethos and willingness to constantly punch above its weight. This spirit brought tremendous local success and soon enough, regional and multinational clients started to pour in, helping X3M build its continental footprint.

For its 10 year anniversary though, the agency is kicking its drive up a notch by undergoing a total rebrand; new logo, new identity system and a new strategic approach titled Finding X.

Finding X simply builds on and fully optimizes the agency’s previous assets to create the most ideal and mutually beneficial chemistry between brands and the end consumer.

X3M Ideas’ desire for growth remains just as strong as it was 10 years ago. It still has bold plans to make incursions into more African markets and build on its legacy of being a truly indigenous African network taking on Africa and indeed the world. The journey to X might have started 10 years ago, but the next 10 years will indeed be one to watch. +234 811 3993 330

“THE CORE OF WHAT WE DO IS HARNESSING THAT POWER OF HUMAN CONNECTION AND BRINGING GOOD TIMES FROM A GOOD PLACE”

habits, as seen with the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We are an entirely consumercentric organisation. They are the core of what we do,” states Oke.

As such, Pernod Ricard maintains an astute stance, keeping an eye on consumer trends and tailoring its approach to move with the times. An essential tenet within this is appealing to Gen Z and reshaping how the company addresses this latest generation of consumers.

“Gen Z is where we see the future both in terms of trends and consumers. But this generation is entirely different from Gen X, in what they want and how they are thinking. We have to be at the forefront of that,” he observes.

To advance Pernod Ricard’s vision moving forwards, the company intends to fully leverage data and technology to attain a more granular understanding of consumer needs.

“Data is what we will utilise to constantly be ahead of the market and what consumers want. We are now in the process of creating that data understanding within our organisation. This will be the key to unlocking our growth model and help us deliver on our strategic direction to be a convivi ality platform,” he surmises.

A TOAST TO THE FUTURE

For the years ahead, there are four key pillars to the solid foundation that Pernod Ricard’s Nigeria’s trajectory rests upon.

“First, is business transformation, whereby we will continue to accelerate and transform our business for the future,” outlines Oke. This entails Pernod Ricard’s progression into a conviviality platform, both globally and locally.

“That’s core to our future strategy, and data will be the engine that drives this,” he adds.

Secondly, Pernod Ricard will continue to build on the brands within its portfolio.

“It’s about making sure that we focus on the right categories, channels, and the right brands. For example, it makes sense to continue to grow our whiskey in a market like this, but within that, we also begin to define what the next growth opportunities will be. We will continue to be innovative in our approach

looking at category opportunities with our wide portfolio range as well as other ways that will drive the growth ambition for our business.”

In keeping with Pernod Ricard’s emphatically social approach, centred on both connection and conviviality, it is the importance of people that defines the two remaining pillars.

GOOD TIMES FROM A GOOD PLACE

As a social organisation with an inherently sociable market offering, Pernod Ricard prides itself on its Sustainability and Responsibility Agenda.

“When we say we want to become a conviviality platform, it’s not about just being a drinks company. It’s about the consumer experience and giving back to the communities where we operate,” says Sola Oke, Managing Director for Western Africa.

A strong advocate for responsible drinking, Pernod Ricard participates in a national Drink-Drive campaign, whereby 1,000 commercial drivers across Nigeria are educated on the implications and social impact of Alcohol Misuse. The programme is run in partnership with both the Lagos State Government and the Federal Road Safety Commission to ensure maximum impact.

Another similar initiative is the ‘Drink More Water’ global campaign. A digital programme primarily targeting Gen Z, its reach in Nigeria has just surpassed 25 million people.

In terms of environmental sustainability, Pernod Ricard has been focused on promoting biodiversity by planting over 5,000 trees across Western Africa. In Nigeria alone, this amounts to just over 2,000 trees that have been planted so far in collaboration with the Nigerian Conservation Commission.

“We will continue to focus on the communities that we operate in to impact them positively – that’s a big part of our culture,” closes Oke.

“We will continue to unleash the power of our people and make sure that we grow and develop together,” shares Oke. This will entail different initiatives including upskilling

programmes and employee exchange schemes throughout sub-Saharan Africa that will grow and develop talent through exposure to a variety of roles within the company. This will also include introducing entirely new talent through the hiring of interns, thereby nurturing the future of Pernod Ricard.

Finally, the Pernod Ricard Sustainability and Responsibility Agenda remains a major focus, in line with the global company’s targets and ambitions for 2030. It’s sustainability and responsibility roadmap themed “Good times from a good place”.

“We are creators of conviviality, we want to bring people together, sharing experiences with friends and family and our brands. We are passionate hosts and respectful guests creating a better way to live and work together, not just for today but for the future generations. We aspire to create a more convivial world, a world without

excess. We are committed to fighting alcohol misuse and we strive to protect the environment in which we live and operate in. This we continue to do by self-regulating, we ensure our Drink More water campaigns are top of the agenda, alongside educating consumers on the misuse of alcohol as well as training the next generation of bartenders,” Oke concludes.

With these commitments at the fore, Pernod Ricard will continue to serve the spirit of connection across Nigeria, Western Africa, and the world, for decades to come.

Tel: +23481 837 02437 info.WesternAfrica@pernod-ricard.com www.pernod-ricard.com