The highs and lows of a whisky brand ambassador

Do you want to be a Whisky Brand Ambassador? There are a number of professions that have the outward appearance of being particularly glamorous and appealing.   They’re the careers that people look on at with envy, with the inherent assumption that the work is always exciting, always fun, never a chore, easy to fulfil, well remunerated, and without any downsides.

Over the decades, several professions have assumed such projected glamour. Rock stars, airline pilots, flight attendants, professional footballers, film stars, astronauts, magicians, and so on. As a subtle prelude to this article, you’ll note that most of these professions involve performing and/or travelling. And, as any regular traveller or performer will tell you, it ain’t always a barrel of monkeys.

The role of a whisky brand ambassador is one such profession that, on the surface, must surely be the ideal, dream job? After all, you get paid to work with whisky. Heck, you get paid to actually drink whisky! You get paid to travel and tell people about whisky. You get paid to hear all the insider knowledge, to visit the distilleries, and to be on the frontline of whisky’s marketing, development, and expansion. If you love whisky, surely there couldn’t possibly be a downside ?

Yours truly has been a whisky brand ambassador for over 20 years now, representing – at various times and in several different guises – Ardbeg, Glenmorangie, Macallan, Bowmore, Glenfiddich, Glenlivet, Glenfarclas and, of course, my main gig, which is The Scotch Malt Whisky Society. But mine is a different journey and perspective to most, having always managed this caper part-time or sometimes just as a gun for hire. Even though there was a period from 2009 until around 2015 where my whisky work regularly had me tied up for over 30 hours per week, it’s never been my main source of income, nor has my livelihood depended on it. And, as you’ll read below, 30 hours a week is very small beer compared to what full-time brand ambassadors actually put in. So, in just a few paragraphs from now, we’ll chat to and hear from some brand ambassadors who have lived and breathed it full-time. We’ll explore the fun and the bright side, but we’ll also shine a light on the areas that you might not have contemplated or appreciated. But first, let’s explore a bit about the game….

 

The brand ambassador’s toolkit…

The role of whisky brand ambassador has changed and developed exponentially in the last 10 years alone, and some of today’s current high-flyers wouldn’t recognise the scene or the role from what it was at the turn of the millennium. Back then, it was just about pouring out good whisky, giving everyone a good time, and talking up the brand – hopefully chalking up a few bottle sales for the liquor store that hosted the event. None of the local Scotch whisky ambassadors I conversed with after tasting events in the late 1990’s had ever even been to Scotland, let alone the distillery they represented, and few knew anything about their competing brands or the ins and outs of whisky. They had a brand “cheat sheet” to recite from and, for many, that was it. A major difference between then and now was knowledge. Having it was not a pre-requisite for the job, and whisky education was only a minor component of any formal whisky event, or it was overlooked altogether. To be fair to the era and for context, bear in mind that digital projectors and Powerpoint presentations weren’t necessarily part of a brand ambassador’s toolkit in the late 1990’s. Nor were flat caps, waistcoats, and tweed. An A4 handout was about as advanced as things got, and public speaking was the “essential skill” needed for the job.

Of course, the internet changed a few things. Information about whisky became far more accessible and available, and distilleries/brands developed more meaningful and detailed websites – sharing photographs and facilitating virtual tours. Where, once, brand ambassadors were the bridge between Michael Jackson’s book and your local liquor store, they were now the face and voice of brands that were tremendously increasing their presence and exposure. Oh, yes….and the Scotch whisky category exploded with the biggest boom it’s seen in 200 years. The net result was that consumers and audiences became more educated; brand engagement had to become more focussed as the marketplace got crowded; and brand ambassadors suddenly had to have a few more strings to their bow. Throw in social media and the age of the influencer, and the landscape changes further still.  For a more incisive exploration of this, check out our other article, The changing face of whisky marketing.

