Franck Lapeyre, chief executive of Pernod Ricard Korea, urged foreign businesses in Korea to join the drive by local companies’ to take on more social responsibility, underlining their role as “corporate citizens.”

The distributor of Imperial and Ballantine’s whiskies, as well as Absolut Vodka, has been enthusiastic about its anti-drunk driving campaign since 2007, while sponsoring music schools, young golfers and outstanding artists.

The French veteran in the liquor industry told The Korea Herald that foreign enterprises here should learn lessons from Korean companies in their efforts to “give back to society.” 

“It’s true and sad (that not many international firms are active in their corporate responsibility activities),” Lapeyre said. “As a foreign company accepted in Korea, if you want your brand accepted also, you have to play the role as a responsible corporate citizen.”

The Korean operation’s “smart driving” campaign is in line with the global liquor group’s management philosophy, Lapeyre said.

“Pernod Ricard is a paternalistic company and has a strong rule in terms of corporate social responsibilities,” he said.

“We’ve been here for more than 20 years not just making profits. This campaign is supposed to have no impact on sales. The objective is to educate consumers and make sure people don’t do reckless things with alcohol.”

On Monday, the France-based group declared “Responsib’ALL Day” and invited about 18,000 employees in 70 countries including the U.S., Italy, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Peru and New Zealand to bring out its commitment and invoke public awareness together.

The Korean unit hosted an event at Yongsan Station in central Seoul, in which nearly 1,000 people from the company, the police, civic groups and government agencies gathered to exhibit placards and banners saying “Don’t Drink & Drive.”

“Some people might say ‘these guys are selling spirits, their objective is of course to sell more spirits. So you should not tell people to drink responsibly.’ We know what we sell. But if our products are not consumed properly, it can be dangerous for all human beings, and for society,” Lapeyre said.

“We also have families. My boys are 16 and 14 years old. Do I want them to have alcohol crazily and get killed or have health problems? No, of course not. It’s something also that’s touching us as parents, brothers and sisters. We have responsibilities for society and for those we love.”

Going beyond running campaigns, the company set up the Smart Driving Foundation last year to deliver the message in a more systematic and sustainable way.

“Once a foundation is created, it’s a commitment and has longevity,” Lapeyre said. “There will be no situation as ‘I don’t have money, we’ll cut the budget.’”

As part of the dedication, Pernod Ricard also provides it own staff with training on excessive consumption of alcohol and drunk driving, he added.

“They are our biggest ambassadors,” he said. “Selling wine and spirits can be very dangerous because it’s easy for us to drink excessively as we meet clients and traders all the time. It’s one of my objectives to make sure that our own employees are very careful about drink driving and health.”

As for business, Pernod Ricard is aiming high for the rapidly expanding Korean market for whisky and vodka.

Though it saw declines in whisky sales in the wake of an economic slump over the past couple years, Imperial has shown robust growth.

Sales of its 21-year-old edition spiked more than 270 percent after the seller unveiled its new package design at the end of 2009, according to the company.

“Imperial is a fantastic brand, doing extremely well in fighting international brands,” Lapeyre said. “This company was built for Imperial. It’s the mother brand of the company so we have an emotional bond to it.”

Absolut Vodka is a growth engine for Pernod Ricard, securing double-digit growth for the last seven years.

Currently, the Swedish vodka claims a 70-percent share in the local vodka market, the company said. Its sales soared 35 percent last year compared with a year earlier.

“We are developing brands in different categories to move forward,” Lapeyre said.

As spirit consumption rebounds in the face of ongoing economic recovery, the Korean market is going through “premiumization,” moving to older, more expensive whisky, he added.

“We want to grow our market share and grow faster than our competitor,” Lapeyre said. “But we prefer to grow slowly, making sure people enjoy our products responsibly, rather than growing fast but having people destroying their life. That’s not a good way of developing a business.”

By Shin Hyon-hee (heeshin@heraldcorp.com)