Jeremy is responsible for transforming the Design capability and output of Diageo’s current brands and new products worldwide. Diageo is the world's leading premium drinks business. Standout projects include John-nie Walker Blue Label Ultra, Guinness Harp dispense fount (winner of the DBA Design Effectiveness Grand Prix 2020) and the Johnnie Walker Princes Street Brand Home in Edinburgh.

Prior to joining Diageo Jeremy was Head of Design for Tesco, responsible for the portfolio of 19,000 private label products and for leading the Store Formats and Design teams. His early career was as a Freelance De-signer and University Lecturer.

Jeremy is a Cannes Lions and TEDx speaker. He is Chair of Trustees of the charity Achord, Former Chair of the Design Business Association and a visiting Lecturer at Omnes Business School.

Beauty and Sustainability: How We Must Innovate to Achieve Sustainability and Design Excellence

Beauty and desire are fundamental drivers of purchasing behaviors in the premium alcohol category. There appears to be an established principle that more premium the product, the heavier the packaging. We all face the carbon challenge, so how can we drive premiumization and lower carbon emissions?

In this talk, Jeremy defines the key drivers of purchase decisions in the premium alcohol category, the rea-sons humans behave as we do when making brand choices. We like to think of ourselves as logic-based creatures, in reality almost all of human decision making is driven by our emotions. This is especially the case when making brand choices, so visual cues and beauty are critical to ensuring a brand is chosen at the point of purchase or consumption. Packaging for the Premium Alcohol category is a critical component of the marketing mix, the silent communicator of brands provenance, heritage, character and quality. The talk out-lines how the brain recognizes and decodes visual stimulus, the importance of distinctive design, the role of semiotics and beauty in driving premium cues.

Excellence in design and manufacturing glass continues to be critical, but we face the carbon challenge. How can glass continue to offer premium solutions and improve sustainability? Alternative materials are available, can we reduce weight and reinvent our manufacturing supply chain to ensure glass remains the material of choice for premium drinks?

​​ “The best way to make sustainability work is to make it more desirable than the alternative.”