Spirits brand Beam Suntory has announced that David McDiarmid will assume the newly created position of Director of Digital Media & Activation this month. McDiarmid joins having spent almost 9 years at the Publicis Groupe agency Digitas UK, most recently as their Head of Media.
The move follows the creation of Beam Suntory’s new global media function 6 months ago, at which time Jerry Daykin (formerly of GSK & Diageo) was appointed as VP, Head of Media. This appointment, and four additional currently advertised roles out of the company’s New York office, shows the increasing prioritisation of media, digital commerce, and data opportunities.
Based in London, the role will oversee the development of a Future Media Model which brings greater digital expertise and activation oversight internally within the business.
Speaking about the announcement Jerry Daykin commented, “It has been a fantastic blank canvas to work on a successful global business which hasn’t historically had a centralised media function and ask ourselves ‘how do we build a model not just for today but that is ready for the future’. We call our approach ‘Liquid & Looped.”
“The Liquid part speaks to the absolute fundamentals we want to get right by treating our media with the same quality & respect as the liquids we produce and sell – in turn ensuring it flows right across the consumer journey and is served up perfectly at the end. The Looped part speaks to some of the competitive advantage we are building through our first-party data approaches, an agile approach to optimisation, and by pulling together a future-ready adtech stack.”
“We know David has led some fantastic work within the Digitas business and we are excited to bring him into our team to help us elevate our current activation & buying model and build a roadmap out for the future evolution of that with our external partners.”
David himself commented “I am incredibly excited to be joining Beam Suntory. It’s a privilege to be able to be moving into a role to work alongside such incredible brands and amazingly talented people. The fact that Beam Suntory has such an ambitious agenda and plan for its media demonstrates it’s really grasped the challenges and opportunities ahead. Who wouldn’t be excited about joining and shaping such a world class team and operation?”
