Personalisation needs to come from consumer insights: Pernod Ricard’s Pierre de Greef

At the e4m Screenage 2025 stage, Pierre de Greef, Chief Digital Marketing Officer at Pernod Ricard, delivered a rapid-fire session built on participation, humour and a clear warning about the shrinking window in which brands can earn attention.

To frame the conversation, de Greef shared what he described as “a couple of key facts.” Using the Barbie film promotion on Meta as an example, he challenged the audience to guess how long a user spends on five visuals shown sequentially. When someone guessed ten seconds, he corrected them saying “Total 5.1 seconds.” He added “Four visuals and this is pink it is Barbie. It is very attractive. And still, we have only 5.1 seconds to catch the effect. We are not even on story building.”

The second behavioural insight revealed how intensely people swipe. Referring to a Meta study, he explained “They put a tracker on the screen measuring in 24 hours the distance that your finger does. Are you ready This is the eighth of the Statue of Liberty. Ninety-three meters. Your finger does ninety-three meters in one day on your screen.” His point was about what he called “a very high velocity content consumption in India.” The third data point focused on Gen Z. De Greef noted “For Gen Z in India it is six to six thirty per day on mobile. So now as a brand how can we emerge, how can we be visible”

From there, de Greef moved into the five principles that shape Pernod Ricard’s use of AI. The first was scalability. “What we do for one brand should be applicable for the portfolio. What we do in one state should be applicable in India. What we do in India should be applicable worldwide.” The second was feasibility, reinforced by his reminder “We are not here to build a nuclear plant. It has to be doable.”

He spent more time on consumer centricity, saying “Personalization needs to come from consumer insights and not product insights or an AI tool telling you.” The fourth rule was ROI, emphasised through “We are not here to lose money. It has to be cheaper and faster because time is also money.”

Then came a sharp caution about public AI platforms. “Please never put your name on ChatGPT or anywhere. If you put your name your name becomes public worldwide. Your name will appear on a PPT in Australia one day.” He linked this directly to India’s data protection regime, stating “Gen AI protects that as well. When you use an image you need to have the right of it. You use Mickey Mouse you get a notification from Disney show me the money.”

He then showcased global examples of mobile led personalisation. Speaking of the Polish bank campaign Future Me he said “Results are astonishing. Thirty thousand personalised results for thirty million reach.” On the O2 scam preventing AI character he remarked “One unique solution can be scalable worldwide.” When discussing Cadbury’s My Birthday Song he highlighted its emotional durability saying “You will keep it for you. It is lifetime content. It is not instant.”

The spotlight then shifted to India where Pernod Ricard has deployed some of its most advanced AI work. The first example was the personalised Imperial Blue Super Hit Nights campaign built with Paytm. “They gave us the top five hundred first names. We recorded the artist inviting each name.” This simple idea delivered significant lift. “Click through rate increased by sixty percent. A very simple thing to do.”

His second example was the large-scale Ryan Stagg cricket initiative. De Greef explained “When it is cricket every Indian dreams of getting close to their favorite players. They are gods.” The campaign achieved more than one million QR scans. “That does not happen that often,” he added.

The final case tackled the question of influencer burnout. Describing the old model he said “There is a collapse with influencers. Today we pay them and hope to get two percent organic reach. It is expensive.” Pernod Ricard used video to video AI to insert influencers directly into the brand world. “Results were through the roof with a two hundred percent increase in engagement.” What impressed the audience most was the speed. “Four hours and we were live. How many agencies can do that”

De Greef concluded with a vision of where the industry is heading. “AI becomes creator plus media plus AI.” He noted that every major global brand is now moving in that direction. His core message remained consistent Indian consumers are moving fast and expect intimacy relevance and simplicity on mobile. And for spirit brands the ability to personalise at scale is no longer an advantage but a requirement.