CASE STUDY
Speed-to-market implementation for Pernod Ricard
About Pernod Ricard
Established in 1945, Pernod Ricard is the second largest wine and spirits seller in the world. The French company has one of the most prestigious and comprehensive brand portfolios in the industry, including Absolut Vodka, Ricard Pastis, Chivas Regal, The Glenlivet Scotch whiskies, Mumm and Perrier-Jouët champagnes, and Jacob’s Creek, among others. These brands are distributed globally across over 160 markets by its own salesforce in 73 markets, with 92% of realised sales now outside of France.
Consolidating European travel under one provider
FCM has been taking care of Pernod Ricard’s travel requirements in Ireland for over 25 years. With the continued growth of new customers, Pernod Ricard was looking for efficiency and economies of scale to consolidate travel buy under one umbrella for the United Kingdom, Ireland, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, France and Spain.
They wanted their travellers across all entities to have a seamless and easy travel experience, and to address the challenge of global inconsistencies and multiple forms of payment throughout Europe at the same time.
Project considerations included:
- Business split across 27 entities in seven European countries, with differing systems, travel policies and travel management companies
- Consolidation of multiple TMCs to create global consistencies
- Geographical spread across the seven countries that required separate, regionalised training sessions
- Implementation timeframe with execution challenges stemming from COVID-19
Effective executive coordination
To address these challenges, FCM worked closely with the executive teams from every entity and systematically set up lines of coordination before kick-starting implementation. The process started with a two-day workshop in Dublin in February; FCM had to complete rollout and system builds for all entities by the end of July.
To ensure seamless and effective monitoring of their entire travel programme, FCM created a global solution for Pernod Ricard that provided both the entity breakdown and regional level service it needs, whilst globally connecting each entity through key reporting and data.
Despite both parties having staff on furlough due to COVID-19, FCM managed to stick to the original implementation roadmap set out by Pernod Ricard and complete phase one of the implementation process on time. The implementation’s key to success was the executive buy-in from Pernod Ricard leaders across every entity. They provided the remote support coordination that FCM needed to implement swiftly and smoothly.
Implementing during the COVID-19 crisis
Implementation takes time, but the results so far validate the hard work that both FCM and Pernod Ricard have put in to bring it to fruition.
“Implementing during these unprecedented times has only re-validated our decision to partner with FCM. The whole team from Project Management through to Account Management and the Agent Team have remained committed and adaptable to our business needs throughout. We decided to keep our original implementation timeline while there was minimal stress on the service. Almost the entire implementation process has been conducted remotely including user training which has been very effective.”
- Calum Krievs, Global Travel Manager, Pernod Ricard
FCM delivered “the right product at the right time for the right consumer” in alignment with Pernod Ricard’s ethos. In the face of the current pandemic and the seemingly insurmountable challenges, everyone remained “focused and committed to the plan despite the unprecedented circumstances”. Having that drive, rhythm, and a good partner as a client enabled FCM to forge on and deliver another implementation success story.