Facebook boosts Diageo US sales by 20%

A collaboration with the world’s favourite social networking site has boosted Diageo’s US sales by an unprecedented 20%.

A study of five of Diageo’s key brands in the US (Smirnoff, Captain Morgan, Baileys, José Cuervo Margaritas and Crown Royal) has shown a 20% increase in sales due to advertising on Facebook.

More than 950 of its marketers have been trained in “Facebook boot camps” to build their social media capabilities, boosting Diageo’s “Friend” count on the social networking site from 3.5 million to 12m over the past year, while the company claims that Smirnoff is the “the number one beverage alcohol brand on Facebook worldwide”.

Diageo’s success in the US has prompted a multimillion-dollar partnership with Facebook, as we reported last week, but there are fears from health campaigners that the deal could lead to a rise in underage drinking, as the site is frequented by a significant number of users under the age of 18.

Dr Nick Sheron, a liver specialist at Southampton hospital, warned of the effect the marketing campaign may have on youngsters who use the site, telling The Guardian: “Diageo effectively has a private narrowcast channel of communication with young people, which it will use to promote alcohol use as a positive lifestyle.”

Meanwhile Linda Bauld, professor of social management at Stirling University, said: “By doing a deal between a multinational corporation that produces alcohol and a networking site, you are essentially marketing alcohol to children.”

Facebook has defended its use of alcohol advertising in the past, claiming pages set up by the advertisers are blocked for users under the legal drinking age.

But doubts have been cast about whether this is an effective way to prevent access to under-18s, since users can lie about their age when they register on the site.

A spokesperson for Diageo said: “Our collaboration with Facebook is subject to our internal global marketing code, which mandates that we must comply with all applicable laws, regulations and industry codes, such as the codes for responsible marketing of the Portman Group, Ofcom and the Advertising Standards Authority.”

A Facebook spokesperson admitted it was hard to control the age group who access any internet site, but insisted that it does all it can. “We have a clear policy – if you want to use the site, you should be at least 13 years old.”