About Suntory Global Spirits
Suntory Global Spirits is a world leader in premium spirits, inspiring the brilliance of life through exceptional consumer experiences. Its world-class portfolio spans renowned bourbon brands such as Jim Beam®, Maker’s Mark®, iconic Japanese whiskies including Yamazaki®, Hakushu®, Hibiki®, and Toki™; and leading Scotch brands such as Teacher’s and Bowmore®.
The company also produces celebrated tequila brands like Tres Generaciones® as well as Roku™ and Sipsmith® gin, Canadian Club® whisky, and category-leading ready-to-drink cocktails such as -196 and On The Rocks™ Premium Cocktails.
Headquartered in New York City and employing approximately 6,000 people across more than 30 countries, Suntory Global Spirits is guided by its “Growing for Good” philosophy and its Proof Positive sustainability strategy, committing to positive environmental impact, community engagement, and responsible drinking education.
Challenge: Driving Sales Team Engagement and Perfect Store Execution in the USA
With a vast and diverse portfolio of premium spirits and an ambition to elevate brand presence at every consumer touchpoint, Suntory Global Spirits sought to transform how its U.S. sales teams engage with the market. Prior to the platform launch, the company faced several challenges:
- Inconsistent field execution: Variability in shelf and display compliance across outlets impacted brand visibility and consumer experience.
- Slow, fragmented feedback loops: Manual reporting processes made it difficult to capture and act on store-level insights quickly.
- Limited real-time performance tracking: Sales teams lacked immediate visibility into execution quality and competitive positioning at the shelf.
- Engagement gaps: Traditional performance management tools were not driving the level of motivation and accountability needed to consistently deliver “Perfect Store” standards.
Suntory set out to build a gamified, mobile-first engagement platform that could energize its U.S. sales teams, deliver real-time market intelligence, and create a scalable foundation for potential global rollout.
Solution: Digital GEMBA App
Overview: The new platform is designed to empower sales teams with real-time insights, gamified engagement, and AI-powered image recognition tools. Accessible via mobile app, it combines in-store data capture, performance tracking, gamification, survey execution and incentives into a single seamless solution.
Key Features & Capabilities:
1. Gemba Approach: Embracing the Japanese business principle of “Gemba” – going directly to the source – the platform ensures that data and insights come directly from the field, enabling quick decision-making and continuous improvement leveraging market insight.
2. Gamification & Leaderboards: Sales team members earn points for completing field activities such as shelf audits, promotional compliance checks, and competitive intelligence gathering. Leaderboards drive healthy competition, while badges and milestones recognize top performers.
3. Surveys & Feedback Loops: Built-in surveys capture qualitative feedback from the field, providing marketing and category teams with direct, real-world insights into brand visibility, promotions, pricing and consumer behavior.
4. Perfect Store KPI Tracking: The platform embeds Suntory’s “Perfect Store” execution standards, measuring performance in real time and rewarding teams for achieving compliance across product placement, display quality, and promotional activation.
5. AI Shelf & Display Recognition: Sales teams capture shelf, display, backbar, menu photos in-store, (key accounts, outlets, restaurants, cafes, pubs etc). Leveraging AI image recognition technology, the digital GEMBA app instantly processes these images to deliver SKU-level insights, identify compliance gaps, and provide actionable recommendations.
Results for Suntory Global Spirits
While still in its early U.S. rollout, the platform is already driving stronger sales team engagement through gamification, training, and leaderboards, while AI-powered image recognition and real-time KPI tracking enable faster decision-making and immediate corrective action.
By embedding Perfect Store standards into daily activities, shelf compliance and brand visibility are expected to improve significantly, supported by richer market insights from Gemba activities.
Designed for scalability, the solution also lays the foundation for a future global expansion, ensuring consistent, high-quality execution across all markets.
By blending advanced technology, the Gemba mindset, and gamified engagement, Suntory Global Spirits is redefining how sales teams connect with the market — ensuring every store visit counts, every display delivers, and every brand moment shines.
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