Friends and colleagues of Stella David describe her as being like
the Duracell bunny, but that is unfair. For one thing she is not at all
soft, pink and fluffy. And, for another, she would still be going strong
long after the bionic bunny had worn out its paws.
David, the recently appointed Bacardi-Martini UK managing director, is
unstoppable. She seems to have more energy than the national grid and
more enthusiasm than a lovestruck teen at a Boyzone concert. It is not
unknown for her to fire off e-mails to colleagues at 2am when she can’t
sleep. ’She doesn’t expect you to answer them at that time of the
morning, of course, but you know what time she wrote them,’ one
colleague comments.
Not that the diminutive 36-year-old is an anorak in need of a
personality and a life outside of the office. It is just that she works
hard and believes in being a brand champion to the point of zealotry.
’No one would dare ask for another brand when we are out for a drink,’
comments research and planning manager Liz Gerken.
Bacardi marketing controller Jeff Macdonald recalls going to an agency
meeting with David, where the agency was advertising a company party
with a Latin American theme. ’She noticed the posters had a cocktail
recipe on them that said a measure of white rum, as opposed to a measure
of Bacardi.
She pointed this out and all the posters were reprinted,’ he says. ’She
is a demon in her passion for her brands.’
David has been with Bacardi for five years, first as marketing
controller, then marketing director and, since last month, as managing
director. She is credited with turning around the firm’s performance, so
the promotion came as little surprise. ’She gets results. A lot of the
growth of this company is thanks to her,’ says Macdonald. ’She has
vision and the ability to bring the rest of the company with her. She
sets high standards and is good at creating strong teams.’
New products have been the engine of Bacardi’s success. David was
responsible for the UK launch of Bacardi Breezer in 1994, which is one
of the most successful spirit launches and is credited with creating the
market for premium packaged spirits.
’New product development is incredibly important in the spirits market,’
David says. ’Spirits have have had a hard time these past ten years
because they are becoming increasingly irrelevant to people’s lives.
People no longer automatically graduate to spirits at a certain age. The
trend is toward long drinks and the challenge is to make products that
consumers want in the formats they want.’
Subsequent launches included Metz, V2, and, more recently, Bacardi Rigo,
a mix with lime and soda.
David is tough and she demands results. She was responsible for dropping
Howell Henry’s controversial ’beautiful people’Martini campaign. ’The
people who liked the advertising didn’t drink the brand. It was too
strident, not in the right vein at all,’ she says.
The replacement campaign, which was set in an Italian bar, did not
satisfy her either. Consequently HHCL lost the business to
McCann-Erickson. ’Volume was in 15% decline and has now been stabilised,
which is good, but the advertising was not as good as we hoped. We can
be a lot more effective,’ she states. As we spoke, lavish sponsorship
credits and break bumpers were being filmed in some far-flung location
to support Martini’s sponsorship of the ITV Bond film season. ’It is
quite a radical change,’ she says.
’We are spending pounds 1m in total, which shows our commitment. We are
spending as much on these as we would on making a proper
commercial.’
Ben Langdon, managing director of McCann-Erickson, describes David as a
’very aggressive and challenging’ client. ’At the beginning of this year
she told me that she wanted Bacardi to have the best campaign in the UK.
Very few clients set you that challenge, most want to be the best in
their category or 10% better than last year. Stella wants the best.’
Langdon says that David never allows her suppliers to rest on their
laurels and she never loses sight of the basics: is it insightful; is it
impactful; will it achieve sales growth? Langdon adds: ’It is not that
she is simplistic about advertising. She has a very strong understanding
of the art of creativity, but she never loses sight of the
objectives.’
She makes sure that McCanns doesn’t lose sight of them either as she has
structured its remuneration package to reflect its performance against
sales targets. ’You have to be better than before to achieve what you
did in the past,’ David says. ’There is a big danger in becoming too
pleased with yourself. You have to constantly ask yourself whether you
are as good as you can be. If the answer is yes, you are deluded.’
Now that David has appointed a marketing director, Maurice Doyle, a
former senior product manager for NPD, she can concentrate on managing
the business.
Relinquishing day-to-day control of the marketing department will be a
wrench, she admits, but she is enjoying broadening her skills and
getting involved with other areas of the business ’which are equally
important’, if not so high profile.
’There are lots of new challenges and experiences and a hell of a lot of
things to get to grips with. I believe you should be stimulated and
stretched by what you do,’ she beams.
BIOGRAPHY
1994-1997
Marketing controller, Bacardi Brands, Bacardi-Martini UK
1997-1999
Marketing director, Bacardi-Martini UK
1999
Managing director, Bacardi-Martini UK
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