At the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity, leading voices from the beverage and consumer goods industries came together to spotlight the business case for responsibility. In a high-level panel organized by the International Alliance for Responsible Drinking (IARD) and the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA), global brand leaders shared how responsible marketing is delivering trust, relevance, and measurable business results.
The session – held at the Deloitte Digital Apartment – brought together Pernod Ricard, HEINEKEN, Mars, Genentech, and Deloitte Digital to explore how purpose-led campaigns and innovative safeguards are helping brands become trusted partners in a fast-changing world.
Purpose with real-world impact
Luana Iurillo, Director of Strategy, Portfolio & Innovation at Pernod Ricard, captured the evolution of purpose-led brand building:
“Purpose-led marketing is evolving – when it is backed by meaningful action and creative energy, it becomes a force for real change. It builds trust, drives relevance, and shows that doing good and growing your brand can go hand in hand.”
She highlighted the Tom Daley “Don’t Drink and Dive” campaign as a bold example of pairing pop culture with a lifesaving message in an authentic way. The initiative reached 1.1 billion people and resulted in a 29% increase in water-safety intentions among viewers.
She also pointed to Pernod Ricard’s new moderation narrative — rooted in shifting consumer expectations for greater purpose from brands — as a timely opportunity to lead cultural change by promoting balance and moderation as an aspirational choice.
Cultural relevance meets responsibility
Nabil Nasser, Global Head of the Heineken Brand, discussed how partnerships like the one between F1 and Heineken 0.0 are helping mainstream the message of moderation:
“We are taking the conversation around moderation into a space that is global, influential, and culturally engaging.
Our partnerships are not just about visibility – they are about making responsibility, moderation and alcohol-free choices feel natural, accepted, and aspirational in the moments that matter, especially in social settings.
As leaders in the 0.0 category, we are committed to redefining what it means to choose moderation today.”
Heineken’s campaigns on drink-driving and their “0.0 Reasons Needed” initiative on alcohol-free choices have helped challenge stigma and support mindful drinking across markets.
IARD: Raising standards, driving results
Julian Braithwaite, CEO of IARD, set the global context:
“Raising standards is not just good business – it helps deliver global health outcomes. With a 20% drop in alcohol-related deaths and over a billion product labels carrying age-restriction messages, we are showing that responsibility marketing delivers real impact – and that when brands lead with purpose, everyone wins.”
He cited results showing a 98.2% compliance rate with IARD’s digital safeguards in 2024, part of a broader coalition effort with Google, Meta, TikTok and others to raise the bar for online marketing, as industry-wide resources are being used to train frontline staff and influencers alike.
