Premium spirits company Beam Suntory has appointed Jerry Daykin as its vice-president of global media.
Daykin, who has experience with alcohol brand marketing at Diageo, starts in the role tomorrow and will be based in London. The Media Leader first reported news of his departure from previous employer GSK in November.
This is a newly created role that a spokesperson for the company said was “part of the company’s transformation to a global brand led organisation”.
He will be responsible for advancing Beam Suntory’s media strategy focussed on its brands’ growth, global digital transformation and “premiumisation”, and report into Venky Iyer, vice president, digital products.
Daykin told The Media Leader: “Winning the International Media Leader of the Year Award last year was obviously a good omen for exciting things ahead!”
He also said: “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.”
Most recently, Daykin was EMEA senior media director for GSK Consumer Healthcare and prior to that was head of global media and partnerships at Diageo.
He is a co-chair of the World Federation of Advertisers’ (WFA) Diversity Task Force and has spoken at Mediatel’s Future of Media event on the subject of diversity.
Daykin has also been writing a book on inclusive marketing called #RepresentationMatters.
Beam Suntory was formed in 2014 and its premium spirit brands include Jim Beam, Maker’s Mark, Knob’s Creek bourbon, Courvoisier cognac, Toki Japanese whiskey, Laphroaig Scotch whiskey, Canadian Club whiskey, Sipsmith gin and more.