Same reach. Same quality. £6.7m more value.
Diageo had been let down by barter before. Astus rebuilt their trust with total transparency — then turned media trading into Six Nations rights, premium events and influencer access.
Client Name
diageo
Company Size
Enterprise (Global)
Industry / Sector
FMCG / Spirits & Beverages
Diageo was spending big on media — and knew there was more value locked inside it. The problem? Barter had let them down before. Previous providers were opaque: deals happened in the dark, with no clear line of sight for Diageo or its agencies. To go again, Diageo needed a partner who could pull more value from the same investment without touching reach or quality — and show every transaction in full daylight.
Start with media value: hold reach and quality steady, but generate measurable value back — with total transparency, every deal visible to Diageo and its agencies. As trust grew, so did the brief: product funding, event pouring rights, influencer partnerships, sports activations and brand funding all came into scope.
What We Delivered
Astus built one of the most successful barter partnerships in the company’s history. To date we’ve traded £89.6m of net media on Diageo’s behalf and generated £6.7m of incremental value — returned not just as media, but as premium experiences: event pouring rights across top-tier sport and hospitality, influencer partnerships in the sporting world, product placement and brand-funding solutions. The standout: a market-first deal that used generated value to fund Six Nations television rights on ProSieben in Germany — a campaign worth more than €300,000, and a partnership no traditional media buy could have created. And throughout, every transaction stayed fully visible to Diageo and its agencies.
Channels & Products Used
Barter media trading (all channels) · Event pouring rights (sport & hospitality) · Influencer and product placement · Sports rights funding · Product and brand funding
Campaign Timeframe
A strategic partnership running for more than 15 years — evolved from a single media barter arrangement into a multi-channel value programme across a broad range of Diageo brands.
- £89.6m of net media traded
- £6.7m of incremental value generated
- €300,000+ of Six Nations TV rights funded in Germany — a market-first
- 5/5 client recommendation score
- Full transaction transparency across every deal
- A trusted partnership since 2009
- Rebuilt Diageo’s confidence in barter with total, visible transparency
- Turned media trading into a strategic value programme — not just a cost-saver
- Opened doors to premium sport, hospitality and influencer opportunities money can’t usually buy
- Raised brand visibility through rugby, polo, the Sports Industry awards and more
- Delivered a market-first: Six Nations TV rights in Germany, funded by generated value
- Supported the UK launch of Windhoek and extra exposure for brands including Yellow Tail
“Their transparency is the easy one. We’d worked with other barter companies before — never quite knew what was going on. With Astus we can see the transaction with the media agency in full. We recommend them whenever we’re asked.”
Senior Marketing Leader, Diageo
Why It Worked
The Astus Angle
Key Insight or Approach
Diageo shows what barter becomes in the right hands. It starts as a smart way to get more from existing media — then grows into influencer access, event integration, sponsorship and product placement, all underpinned by the transparency that set Astus apart from every provider before. If you’ve been underwhelmed by barter, this is what good looks like.
Years of trading
Clients
In billings
Retention Rate
