Making New Friends Every Day w/ Fabyola Soares, Pernod Ricard

XChateau Wine Podcast

As the #2 global wines & spirits company, Pernod Ricard seriously emphasizes promoting its brands globally. One method of doing this is its global network of Brand Ambassadors (“BA”). Fabyola Soares, Global Senior Wine Education Manager at Martell Mumm Perrier-Jouët, describes her team of 30 Brand Ambassadors, their mission, their role, and what traits make them great.

Detailed Show Notes:

Fabyola's background - studied to be a sommelier in Brazil, joined Pernod Ricard in 2013 as 1st Champagne Ambassador in Brazil, now oversees global education program and Champagne & Provence Brand Ambassadors (“BA”)

Pernod Ricard (“PR”) is #2 worldwide in wines & spirits, >200 premium brands (e.g., Absolut Vodka, GH Mumm, Perrier-Jouët)

Pernod Ricard has a range of Brand Ambassador programs

• Programs overseen by brand owner
• The oldest program is for Jameson Irish Whisky, founded in 1991 with 80 BAs in 15 markets worldwide
• BA programs don’t span multiple categories but could represent similar ones, e.g., 2 Champagne houses
• The scope varies by market - e.g., Hong Kong BA represents Champagnes and Provence, France - different BAs for each house, US - 1 Sr BA for Champagne

Champagne & Provence Brand Ambassador program

• 30 BAs, 15 international markets

Brand Ambassador roles

• Targets trade and passionate consumers
• Mission - “to win hearts and minds”
• Engage in brand education, trade activation, business development, interact with media/journalists, organize cellar master visits, and teach wine certification programs
• Collaborates with marketing and commercial teams
• Don’t sell wine - commercial teams (Private Client Directors, Prestige Sales Teams) responsible for sales across the portfolio
• Career paths - can be promoted to senior BA or join global market and strategy team (7 former BAs work there)

Rare wine offers - mostly sold via auctions (e.g., 1874 Perrier-Jouët sold at Christie’s in 2021 for a record £42,875) or private client directors

Key Brand Ambassador traits

• Need to be credible and respected by experts - focus on formal wine training, launched WSET in-house and developed Champagne Specialist Course with the Wine Scholar Guild
• Must embody house essence and be an effective spokesperson
• 4 key characteristics PR recruits for - passion for wine, strong communications skills, adaptability/resilience, and spontaneous charisma
• Must be able to personalize interactions and customize messaging to meet customers’ interests
• Prior relationships are a plus, depending on the level being recruited for

Building relationships

• PR founder often said, “Make a new friend every day” - key for BAs
• Commercial teams will make introductions to local customers
• Connect with as many people as possible, often surprised by who brings in new business opportunities

Benefits of relationships with BAs - e.g., invitations to curated events and experiences such as the Belle Époque Society by Perrier-Jouët

Social media is more important in some markets (e.g., Brazil) than others

PR also has Lifestyle Ambassadors (part of the Marketing team) who have social media as a KPI

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