A first for Diageo in North America, new facility will complement on-site Innovation Lab and offer destination to inspire its partners with insights and new technologies in vibrant, futuristic, data-driven setting

The North America business of global beverage leader Diageo today announced the opening of the Diageo Collaboration Center in Stamford, Connecticut. The Center will serve as a destination to uncover the latest industry trends, category insights and emerging technologies, housed in a 17,000 square-foot state-of-the-art facility that provides an ideal environment for true collaboration.

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Diageo Collaboration Center reception area (Photo: Business Wire)

The Center is designed to help Diageo’s customers, distributors and agency partners unlock new opportunities and address the challenges of future-proofing the beverage alcohol space, keeping pace with new consumption occasions and a rapidly evolving consumer landscape. Embracing Diageo’s robust suite of data tools and predictive analytics, the Center’s primary focus is to bring to life insights for members of Diageo’s network which will allow them to uncover opportunities and responses to strategic challenges. Visitors to the Center will leave with a heightened understanding of the trends currently shaping beverage alcohol purchase and consumption, which they can then apply to their strategic plans in order to unleash new levels of momentum for their business, and the category. Available year-round to invited guests, the facility represents the future of collaboration.

“We are focused on being consumer-centric and leading the industry in insight generation and leveraging data,” said Claudia Schubert, President U.S. Spirits and Canada. “We’ve doubled down on our collaboration agenda with this state-of-the-art experience right here in North America. The Diageo Collaboration Center will be a gamechanger, transforming the way we share insights, collaborate and generate new opportunities with our customers, distributors and agency partners.”

Located within the company’s broader Stamford office site, which was recently opened in 2020, the Center complements Diageo’s existing global Experience Center located in London. The new Center is strategically positioned adjacent to Diageo’s North America Innovation Lab, offering visitors additional collaborative opportunities with innovation lab team members, and rounding out a campus focused on forward-looking development.

Guests of the Center will participate in an individualized educational experience that spans two zones: “See It” which utilizes immersive technology to share trends and insights around the disruptive forces shaping society, and “Live It” which provides simulated examples from various purchasing occasions and consumer touchpoints, such as the home, bar and store. Over the course of a day, guided by Diageo’s team of beverage alcohol experts, visitors will journey through eight unique rooms, all bringing to life concepts in ways that 2D presentation software simply cannot. Blending the analog with the digital, state of the art facilitation technologies and methods will enable attendees to see and live the future, taking a first step toward responding to the transformational wave of change on the beverage alcohol industry’s horizon.

“We set out to create a different type of meeting experience, where people could come together in partnership to think freely, innovate, brainstorm and feel unrestricted to take risks and come up with incredible new ideas,” said Steve Wallet, VP, Category, Shopper and eCommerce. “The Collaboration Center is all about understanding the consumer and the shopper, as well as recognizing what the true needs of our customers, distributors and agency partners are and how, through their experience at the Center, they will be able to advance their businesses in exciting new ways.”

Visitors to the Center will interact with, and learn firsthand from, live resident mixologists about emerging trends in the on-premise that will imminently manifest in the off-premise. The Center also offers the option to take the physical virtual with virtual reality technology, making the experience accessible to those unable to visit in-person, and for post-visit follow up meetings.

The Diageo Collaboration Center was developed in line with Diageo’s Society 2030 targets, the company’s 10-year action plan to help create a more inclusive, responsible and sustainable world. The facility is LEED Gold Certified, was awarded the “Access to Quality Transit” LEED credit, and incorporates ENERGY STAR equipment and appliances. To learn more about Diageo's work, including its values and information on its portfolio of brands with purpose, visit www.diageo.com.

About Diageo

Diageo is a global leader in beverage alcohol with an outstanding collection of brands including Johnnie Walker, Crown Royal, Bulleit and Buchanan's whiskies, Smirnoff, Cîroc and Ketel One vodkas, Casamigos and Don Julio tequilas, Captain Morgan, Baileys, Tanqueray and Guinness.

Diageo is listed on both the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: DEO) and the London Stock Exchange (LSE: DGE) and their products are sold in more than 180 countries around the world. For more information about Diageo, their people, brands, and performance, visit www.diageo.com. Visit Diageo's global responsible drinking resource, www.DRINKiQ.com, for information, initiatives, and ways to share best practice. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for news and information about Diageo North America: @Diageo_NA.

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