Pernod Ricard

Consistent and scalable data analysis on a global level

“To achieve a real competitive advantage, we need to ensure data is at the heart of everything we do,” says Global Consumer Insights Director Florence Rainsard. “From marketing and consumer insights to IT, all departments must work closely together and leverage the power of data.”

Meltwater's consumer insights solution enables Pernod Ricard to do just that, structuring social data to reflect overall business focus, as well as respective departmental needs. 

Complementing the company’s unique approach to consumer research, the solution applies AI, data science, and market research expertise to prioritize and categorize fragmented consumer signals. 

Going beyond simplistic brand tracking, Meltwater lets Pernod Ricard analyze category trends and audience behaviors at a community level to measure its brand health and drive product innovation. 

Product and customer experience innovation

Social listening has been an integral part of Pernod Ricard’s strategy for a long time, but many solutions on the market could not keep up with the speed, spontaneity, and pure volume of social data available to brands today. Spotting the gap early, Pernod Ricard added Meltwater's consumer insights solution to their tech stack in 2017 to understand consumers in a faster, deeper, and more consistent manner. 

Pernod Ricard uses Meltwater to organize social mentions of the brand by moments of consumption. This gives the company a real-time, ongoing overview of which of its products are most popular at certain times of the day (lunch, apéro, dinner) or on specific occasions (festivals, clubs, at home), celebrations (weddings, birthdays), and national holidays (Cinco de Mayo, Saint Patrick’s Day, Labor Day). It uses this data to analyze changes and seasonal fluctuations in consumer behavior. The insight gained enables the company to create unforgettable experiences that not only meet but go beyond customer expectations.

“The insights not only highlight when but also why and how our customers consume their favorite products,” explains Florence. “We’re able to use the data to identify future flavor combinations or cocktail alternatives.” With Meltwater at hand, Pernod Ricard can quickly and proactively complement data-driven sales, marketing, and product development decisions.

Uncovering industry trends

Meltwater’s social listening solution lets Pernod Ricard explore online conversations and patterns to quickly and cost-effectively understand the growth potential of emerging trends. Its early analysis of the organic wines category enabled the company to identify barriers to entry, pain points, and interest in the product on both global and local levels. Examining key differences between core markets around the world helped the organization efficiently assess the opportunity while identifying and monitoring conversation leaders and influencers — such as bartenders — who represent their key audiences

“Meltwater enables us to track conversations led by select bartenders who match profiles of our target consumer groups,” says Florence. “Those profiles represent five distinctive and influential communities. And with an ongoing stream of data on what they’re into and why, we’re able to uncover new flavor combinations, food pairing opportunities, or visual aspects of cocktail making that would never come up in a more traditional research process.”

By tracking and analyzing influential bartenders’ creations, Pernod Ricard is in the know when it comes to cocktail visual presentation, flavor combinations, or newly popular types of drinks. Listening to the category experts and analyzing consumer reactions without the brand interfering in this organic process is the most authentic and natural form of marketing.   

Pernod Ricard was one of the first in its industry to recognize the value of social data for research and gathering consumer insights. Whether measuring and improving campaign performance or analyzing online consumer discussions of micro-trends, Meltwater solutions give Pernod Ricard the ability to plan ahead and stay ahead.