Beam Suntory hires Jerry Daykin to transform media strategy

Beam Suntory, the spirits business behind brands including Jim Beam and Maker’s Mark, has appointed former Diageo media boss Jerry Daykin as vice-president of global media.

He has been tasked with transforming the company’s media strategy, with a particular focus on digital, to help it achieve its premiumisation goal. Daykin’s appointment is also critical to advancing Beam Suntory’s ambition of becoming a brand-led organisation, the company says.

To help deliver the transformation and drive growth globally, Beam Suntory now plans to build out the team and bring in additional talent to help it scale globally.

Daykin joins from GSK Consumer Healthcare where he led the company’s digital media transformation across more than 50 markets in EMEA. Prior to this he spent two years at Diageo as head of global media partnerships and strategy. He was responsible for driving the drinks giant’s Trusted Marketplace approach, that was designed to increase the quality and impact of a brand’s media. He also co-developed Diageo’s Future Media Model.

“I’m thrilled to be joining a business so determined to accelerate its global digital media transformation, with premium brands that have a right to win, and working back in a category I love,” says Daykin.

“Media has the potential to be a growth driving competitive advantage, with a socially conscious presence that funds a positive content landscape around it, and we’ll be building a team to scale that globally. The Beam Suntory experience is deeply human, and we will translate that into real life experiences for consumers across each and every brand.”

While at GSK Daykin was also the global co-lead of GSK’s #RepresentationMatters initiative to drive more diverse and inclusive marketing. He also co-chairs the World Federation of Advertisers’ (WFA) Diversity Task Force where he is helping to steer the industry’s efforts to improve diversity and inclusion and mitigate bias across the creative process.

“Jerry is an excellent example of how we are enabling transformative leadership through an organisational structure that unleashes creativity and limitless possibilities for human connection and growth,” said Jessica Spence, Beam Suntory’s president of brands.

“Recognised as a global leader with a track record of driving brand growth through digital media transformation, Jerry shares our fundamental belief in the business model that brands create value. As we shake things up to unleash the full potential of our brands, Jerry will help to further evolve our global media capabilities and partnerships by putting our brands at the heart of the business and bringing their incredible legacies into the future.”