International Women’s Day: How the drinks industry is supporting women in 2020

The marketers helping women to exchange ideas

Wonderworks, a drinks marketing firm based in London, launched a panel series for women working in the drinks industry last year to coincide with International Women’s Day.

Called WonderNETwork, the events feature prominent entrepreneurs and industry insiders, and cover a wide range of topics from CBD drinks, to working in whisky, to striking out on your own.

The latest panel discussion took place in Glasgow on 5 March at Edrington Beam Suntory’s head offices, celebrating and recognise the women making a big impact in the whisky industry today.

Wonderworks’ Lucy Hamer-Hodges told db she set up the WonderNETwork after she was given a brief to raise the company’s profile with drinks brands, but also create something meaningful beyond promoting their own business.

“Quite often you go to a panel discussion in the drinks industry and there’s some sort of agenda”, she said.

By inviting women to speak from smaller businesses alongside bigger players, Hamer-Hodges said her panels are a “neutral place” for people in the industry to exchange ideas, talk shop, and make contacts for future projects.

“Wanted to something that added a bit more value,” she said, “so I thought about who we are and what we do. We’re small and independent, and a lot of our clients are female.” So far the talks have welcomed speakers such as Hannah Sharman-Cox, founder and MD of events group DrinkUp. London, and Claire Warner, who left her role as brand ambassador at Belvedere vodka to join the team at non-alcoholic ‘spirit’ label Seedlip, and launched her own brand, Æcorn Aperitifs, last year.

“We wanted to make sure they were designed for people in the drinks industry – so attendees could be inspired by their peers and make new connections to benefit them later.”

Hamer-Hodges said Wonderworks has two more events planned this year that will tackle the big trends such as brand value and environmental issues. The next talk, which will address sustainability in drinks packaging, will feature none other than Sandrine Ricard, the head of sustainability at Chivas Brothers.