InterviewSelling experiences, not volume, key for Pernod Ricard

Laurent Scheer, vice president of global public affairs and alcohol in society at Pernod Ricard, poses at the company's Korea office in Seoul, June 25. Courtesy of Pernod Ricard Korea.

Like any other line of business, companies in the liquor industry see sales as their top priority. But does that mean selling more is always better? A social campaign leader at Pernod Ricard, a global liquor distributor based in Paris, says what he wants is for the public to "drink better, not more."

The phrase is part of a campaign being promoted by the company’s Vice President of Global Public Affairs and Alcohol in Society Laurent Scheer. He staunchly recommends responsible drinking and encourages consumers to seek responsible and mindful drinking practices.

To spread the message worldwide, he communicates with national governments, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the European Union and industry partners in the hospitality businesses to introduce policies and regulations for smarter alcohol consumption.

Pernod Ricard wants to sell a good experience more than anything, according to Scheer.

“Our objective is to make profits. We want to sell high-value products and increase our sales. But it’s not necessarily selling volume. We want people to buy high-value products with quality. It is the experience — and a hangover is not a good experience,” said Scheer in his interview with The Korea Times at Pernod Ricard’s Korean office in Seoul, June 25.

“There are consumers who say, ‘I don’t know how to handle alcohol. I’ll just abandon it and drink something else.’ If we lose those consumers, we lose our business. And because we want to cater higher-end products with higher quality, we want to make sure the experience is enjoyable. So, it’s a pure business decision. It’s about basically making sure the quality of what we sell matches with the quality of the experience.”

Pernod Ricard’s global campaigns are visible on bottles of premium wines and spirits in over 160 countries. The campaigns are localized so that the message is supported by countries’ policies and persuasive to local consumers. Digital labels with QR codes and posters designed differently for each country have helped the company create differentiated campaigns around the globe.

Pernod Ricard's latest "Drink More Water" campaign poster for Korea uses a split glass with water in one half and a cocktail in the other. Courtesy of Pernod Ricard Korea

“When you scan the QR code on the bottle, you get advice about responsible drinking in a local language. The content is based on advices from health ministry in each country,” Scheer said.

One of Pernod Ricard’s global campaigns, “Drink More Water,” has a new version called "Split Drinks" that uses an image of a split glass filled with water in one half and an alcoholic drink in the other. The type of alcohol used in the image is different depending on which country the poster targets. Typically, a local favorite is selected.

Pernod Ricard has shared it on Instagram and LinkedIn, and Pernod Ricard Korea plans to launch the Korean edition in August in collaboration with Time Out Asia and three bars in Seoul featuring Cosmopolitan cocktail glass.

“In other places we use other types of cocktails that are more popular. But the message is the same,” Scheer said.

Tax burdens

Scheer notes that to promote responsible drinking campaigns, companies should introduce quality products so that consumers can still feel a sense of satisfaction while maintaining consumption in a responsible, sustainable manner. Without quality alcohol, the market will eventually lose popularity.

But making quality alcohol is hard for Korean companies, according to Scheer, because of the country’s particular taxation rule. Korea uses “ad valorem tax,” a system that levies taxes based on a product’s factory price, including the base cost plus packaging. The more expensive a product is to make, the higher the taxes that apply. Companies that invest into quality drinks face a liquor tax proportional to their financial input.

Scheer said the taxation system can discourage companies from bringing quality products to Korean shelves, providing a financial incentive to keep production costs low.

Laurent Scheer, vice president of global public affairs and alcohol in society at Pernod Ricard, speaks during an interview with The Korea Times at the company's Korea office in Seoul, June 25. Courtesy of Pernod Ricard Korea.

“We are convinced that consumers will want to drink better in the future. They will want to go for higher-value products with better quality. Usually, a government with tax policies is trying to incentivize good behavior. So, if the Korean government wants to incentivize good behavior in which consumers move to higher quality products, then the authority needs to make sure the tax on quality products is not higher than the tax on low quality products,” Scheer said.

He advised the Korean government should change the system to a “specific tax,” a fixed amount of tax based on alcohol content, similar to what is now in place in countries like the United States, Japan, Europe and Taiwan. The method, he said, can incentivize companies to produce quality alcohol.

“With a specific tax system, if you sell two glasses of alcohol but one has a higher value than the other, it will not pay more tax. So, there is an incentive to go for higher value. That I believe is what is helping the industry go premium because you have essentially a tax incentive to go premium and you are basically going in a direction that consumers want. Consumers want better quality,” Scheer said.

“So a tax reform which goes in the direction of basically taxing on the alcohol content rather than the value would probably make sense for the industry and the consumers who increasingly prioritize quality over quantity.”

Korea, according to Scheer, is one of Pernod Ricard’s most dynamic and innovative markets when it comes to promoting responsible drinking. The company said moderate drinking is a growing trend in Korea, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency's Community Health Survey. A median high-risk drinking rate across Korea's 258 cities, counties and districts was down from 15.3 percent in 2017 to 12 percent in 2025.

“I came to Seoul to better understand evolving consumer behaviors and discuss how responsible drinking initiatives can continue to support a positive and modern drinking culture. It is also a chance to share Pernod Ricard’s global vision for balanced and mindful consumption,” he said.