 

The fount of all knowledge…

Today’s whisky ambassadors now undergo significant training before heading out on the road although, to be fair, many enter the industry with a significant amount of pre-acquired data and experience already under their belts – usually gleaned from working in some other sector of the drinks industry, particularly the on-premise bar trade.

A brand ambassador’s role can ultimately be condensed into two primary functions whilst promoting the brand: You’re there to educate, and you’re there to entertain. Every tasting event, presentation, or appearance needs to have an element of both, and it’s a skill learning to get that balance right – noting that the balance changes with different audiences and different occasions: A raucous bucks night probably isn’t the occasion to unravel the science of fermentation and ester development, and a formal banquet-style tasting or fundraiser with distinguished guests and luminaries probably isn’t the right time to pull out your best lewd and offensive joke. (Although this invariably works for the likes of Dr Bill Lumsden of Glenmorangie fame!) In any case, the best brand ambassadors find public speaking a breeze and can hold and entertain an audience whilst also imparting knowledge about both the brand and the category.   And, needless to say, in an era where audiences are armed with phones and Google, you need to know your stuff.

A brand ambassador’s knowledge bank needs to constantly grow and evolve, going well beyond the confines of their own brand. Consider also that some roles are more widely encompassing than others. For example, a brand ambassador for Balvenie has to know everything about Balvenie. Whereas – as myself and my colleague, Matt Bailey (National Brand Ambassador for The Scotch Malt Whisky Society in Australia), can attest to – brand ambassadors for independent bottlers have to have a reasonable knowledge of every distillery the IB has bottled or represented. Bailey elaborates: “What’s the most important thing? It’s being more than just a whisky ambassador for your brand…you need to be a ‘category’ ambassador and know every aspect as much as possible. Pouring a single cask single malt while a punter wants to ask you about blended whisky? Sure! Be ready and know a lot about the category, rather than just your brand. But knowing your brand back to front, knowing the story, knowing how and when to best communicate…that’s the key. The other thing is being a great storyteller. Rattling off factoids about wash temperatures and still sizes doesn’t tell you much about flavour and sheer enjoyment. Being personable, performing, and being a true entertainer with some old-school hospitable charm will go a long way.”

 

Hi ho, hi ho, it’s off to work we go…

The first thing to appreciate about being a whisky brand ambassador is that it’s not a Monday to Friday, nine-to-five job. Tasting events and activations are usually in the evenings and there’s often an obligation or compulsion to “carry on” after the formalities end.   The rise of social media has also made brand ambassadors far more accessible than used to be the case, and some folks will think nothing of sending a brand ambassador an Insta message or Tweet in the middle of the night or on weekends, expecting an answer. Like so many other aspects of professional life these days, we are always “on”.

Contrary to what you might think, the time demands on a brand ambassador are very significant. Matthew Fergusson-Stewart, a former Glenfiddich brand ambassador with William Grant & Sons who spent five years in the role in the Asia Pacific market, explains further: “How many hours per week did I work? Do you count the time in airport lounges? The time you spend drinking with your friend who runs a bar that buys lots of your product? The time in the shower thinking of new ways to talk about your brand? If you count all that, I can’t see how any brand ambassador is doing less than 80 hours a week, even if they are enjoying lots of it! Of course, the core office hours are nothing like that – but if you regularly spend 30-plus hours in the office each week, you’re probably not doing your job very well!”

My own experience plays that out regularly: For every contact hour you’re visible for, you can add multiple unseen hours to the equation. Running & hosting a public tasting event is the textbook example: Your tasting might run for two hours from 6.00pm until 8.00pm, but no one sees the (sometimes) weeks that went into organising and liaising with the venue; organising the catering/bookings; managing the stock to be featured; preparing customised notes or handouts; agreeing to promotions or incentives for both host and attendees; tailoring a specific slideshow; arriving at the venue hours beforehand to set it all up and pre-pour; and then the pack-up afterwards after the last punter leaves (usually an hour or so after closing time!) In some instances, you even find yourself carting 200-odd glasses back to your house and running them through the dishwasher when you get home at 2.00am. That ain’t glamorous. The two hours that people saw you “working” for might easily have been a 20 hour exercise, all up.

