News

Diageo Spain -- Johnnie Walker

ANTICIPATING REGULATORY PREJUDICE, DRINK IN MODERATION

Service: Sports sponsorship management

Sector: Spirits

Manager(s) Pablo de Villota, Valvanuz Serna

Challenge

DIAGEO, the multinational spirits company, closed a multi-year sponsorship deal with the McLaren Formula 1 team and the championship organisers. Although Formula 1 was an ideal marketing platform for generating notoriety and brand building, the association between driving, risk and alcohol threw up various potentially controversial issues for stakeholders and public opinion.

The priorities for the company were:

To form part of the solution to alcohol-related road traffic accidents and to lead the positioning in responsible consumption in order to anticipate the prejudice that could arise from the self-regulation of advertising by the FEBE [Spanish Spirits Federation], which had traditionally self-imposed a veto on this type of sponsorship.
To associate the Johnnie Walker brand with positive values for driving, such as zero tolerance to alcohol and safety.

Solution

PROA drew up a strategy based on three key factors:

Design of promotional activities for the sponsorship of an educational or awareness raising nature about the importance of not mixing alcohol and driving. For example, a safe driving courses format was developed that included a section in which reduced faculties when driving could be felt through technical modifications to the cars.
Participation in promotional activities by opinion leaders and influential people in the world of road safety so they could see the work being done by the brand in the best interests of that awareness for themselves.
Engagement with motor sports fans by developing an online game called Winning Strategy and hiring the McLaren F1 driver, Pedro de la Rosa, to act as ambassador and communicate the message. The driver gave credibility to the message and his attendance to promotional events encouraged engagement by the target audience.

Results

The FEBE abandoned its reticence towards the sponsorship when it could see that this activity was not affecting the reputation of spirits companies. Similarly, opinion leaders joined the message and gave increased credibility to the initiatives promoted by the brand in the media, with special emphasis on the safe driving courses and possible effects of driving under the influence of alcohol.

The Formula 1 sponsorship was a great success and helped build the premium image the brand sought, while the responsible consumption message did not detract from the opportunities for the message to reach its targets, in actual fact it enabled it to venture into territories unrelated to motor sports.

The strategy of using a driver of recognised standing as ambassador for the activities was repeated the following year worldwide due to the success of this initiative in Spain.

The work by Diageo Spain was recognised as Best Practice Global by the McLaren team from among all its sponsors.

-- Women's cycling: the rise of two-wheelers during the pandemic

Are unisex bikes really bikes for men? A new article in El Confidencial analyses how cycling, and specifically women's cycling, has experienced significant growth since the pandemic. The Giant group, the world's largest manufacturer, which maintains a clear policy through its...

Lucía Casanueva -- Tamara Falcó and the 20 "S's" of popular communication

In this article in Confilegal, PROA's managing partner Lucía Casanueva draws conclusions for successful communication through a case study. Audiences always need a queen in the wings. Just when we had barely buried Isabel II, Tamara I of Spain appeared with a...

ABC reports on the Proa Communication Observatory

The national newspaper ABC has published a report on the Proa Communication Observatory, held last Thursday, which featured Carlos Espinosa de los Monteros, the Government High Commissioner for Marca España, who gave a talk on 'Spain today: how we are seen, how we...

Challenges for sports sponsorship in the face of digital transformation

Sponsorship, like the rest of the Marketing-Mix tools, is also facing powerful challenges in the face of the digital transformation in which we are immersed. Due to the great changes we are experiencing in terms of the way we communicate and inform ourselves about sporting events, sponsorship is perhaps facing a...

Barbara Yuste -- Digitisation, irreversible and without hot air

The crisis caused by COVID-19 has forced organisations to implement digitalisation processes to face a new context, in which technology has played a key role. We have witnessed what could be described as a forced advancement of the digital transformation that a large number of companies have been...

More than 50 percent of a brand's value lies in intangibles.

A few weeks ago, at the annual meeting of Corporate Excellence - Centre for Reputation Leadership, its chairman, Jaume Giró, and José Ignacio Goirigolzarri, chairman of Bankia, recalled that one of the main challenges facing banks, companies and communication consultants is reputational. Companies must...

More conversations, more ideas, more PROA.
Follow us on our networks.

Receive ideas with criteria

Every week we share reflections, trends and the key aspects of about reputation, strategic communication, public affairs and innovation. Content designed for professionals who value information with diligence and perspective.