# 135 - We need to talk about spirits, Ulrich Adams, spiritsEurope

Pour yourself your favourite drink for this week’s episode.
Communicating under the influence is not without challenges, and
so is communicating about alcohol. More precisely, we are talking
about spirits, with the person who represents one of Europe’s
most valuable agri-food export sectors.


Ulrich Adam is the Director General of spiritsEurope, the
Brussels-based association that represents the interests of 29
associations of spirits producers as well as 10 leading
multinational companies, supporting 1m jobs from farmers to
distillers and bartenders.


What sounds like a fun job also harbours many communications
challenges. Ulrich has also modernised the association’s
communications, making it more agile and digital.


In this episode, we dive into the rich tradition of spirits in
Europe and gain insights into:


️How to protect yourself against criticism with the right
messaging and strategies such as premiumisation.


How to effortlessly switch between the strategic and operational
as a top communicator and why twitter has replaced monthly
reports in Brussels.


️ Why advocacy is always about solving the problems of
policy-makers first, before bringing your own topics to the
table.


This episode is sponsored by HeyViz.


Get in touch with Oliver:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/oliver-aust/