Andy Fennell, the chief marketing officer of Diageo, said the drinks giant expected to spend less on marketing over 2009 due to the global recession which had resulted in flat sales in the nine months to March this year.
‘Our marketing spend will be down this year, but our effective spend will be up,' he said citing media deflation for this during an investor presentation on group marketing.
Fennell said the budget would be used to target growth in areas such as Africa, Latin America and parts of Asia.
Diageo is mid-way through a consultation with staff over redundancies as part of a company-wide plan to make £100m in savings focused mainly in developed markets such as the UK.
However, Fennell said the company had a "good Easter" in the UK and Ireland. He also said that the increase in home-drinking has seen Diageo's shift spend to in-store promotions.
Diageo would place less emphasis on new brand and more on brand extensions and different formats.
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