 

Dan Woolley, formerly a brand ambassador responsible for some of the Beam/Suntory lines in Australia, doesn’t mince words for those contemplating such a career: “Be warned – it’s very far from easy, with super-long hours that become much more of a complete full-time lifestyle, rather than a job. There are no set hours….you’re either asleep or you’re working.”

Georgie Bell, currently the Global Malts Ambassador for Bacardi, but with previous stints as a global ambassador for both Diageo and The Scotch Malt Whisky Society, sheds further light on the time demands – recalling one year when she was on the road and away from home for eight months of the year. “When you’re away on the job, you’re ‘on’ all the time. There’s no nine to five – the job is done when it’s done. A typical day might start with meetings in the morning and then bar visits in the evening – it’s often quite full on, but we wouldn’t be in this role if we didn’t enjoy it and enjoy sharing whisky with others.”

 

The dark side of the force…

We joke about the occupational hazards of being a whisky ambassador and how our livers need to be retired at the age of 40, but there are genuine concerns to be aware of. The reality is that it’s an industry and a job with recognised increased risk factors for mental health issues. Fergusson-Stewart elaborates: “Sometimes you are physically and emotionally exhausted; travelling daily, not getting much sunlight, drinking a lot, eating poorly, missing your friends and family, perhaps feeling sick and yet you know you have to ‘switch on’ and deliver for another group of strangers after you get to the bottom of your inbox. All of these things are potential triggers for mental health issues. I’ve helped some fellow brand ambassadors through some pretty dark times.”

Woolley shares a similar sentiment: “Being away from your home and family every week starts to wear thin, the older you get. It’s okay if you’re young and single but I missed being away from my family 80% of the time. It’s not all glamour and glitz – super long weeks would regularly see me doing 18 hour days/nights back-to-back, compounded with long flights, very little sleep and a lot of whisky… whilst all the time keeping up appearances and maintaining a smile. It all looks good on social media but, trust me, it’s not.”

 

Betwixt and between….

The other side of the game that impacts a brand ambassador’s activities is the unique and constantly-tensioned bridge they form between a company’s two outward arms: Sales and Marketing. For the uninitiated, they’re two different beasts, occasionally with objectives that are in conflict with one another – and brand ambassadors can be the meat in the sandwich. Marketing wants to build the brand, whilst Sales looks to push volume. What might be good for one might not serve the interests of the other, yet brand ambassadors have to navigate the rocky ground – occasionally having to deliver mixed messages.   (A classic example is price and brand positioning: Discounting and price cuts will deliver increased sales, but is that in the long-term interests of the brand – particularly one wanting to establish or maintain a luxury or high-end profile?)

As such, there can occasionally be friction – there are marketing people who don’t even like or drink whisky, yet they determine the campaigns that can impact a brand ambassador’s directives and KPI’s. One brand ambassador, currently assigned to a Scotch brand in the USA and who requested anonymity, put it in pretty simple terms: “Some of the crap that marketing comes up with is ridiculous and I cringe having to deliver some of the messages or campaigns that are flavour of the month. And as soon as any activation starts to gain traction or find its space, it gets canned and replaced with the next scheme.”

 

Show me the money…

Speaking of which, KPI’s are the other unseen aspect. KPI’s are different for each company and position, but you can be measured and assessed on the number of bartender training sessions you run each month; the number of consumer events; the number of brand lead events; consumer engagement; trade engagement; social media involvement and activations; and – ultimately – sales in your market.   A brand ambassador’s remuneration is typically tied to these KPI’s, and many have bonuses linked to sales. Christmas can be good if sales increased in your market for the year, but it might be lean if sales went down.

When asked which aspect of the job they disliked the most, the collective answer from our panellists was unanimous: “Filling out the monthly expense forms.”

