Gráinne Wafer is Global Director Beer, Baileys, and Smirnoff accountable for leading three of Diageo’s top five global brands and is a member of both the Diageo Global Marketing and Senior Management teams.
Gráinne joined Diageo over 25 years ago, working in the Irish business in a variety of roles, culminating with leading Guinness in Ireland, including Arthur’s Day celebrations for the brand’s 250th anniversary. Following this she moved to lead innovation commercialisation across Europe, before becoming Global Marketing and Innovation Director for Guinness in 2012.
Three years later she was appointed to the role of Global Brand Director for Baileys and Roe & Co. In this role, Gráinne led a strategy reframe to deliver a complete brand transformation, positioning Baileys as an adult treat which halted a decade of decline and unlocked a new pathway to turn around a global brand.
In 2019 Gráinne was appointed Global Brand Director for Guinness and set out a new strategy and positioning that has delivered unprecedented levels of growth for one of the world’s most iconic brands. Under her leadership, Guinness innovation also reached new heights, with launches such as Guinness 0.0%, Guinness Nitrosurge & Guinness MicroDraught. She was promoted to her current role in 2022.
Gráinne also leads Diageo’s Progressive Marketing Programmes globally and an advocate for inclusivity and diversity across the advertising and marketing industries. She is the Diageo representative for the UN Women’s UNstereotype Alliance and the World Federation of Advertisers DEI Taskforce amongst key industry partnerships and is a regular contributor to industry panels and alliances that seek to advance this agenda.
