In good spirits: Beam Suntory’s agile work and research sharing

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If you’ve 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 company’s 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 Glasgow-based 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 ...