Take a journey with David Robinson, a well-known industry professional whose passion and experience have left an everlasting effect on the business. From a humble start as a part-time bartender in Glasgow, UK, David's path has been marked by a never-ending pursuit of greatness and unrelenting dedication to his craft.

Want to learn more about David's incredible career, his vital role as Franklin & Sons' Brand Ambassador, and his innovative approach to brand advocacy? Dive into the interview below to learn about the thoughts and experiences that have inspired David's successful career.

Image: David Robinson

Tell us a little about yourself. How did you progress into this role?

I have been working in the bar industry since 2014, starting my journey as a part-time bartender in Glasgow, UK, and breaking through into brand advocacy and development in recent years. I fell in love with the world of drinks and hospitality early on and knew it would determine my career path, taken in by the energy and camaraderie that came with it. From that point, I have always thrown myself into opportunities and ideas that would help drive this passion forward, with the people and places of our industry always inspiring me further - just as they do today.

From working in bar leadership roles whilst maintaining regular appearances at cocktail competitions, including the World Class GB Semi-Finals in 2016, to becoming a full-time brand ambassador with Pernod Ricard in 2019, I constantly worked to improve my knowledge and understanding of the world of drinks and cocktails. During this time, I also took on part-time ambassador work for Jägermeister and Arbikie Highland Estate, before spending four years at Pernod Ricard UK, where I covered a range of exceptional brands including Absolut, Plymouth, Chivas Regal, and The Glenlivet at a national level. In May 2023, I joined Franklin & Sons as the Global Brand Ambassador.

Could you define your role and the tasks involved in your role?

As the Global Brand Ambassador for Franklin & Sons, I’m based out of the UK and regularly travel internationally, working with distribution partners and bartenders across the world. I am responsible for developing international brand advocacy platforms and implementing them in key global markets, with support from local commercial and distribution teams, as well as other key contacts to ensure their success. As a branch of the Marketing team, I utilize my experience and knowledge of the industry to develop our brand strategies, developing and guiding areas focused on the trade. I also use my experience in the industry to build bartender networks across the markets we work in, creating natural advocacy and love of our products.

How do you Increase visibility and promote brand awareness around consumers and trade?

As a brand that has been established in the on-trade, we work closely with bartenders and try to keep our fingers on the pulse of industry trends and movements, helping our brand direction to meet and support these trends. Our advocacy team is comprises individuals who have worked in hospitality, and we strive to bring that first-hand experience to the brand, influencing our communications and approach from an educational perspective. With this in mind, we have designed a bartender advocacy program that celebrates the industry, providing educational tools for bartenders at all levels, as well as opportunities for bartenders to develop their careers. From a consumer aspect, we also drive awareness through national campaigns such as ‘Summer of Spritz’ – our summer campaign that, last year, brought sharing drinks and the Italian classic cocktail, the spritz, to terraces all over the country. In addition to this, we make regular appearances at national and international trade shows wherever possible, presenting our products to guests through tasting, education, and cocktail sampling sessions.

What is the biggest challenge you face in your role?

It perhaps isn’t surprising to learn that there is an interpretation that education surrounding mixers isn’t as important as education surrounding spirits. That said, every challenge is an opportunity, and this gives me a great foundation to build advocacy platforms that challenge this convention head-on, reiterating the fact that education around every single aspect of a mixed drink is important. Addressing the importance of understanding tonics, sodas, and soft drinks helps to drive the conversation forward and allows bartenders and consumers to gain new perceptions and a greater understanding of what makes a drink remarkable. 

What are the 3 things you focus on while pitching your product to buyers?

I focus on the higher carbonation levels of our product and how that elevates aromas and flavors out of the drink, the use of natural ingredients across all of our products, and of course, our understanding of, and relationship with the bar industry as a whole. 

What do you focus on in your training and masterclasses? Could you take us through your training module?

We've developed a new training module for the brand, focusing on the key aspects of the product that I’ve listed in the previous question – carbonation, ingredients, and our relationship with the industry. 

For me, building a training module around these core concepts helps to establish who we are as a brand, as well as showcase our credentials first-hand. We answer questions like: ‘What is carbonation?’, ‘Why is it key to flavor, aroma, and to elevating and unlocking the full flavor in spirits?’ Further, we explore the overarching question of, ‘What is happening on the palate when we consume carbonated beverages?’ 

Being able to raise these conversations and questions helps us to promote our key messaging whilst also creating new, open conversations within the trade. Mixers haven’t had much of a light shone on them in the past – our goal is to change that.

What are the current challenges the spirits industry is facing according to you?

Of course, we are aware that at an international level, the industry has changed over the past few years, with the Covid-19 pandemic being a key factor in that. Whilst we are seeing clear signs of recovery and the signs of a return to the industry of pre-Covid years, it’s still a fact that many people have left the industry behind and gone on to seek new ventures – many of these individuals are leaders in our industry. It is argued that there is now a knowledge gap across the industry. However, I don’t doubt for one minute that the hunger for education is still there – it's up to bars, operators, and drinks companies, including our own, to work together in finding ways and opportunities to effectively close that gap and encourage bartenders to pursue it through training, national and international cocktail competitions and advocacy platforms.

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What skill or topic you are learning currently and why?

On a personal level, I always struggled with languages when I was younger, so I’m trying to rectify that now! Being a Global Ambassador and working with a brand that is in over sixty markets, you’re never going to learn the language of every place that you visit, but I am trying to get my Spanish and French to a conversational level as a starting point and build from there. 

In addition to this, I am further educating myself on the science behind our remarkable drinks and mixers, understanding their qualities at a molecular level. For me, having as strong an understanding as possible of the product you are working with is essential in the Brand Ambassador role, leading me to study science reviews and further case studies of carbonation and its effects.

Your role involves collaborating with bartenders and mixologists. How do you foster creativity and innovation in crafting unique cocktails that showcase the distinct characteristics of your spirits?

We work very closely with a lot of spirit partners, which allows us to have constant conversations regarding pairing and mixing, taking their knowledge of their flavor profiles and pairing that across our extremely varied range of mixers. Further to this, we are a brand that is designed by bartenders for bartenders and our love of the industry shines through in everything we do, fostering creativity by allowing the bartenders we work with to have an open forum to lead the conversation. We are inspired by them every day and whilst we have key messaging we need to hit as a brand, this messaging is designed in a way that encourages conversation among the industry, which gives us, as well as everyone in the room the opportunity to learn from them. Once we have established this open forum, we can then invite guests to consider our products and how they can best be applied within their bars, be it as a cocktail ingredient or simply as a mixer. This technique has worked exceptionally well when talking to distillers and seeing them pair the products that they have created with the ones that we have, finding nuanced flavors and directions that we perhaps wouldn’t have been able to.

Your favorite 2-3 distilling or spirits books?

‘The World Atlas of Whisky’ by Dave Broom is a staple for me, as well as ‘Mezcal: The History, Craft & Cocktails of the World’s Ultimate Artisanal Spirit’ by Emma Janzen. ‘Divided Spirits: Tequila, Mezcal, and the Politics of Production’ by Sarah Bowen is also essential reading for anyone who wishes to learn about the politics and future landscape of Agave spirits.