Bacardi-Martini looks to India for global brand chief

Bacardi-Martini is understood to have appointed Jeff McDonald as global brand director for its Bacardi brand. McDonald was previously with the spirits giant’s Indian operations.

McDonald replaces John Burke, who was appointed as UK marketing director for Bacardi Brown-Forman Brands (BBF), its joint venture with US wine and spirits group Brown Forman, which handles marketing for both companies’

brands in the UK. Burke moved to his new role in October (MW October 26). It is not clear when McDonald will take up his new role.

Burke replaced Andrew Carter, who moved to Bacardi Global Brands (BGB) as global brand director for premium gin Bombay Sapphire, reporting to BGB chief marketing officer Stella David.

Bacardi is one of Bacardi-Martini’s three worldwide “power brands”, but while white rum sales have continued to be buoyant, sales of Bacardi Breezer and other Bacardi branded ready-to-drink products are falling.

Earlier this year, Bacardi-Martini launched a global advertising campaign for Bacardi using the “You in?” strapline. It included a major shift to digital and interactive advertising through “social network” sites and blogs.

The campaign targets younger, primarily female, consumers, and aims to promote social drinking. The ads were the first work created by Rainey Kelly Campbell Roalfe/Y&R after Y&R was awarded the $160m (£82m) global Bacardi account in December 2005 after a five-way pitch.

Recommended

Stephen Carter makes his move

Marketing Week

Around the middle of this year, something rather unusual happened. Stephen Carter suddenly announced that he was stepping down as chairman of the Marketing Group of Great Britain, only half way through his biennial term. Clearly something major was afoot, and in Carter?s case it was unlikely to be an enveloping scandal. Pressure of work, […]