Climbing the ladder…

One issue that comes up repeatedly in conversations is the lifespan of a brand ambassador and what’s further up the corporate ladder? The demands of travel and time commitments tend to make it a “younger person’s game”, so what’s an ambassador’s next step in terms of career progression?   This depends very much on the company, naturally. Larger companies have broader infrastructure, business arms, and roles within the company’s umbrella for some brand ambassadors to move into. For others, particularly those working as brand ambassadors for local distributors, there’s not much on offer once you decide to hang up the kilt.  

Georgie Bell offers some insight: “As my career has developed through the three different companies I’ve worked for – and the time I’ve been in the role – my interests have also developed. You’re right in thinking there’s no ‘carved career path’ but, rather, as an ambassador you do develop transferable skills that can be applied to other areas of the business. For me, this was to move into a more advocacy programming-centric role.”

Matthew Fergusson-Stewart sheds further light: “This is a big issue for companies that employ brand ambassadors – they regularly lose some of the most powerful advocates and knowledge holders for their brands. Some brand ambassadors move from a local to a global role; some move into Brand Manager roles; and some change market. Most, unfortunately, just leave.”

Some do manage to stay in the drinks industry, albeit a different sector or role within it, as Matt Bailey explains: “The path to becoming a brand ambassador is about as varied as the paths that can follow such a role. Yes, there is a ceiling in some countries, so some look to an overseas position but, by the same token, as the trade changes, opportunities open up, and roles in brand development and marketing sometimes appeal. That is one of the ways many brand ambassadors progress by moving into brand management of the spirit they once presented. I’ve known others who’ve moved out of brand representation and into owning/running bars or distilleries as well, keeping in the game that way.”

 

The love of the liquid…

Regardless, every job has its golden moments and the reason we get out of bed. And those moments might surprise you…if you thought the job’s highlights were drinking rare or expensive whisky, our participants’ answers might surprise you. When asked what the most enjoyable or satisfying aspect to their job was, their answers shared a common theme:

“Changing a mind. You [referring to Whisky & Wisdom] once wrote a great article on the three stages of appreciating Glenfiddich and occasionally I’d have the joy of meeting someone in ‘Stage 2’ and bringing them to ‘Stage 3’. Sometimes you preach to the choir and sometimes people are just there for the free booze, but actually taking a person from not liking Glenfiddich to saying, ‘This has been fantastic, I really love the 15yo’ is immensely satisfying.” Matthew Fergusson-Stewart. (And for that article he referenced, click here).

“The most satisfying thing about the role is seeing new-comers have that lightbulb ‘I love whisky’ moment. Seeing people love something that you work so hard for and also love. To be honest, there are many satisfying things about the role.” Dan Woolley.

“Being able to share whisky with others across the world and tell the stories of the distilleries, and also working with our global team. We have such an incredible team in whisky across the world, and I really look forward to travelling just to also work alongside them!   One of my proudest moments at Bacardi was with our Craigellachie 51 tour – I never anticipated that we would be able to give away a cask of 51 year old Craigellachie, of which there were only 51 bottles, away for free. Dram by dram, over 1500 people across the world were able to try this whisky and for me this really brought to light the idea of Scotch being the piece of the puzzle that brings together friends, old and new – the medium to have conversation over.” Georgie Bell.

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So next time you’re at a tasting or a whisky fair and there’s a brand ambassador up the front of the room straining their voice, arching their back, cracking a joke, and pouring you a dram….don’t forget to convey your thanks. It’s not always an easy gig….

Cheers,
AD

 

With thanks to Matthew Fergusson-Stewart, Georgie Bell, Matt Bailey, Dan Woolley, and a number of other ambassadors around the world who shared thoughts and comments that sadly couldn’t be squeezed into what’s already a long article.

Thinking of a career as a whisky brand ambassador? Here’s a bit more info on the typical job description: Whisky brand ambassador job role