Pernod Ricard hires Publicis for media as it pursues marketing automation

Publicis will oversee media planning, buying and measurement while assisting Pernod as it invests more in so-called dynamic creative optimization, which refers to the practice of personalizing advertising in real time using data on the audience and environments in which ads are served. Pernod uses its in-house team to develop content for the automated ads. 

Publicis will “be helping identify strategic opportunities for dynamic creative optimization, which we're pursuing robustly across the portfolio,” Kristen Colonna, VP for Pernod’s marketing accelerator team, said in an interview. The unit was formed when Colonna joined Pernod in January 2021 after serving as chief strategy officer at Omnicom’s OMD USA. 

The accelerator team includes about 30 people, plus roughly 15 freelancers who oversee media, in-house creative, ad tech and consumer data strategy. “We have the ability to really unite all of those forces for the best possible consumer experience. And I really think that [Publicis] is the perfect strategic thought leader to help us take that ambition and deliver,” Colonna said.

Wavemaker did not participate in the review, which Colonna described as a “mutual decision,” adding that the agency had come aboard prior to the formation of the accelerator team. “It was time to assess what solutions were out there as our group became frankly more integrated and ambitious about its agenda. And that provoked the review,” she said. Publicis beat two other finalists that Pernod declined to disclose.

The agency move comes as Pernod continues to spend more on media. “Since I've joined and a bit prior, we've come close to tripling our investment in media,” Colonna said, adding that it “is one of the biggest bets we're making as a driver of our growth. So our trajectory is on an upward momentum.”

Pernod has piloted the dynamic creative optimization approach on six of its brands, including Jameson, Absolut and The Glenlivit.