Link and Diageo strengthen ties with a multi-contract renewal which facilitate unprecedented growth in Africa.
We’re delighted to confirm the renewal of two key contracts in the Africa region with Diageo, a global leader in premium drinks with over 200 brands in more than 180 countries worldwide. This commitment solidifies a strong relationship that has been built over the past four years in the region. These new agreements enable Link to continue providing Diageo with the highest quality point of sale and promotional merchandise.
The first contract, signed between Link and Diageo, is a catalogue-based service to provide Point of Sale (POS) visibility items for the entire African region, spanning 38 countries. This service is provided for Diageo’s popular brands such as Guinness, Malta Guinness, and Johnnie Walker, ensuring that these iconic brands maintain a strong presence in the market and are easily recognisable to consumers.
The second contract is specifically focused on POS merchandise for the South African market. We will provide a wide range of product categories, including print, display materials, textiles, glassware, premiums, and barware. These products help to enhance the appeal of Diageo brands in the South African market. Diageo often requires bespoke premium items in a very short timeframe of 2-4 weeks, which rules out production offshore. Recognising this, Diageo conducted a formal tendering exercise to evaluate the entire marketplace and affirmed that Link is best equipped to meet its business needs in the region, having a robust and well-established local supply chain.
Mark McDonnell, Chief Executive Officer of Link commented about the renewal of the contract «We have such a strong vendor base across this region, particularly in South Africa. We’re genuinely committed to building local supply chains that help communities to thrive; it’s a cornerstone of our ESG pillars and has proved invaluable in the delivery of local services to clients like Diageo. Based on this strong local base, I am confident that our partnership with Diageo will continue to improve supply chain efficiencies and deliver significant savings. We look forward to furthering our future collaboration with Diageo.”
Link’s Account Director in South Africa, Renee Baptista, said “I am excited to secure the extension of these important contracts with Diageo across our region, which is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our team. Our technology was also a key driver in this renewal, as it allows for rapid deployment of materials into the market through features such as Print on Demand and Campaign Manager. We will continue to explore new ways to optimize return on investment and synergies across all marketing categories through our full outsource service in the future.”