Festival of Brand Building

Diageo

In May 2025, Diageo launched its first-ever Festival of Brand Building - a bold, global activation that turned a core business ambition into an unforgettable employee engagement moment. With brand building identified as a critical growth driver, this 24-hour hybrid festival set out to inform, inspire and involve over 30,000 employees - from distillers to marketers, lawyers to logistics - in a shared commitment to marketing excellence.

Built with inclusivity at its heart, the festival spanned 50+ global sites and a rich digital platform. It fused immersive, in-person brand activations with an intuitive online hub offering live broadcasts, on-demand learning, and storytelling straight from Diageo’s most iconic campaigns.

Crucially, the Diageo Way of Brand Building (DWBB) training was embedded into the experience, turning the festival into a powerful capability-building tool as well as a cultural celebration.

A global communications plan - spanning Viva Engage, gamified quizzes, toolkits and executive endorsements - ensured record-breaking engagement and lasting momentum. The results speak volumes: • 86% of the global workforce reached via pre-event comms • 2,000+ completions of the DWBB training, far beyond marketing teams • 14,000+ visits to the festival intranet microsite in its first week • Thousands of hours of brand immersion, with record in-person attendance at HQ and local sites worldwide

More than a one-day event, the Festival of Brand Building redefined how Diageo connects its people to purpose - sparking renewed passion, lasting pride, and a sense of ownership in every employee’s role as a brand builder.