This Much I Learned: Diageo’s CMO on building an effectiveness culture

Cristina Diezhandino oversees some of the world’s most iconic drinks brands. Guinness, Johnnie Walker and Tanqueray are among the most famous names in Diageo’s portfolio.

As chief marketing officer of the business, Diezhandino is responsible for maintaining its strong culture of marketing effectiveness across its brands and markets. In this edition of This Much I Learned, the CMO unpicks the ingredients of the company’s effectiveness culture

Diageo has an impressive suite of effectiveness tools such as efficiency device Catalyst and measurement platform Sensor. While these programmes to drive effectiveness are much admired, Diageo’s culture of effectiveness goes much deeper.

Marketing effectiveness is a mission for the whole organisation, says Diezhandino.

“It’s a total business mentality,” she notes.

Inside Diageo’s ‘living and breathing’ marketing effectiveness culture

Thinking about the long-term health of its brands, many of which have decades if not centuries of history, is not much of a stretch for the spirits business, she notes.

“This idea of the future, I suppose, in our industry, it’s more instinctive, because many of our brands need, in some instances, a long time period to come to life,” she says. “Think about Johnnie Walker Black Label that needs 12 years to of ageing for it to be sold in the market.”

That idea of building for the long-term comes naturally to those in the business. But effectiveness is not just about letting things get old, it’s also about driving future growth and vibrancy for Diageo’s brands.

A consistent framework for assessing choices is particularly important for a global portfolio business like Diageo, notes Diezhandino. It allows objective decision-making and gives the ability for the business to consistently improve on its work.

Looking at the big picture

Diageo talks about all of its 30,000 staff as being brand-builders. Diezhandino says she feels privileged to be in this kind of organisation.

“We live in a business of brands,” she says.

This nature of the business gives her an increased understanding with the rest of the business. In giving her tips for productive discussions with the rest of C-Suite, she advises marketers not to look too closely at the minutia and to bear both the long and short-term in mind.

“Ultimately, it’s about business performance, and marketers are very well equipped to have that conversation,” she states.

Diezhandino has been a marketer for over three decades, and she maintains that the fundamentals of the role have remained consistent over the years. What has changed is the pace and the way in which it is executed.

“The essence is the same, the purpose is the same, but the actions and the way in which it unfolds, it’s so different,” she says.

Listen to the podcast for more from the Diageo CMO, including on dealing with volatility, learning from failures and what has changed for the better and worse in the marketing industry.

From opening up about mental health issues to closing the career confidence gap, you can listen to previous episodes of Marketing Week’s This Much I Learned podcast on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud and Spotify.