• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

January, February, March 2019 Volume 42 Number 1 WOMEN LEADERS WESTERN & SOUTHERN’S BARRETT 56 HELPING BUSINESSES STAY IN BUSINESS 60 A CENTENARY STORY OF GRIER 10 CASE 14 C.V. STARR & CO. 64 HOSPITALITY 72 THE MARK OF THE MAKER 122 JAN DILENSCHNEIDER 124 MAHLAN 20 JOHNSON 22 NEALE 24 SAVIO 50 KASICH 54 Celebrating Life, Every Day, Everywhere An Interview with Deirdre Mahlan, President, Diageo North America EDITORS’ NOTE Deirdre Mahlan is Sometimes, this will require us We have been actively looking to encourage President of Diageo North America and is to innovate with new brands or that we women to continue their careers in the industry and responsible for the company’s largest acquire brands. Distil Ventures, our we engage our distributors and suppliers in that market in terms of sales and operating Diageo funded accelerator program same conversation. We are also working to ensure profit. In this role, she oversees Diageo’s for entrepreneurs sees us invest in the that our own supplier base is diverse. spirits and beer businesses in the U.S. and future of drinks, while allowing the It’s a journey and we have to continually keep Canada, which include brands such as businesses to grow independently. We our eye on the goal. We must continue to remove Johnnie Walker, Smirnoff, Crown Royal, also acquire brands, as we recently did the barriers so that everyone can progress, and we Ketel One, Captain Morgan, Baileys with Casamigos, where we saw a huge are making positive strides overall. and Guinness. Mahlan has more than opportunity. How does Diageo North America view its 20 years of experience in the consumer Given Diageo’s global footprint, responsibility to the communities where it goods sector in a number of senior roles, is there close coordination from operates and is corporate responsibility a key primarily in the U.S. with Diageo and Deirdre Mahlan region to region? part of the company’s culture? Seagram. Most recently, she served as CFO We have a number of leading It’s a huge part of our culture. Our purpose is of Diageo PLC, during which time she was a member global brands such as Johnnie Walker, Smirnoff celebrating life, every day, everywhere, and being of Diageo’s Board of Directors. Mahlan is also a non- and Guinness. These brands have a more proud of what we do is one of our core values. executive Director for Experian plc. She completed her coordinated global effort because the consumers Recently, we had more than 400 people undergraduate education at New York University and are global and the brand’s purpose, how it’s renovating a park in Stamford, Connecticut, where holds an M.B.A. from Columbia University. presented and how it shows up in the various we were also stuffing bags of food for Rise Against cultures, needs to be consistent wherever the Hunger and conducting educational seminars on COMPANY BRIEF Diageo (diageo.com) is a brand goes. responsible drinking. We allow our employees to global leader in spirit and beer brands which are There are other brands that are born locally take time every year to participate in these types of manufactured and marketed in more than 180 and remain local, and those tend to be regional and activities. countries. Diageo was created in 1997 through market specific. Globally, Diageo has a three-pillar approach a merger of Guinness and Grand Metropolitan How do you guard against complacency to corporate social responsibility: one focuses on which contributed to the company’s vast and rich when Diageo owns such a large market share? environmental – such as water efforts, because array of premium alcohol brands. It is vitally important to avoid that compla- water is a key to creating our products, but is also cency. Our long-standing ambition has been to be a resource coming under increasing pressure in Will you discuss the strength of Diageo within one of the best performing and most trusted and many parts of the world. the North American market? respected consumer products companies in the The second focus is on community and edu- Diageo is the leader in spirits in the U.S. – we world. This is something we totally believe in, but cation – for example, Learning For Life, which is have the largest positions and leading brands in we’re not there yet. We guard against complacency all about partnering with the hospitality industry to every category in which we participate. We have by recognizing that we haven’t yet delivered fully give people new skills for the future. enjoyed long-standing success in the market and against our own ambition and our stated purpose, The third one is focused on alcohol in so- our strength is the diversity of our brand portfolio and that keeps us fresh. ciety – reducing any negative impacts of the use where, in most categories, we have the number Sometimes, we find that we have taken our of our products through consumer education and one or number two brand. eye off the ball for a given brand or situation, and programs to make sure our products are con- Are you primarily focused on growing then we have to take a step back and refresh our sumed responsibly. the existing brands or developing new brands approach. This is what we have been doing in These are consistent focuses that we invest in for the portfolio? super premium vodka with Ketel One – launching and that receive a significant emphasis at our global It’s a combination of both. It has always been a new line called Ketel One Botanical – because executive committee meetings. our goal as marketers and brand owners to continue we recognized that we needed to tap into What makes Diageo so special for you? to ensure our brands remain relevant to consum- occasions where we weren’t present. We feel I joined Diageo through an acquisition. There ers and that we continue to do what we refer to as Ketel One has the credentials to do that and it has are two reasons I have stayed here: first, we are al- recruit and re-recruit. We have to continually recruit been very successful. ways striving for excellence, so I’m constantly feel- and re-recruit consumers for our brands and, as long Will you discuss the importance of diversity ing challenged. There are only so many businesses as they stay relevant to those consumers, they can for Diageo and the opportunities that exist for where, if one demonstrates the aptitude, willing- continue to grow as ours have for centuries. women in the industry? ness and leadership, they are given an opportunity However, we always approach our brands Forty percent of Diageo’s global executives are to step forward. from the consumers point of view. We look at how female and the executive committee members come The second reason is Diageo’s commitment to and where the consumers enjoy their alcoholic from six different ethnic backgrounds. In North values. We are committed to inclusion and the core beverages and how they socialize around them. We America, we are now very close to gender parity on values of the business, which include celebrating then decide what brands we have that are relevant the North American executive committee, and the life, every day and everywhere. to those scenarios. head of our U.S. spirits business is a woman. It really is an enjoyable place to work.• 20 LEADERS POSTED WITH PERMISSION. COPYRIGHT © 2019 LEADERS MAGAZINE, INC. VOLUME 42, NUMBER 1.

Load more

  2

Copy Link