Rising Stars: David Hackett, Brand Ambassador

Degree subject International Commerce with Chinese Studies (2013), MBS Masters in Food Marketing
Job title Brand Ambassador (China)
Employer Jameson Irish Distillers

Getting started

My goal for after graduation was to find a
job with an Irish food/beverage brand in
China where I could use my language skills
from my undergraduate degree in UCC and
food marketing skills from my Masters. I
have always admired Jameson as a global
iconic brand, and heard great things about
the graduate programme. I saw on the
gradireland website that they were looking
for a brand ambassador for China and I
applied instantly.

Firstly, I completed the online application
video which I filmed myself at home. I
found this a great way to showcase my
personality while also including a clip at
the end of me speaking Mandarin Chinese
to showcase my language skills. I was
then invited for an interview the following
week, where I was interviewed by the
Marketing Manager and Market Lead for
Asia. They asked me a series of situational
questions like “what would you do if..?”
but also asked what I could bring to the
team in a challenging market like China.
Fortunately, I had one years’ experience
studying in China where I got to really
experience Chinese culture first hand and
University life gave me a lot of experience
in Chinese bars/clubs. There were two more
challenging interviews to follow before I
was formally offered the role as Jameson
Brand Ambassador based in Shanghai.
I began my Jameson journey in August
2014 with a 5-week induction training
programme that fully prepared, inspired
and excited me for my role in market.

I have had two amazing years in Shanghai
so far and I am now beginning my third and
final year on the Jameson International
Graduate Programme. In first year my
role involved creating and building
relationships with key Jameson bars
in Shanghai and key influencers while
also delivering many educational tasting
sessions and sponsorships of events.
Second year was even busier with lots of
new opportunities and challenges and I
was given more ownership on the direction
of events.

This year, I have been given much more
responsibility as I now have two years’
experience as a field based Jameson
Ambassador. I am taking the lead on our
new regional expansion plan – travelling to
two or more cities a month and conducting
events and tastings in bars, taking the lead
on our new Jameson E-Commerce channel,
creating a plan for our March campaign in
China and with much more control over
budget for the brand etc.

Advice

I have learned so much over the past two
years both professionally and personally
all thanks to this programme and I still feel
I am learning every day. I believe that by
the end of this year I will have a wealth of
knowledge and experience in all aspects
of the business which will give me a great
chance of getting a job after the Jameson
programme, hopefully within Pernod
Ricard.

Firstly, my advice to students would be to
choose to study an international language.
With so many strong candidates and
graduates it really helps you to stand out
from the crowd if you can do something
others cannot. Mandarin Chinese, whilst
challenging at the beginning has given
me so many opportunities in the fastest
moving market in the world.

There are so many opportunities within
Irish Distillers Pernod Ricard and there is
always room for new graduates with new
language and a passion for marketing and
sales. I am currently amongst a team of
Jameson Graduate Programme alumni who have all moved on to great positions
in the broader company portfolio. I hope to
continue my career journey with Pernod
Ricard once I complete the graduate
programme next September.