InsidePernodRicard USA WHERE THE ONLY CONSTANT IS CHANGE

Pernod USA Executives (l. to r.): Kevin Fennessey, senior VP marketing, Michel Bord, President and Charles Smith, senior VP, sales. By Kristen Wolfe Bieler Photographs by Andrew Kist

eemingly overnight, went from a small player with a few brown spirits brands – barely a blip on the U.S. beverage alcohol scene – to S the third largest and spirits company in the world, and the sixth largest in the United States with an annual volume of 11 million cases.1 While the com- pany’s namesake may be from two relatively obscure anise-flavored French spirits, Pernod Ricard’s portfolio today includes such powerhouse brands as ’s , the category leader in the U.S. selling three million cases a year; The Glenlivet, the number one selling single malt in the U.S.; and , which sells 3 million cases worldwide, and growing. In a lackluster economy, how many compa- nies in any mature industry can boast of dramatically increased margins, and dou- bled profits in less than one year?

“Right from the beginning, we had a cohesive , Pernod Ricard decided to aggressively pur- marketing and sales team brought together by enthu- sue them. The acquisition tripled Pernod Ricard siasm for our brands and the future of the company,” USA’s size and moved Pernod Ricard into the top says Michel Bord, president, Pernod Ricard USA. three companies in the wine and spirit business “Individuals with different corporate roots thrived in internationally. the entrepreneurial culture of Pernod Ricard.” Worldwide, Pernod Ricard boasts an impressive While the addition of some extremely high-pro- €4.8 billion Euros in sales (2002) and operates sub- file, high-volume Seagram’s brands is certainly no sidiaries in over 50 countries. Of their immense sales small development in Pernod Ricard’s corporate evo- volume (annually, the company sells 52 million cases lution, it is in many ways merely a continuation of a of spirits brands and 26 million cases of wine), North remarkable growth pattern that has come to define American sales account for 24 percent of the inter- the company’s culture. national company’s business. Pernod Ricard is truly a company that has never Pernod Ricard USA was ordained in 2002 to known a static state. become the new home and corporate identity for all "This company has doubled every year since I Austin Nichols brands and newly acquired Seagram’s arrived," says Charles R. “Chuck” Smith, senior VP brands, and headquarters were quickly established in sales, Pernod Ricard USA. "Therefore, it wasn’t White Plains, New York. "Pernod Ricard USA is the complex at all to add the Seagram’s brands. It is part largest division of Pernod Ricard," says Bord. “We of our culture to understand change and growth, are a key player for Pernod Ricard. There is tremen- which is a huge advantage." Smith uses the compar- dous room for growth in the U.S., and our objective ison of a family, whose culture changes with the is to significantly grow the business here.” addition of every child. "We have added so many In order to do so, the company has disposed of all new brands over the years, that we have always non-strategic activities in order to focus entirely on stayed flexible." The Seagram’s brands have assimi- beverage alcohol. And, while Pernod Ricard has hun- lated into the company so seamlessly, Bord says, that dreds of brands, there is a small handful that they even after only 18 months, "There are no Seagram’s identify as truly global; Chivas Regal, Seagram’s Gin, or Austin Nichols brands any longer; all of our Jacob’s Creek, The Glenlivet, Jameson