Andy Fennell, the chief marketing officer of Diageo, came under intense scrutiny by Labour MP Stephen Hesford over an internal document on the alcopop Smirnoff Appleback. The document, made by a research company hired by Diageo, appeared to promote marketing ideas which go against the codes on alcohol ads.
Fennell argued that the ideas within the document had ‘never seen the light of day'. ‘This led to no actionable insight or communication,' he added.
Deborah Carter, the marketing director of Beverage Brands, which owns the WKD brand said: ‘We have nothing to gain by producing ads that can only be run once because they are in breach of the code.'
Halewood International marketing director Graham Oak told the committee that setting a minimum price for alcohol could have the effect of pricing out its target audience for Lambrini which consisted of ‘everyday hard-working low income women'.
Simon Davies, the marketing director of Molson Coors, however said his company did back a minimum pricing regime.
Also giving evidence on the agency side were BMB partner Andrew McGuinness, Joseph Petyan, the joint managing director of JWT London, Big Communication chairman Chris Morris and Charlotte Thompson, the director of BJL.
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