People of Beam Suntory: Sébastien Gratiot
People of Beam Suntory: Sébastien Gratiot
“I’ve lived all over the world…France, Germany, Africa, Russia, Scotland, the Philippines and now India. My partner and I love traveling, so when the opportunity came up for me to move from Glasgow to Bangalore to be closer to our expanding Oaksmith® market in India, we looked at it as another adventure. What started out as an immersive market visit turned into my deep love for the country, leading us to relocate.
My family and I live on a mango farm, which is our little piece of heaven outside the hustle and bustle of the city. Even though I've lived in a variety of places across the globe, this is probably the most unique experience I’ve had – and not just because our neighbors include monkeys swinging on the nearby mango trees. The culture is rich, but also quite hard to fully understand as someone originally from France.
My new permanent surroundings have allowed me to truly become a bridge between the Scotch team and the Indian market. Although this experience has been very rewarding, I have encountered some challenges, like assessing a market with a completely different culture and communication style than I’m used to. Regardless, I’m devoted to understanding it and grasping the experience of our consumers. Challenges aside, I feel proud of the work we’ve done in the last ten months that I’ve been in India, such as refining the Teacher's® brand foundations and fueling growth on Oaksmith with innovation and experiential projects. All this work helps us sharpen our relevance to our Indian consumers when it comes to their growing love for whisky.
Moving around a lot has taught me that often in life, impermanence is the only constant. I’ve adopted this as my mantra since moving to India. With things always in motion, you learn to never take anything for granted. Impermanence is also present with failures or frustrations, so it’s important to persevere because if it doesn’t work out right now, it will another time.”
- Sébastien Gratiot, International Marketing Manager, India