Jess (00:00)
Welcome to Dig Inspiration, a quick recap where we dig deeper into the story behind the story. In each bite-sized episode, I'll revisit key moments from our incredible guests, highlighting the most inspiring parts of the stories they share. And today we're dropping a quick reflection on some of the most memorable parts of my talk with Anna Estlund, Senior Director, Insights and Strategy at Pernod Ricard.

One of the takeaways I think our listeners will find really valuable was about how to bring global stakeholders along with your strategy and how to do that through empathy building. Anna was reflecting on the time when Pernaud was pursuing this massive growth opportunity in the RTD segment and how she had to align her global counterparts and stakeholders to the opportunity in the US market. And because the markets are so very different, right? The idea of convenience is just so different between Europe and the US.

there was a real need to expose her global teammates to the market realities here in the US. So what did they do? They went to the streets, right? They spent time in the restaurants, in the stores, in the aisles of the US market. So those global counterparts could really understand what it was like to walk in the customer's shoes in those aisles. And personally, I've seen this ebb and flow in the past decade where clients will put an emphasis on this in-context empathy building.

and then maybe lose sight of it for a time. So I suggest that now is the time to get back out there in real life where you can more deeply understand the true market dynamics, especially those in store. It's truly priceless and one that Anna was really smart to do with for global stakeholders.

A lot of this episode was about the role of shopper marketing and how Anna is on a quest to make the world understand that shopper marketing, shopper insights is sexy.

It might not be as headline sexy as brand marketing or innovation, but it is legitimately sexy. And why is that? It's because it's where the transaction actually happens. It's where all the innovation strategy and brand magic meets the basket, meets the online cart, where the dollars are actually exchanged. It is the moment that matters and there's a lot of power to that.

And related to that, Anna shared another nugget about how Shopper Insights can really be a career unlock. And I thought this was really insightful, especially important for our young Insights professionals to think about. Understanding the nuances of Shopper makes you a more well-rounded marketer, better prepared to speak to the sales metrics and the dynamics that have a profound impact on the company's financials. So Insights professionals who gain this expertise become more impactful business partners.

And being a sales and a commercial professional myself, this really spoke to me. How you meet the consumer at that point of purchase where you actually capture their trial and hopefully their commitment to you. It's really a magical moment.

Well, that's your Dig Inspiration recap for the week. We would love to hear your takeaways and thoughts on the conversation. So please visit the link in the description and leave us a