There’s a familiar temptation in marketing. When growth slows, turn up the volume. More campaigns, more media, more noise.
At Amber Beverage Australia, under new managing director Uliana Linenko, the business chose a different path. B&T sat down with Linenko to talk about how the brand stepped back, stripped things down and rebuilt from the ground up.
And as a result, the company is now entering 2026 with tighter alignment, stronger execution and growth that is grounded in commercial reality.
When Linenko stepped in, joining from fellow alcohol company Stoli Group, she said she found that Amber’s marketing model itself was not broken. Instead, it was not fit for the conditions, and therefore needed to be rethought.
“The previous model was fragmented. We invested in advertising, advocacy, and PR, but without a cohesive strategy or clear commercial gates. While each activity had merit, the lack of integration reduced overall impact and limited return on investment,” Linenko told B&T.
“Without alignment between marketing activity and commercial objectives, even well-executed campaigns struggled to translate into meaningful sales growth.”
After joining Amber Beverage Australia in July of 2025, Linenko and the alcohol distributor began with a full portfolio review.
During this process she found that before the brand began investing heavily in brand marketing, it needed to get its house in order more generally.
It needed to “strengthen core trade fundamentals,” she said, “distribution, pricing strategy, and in-store visibility. We also prioritised e-commerce, which continues to be one of the fastest-growing channels in Australia.”
It is not the most glamorous work. But it is perhaps the most essential for marketers and it has since been effective for the alcohol distributor.
One of the most significant changes Linenko made was embedding marketers within sales and operations.
“Embedding marketing closer to sales and operations ensures that strategy is grounded in commercial reality,” she said.
“When marketers understand retailer dynamics, pricing pressures, and operational constraints, they can build campaigns that genuinely support sell-through, rather than simply generating awareness. This creates faster decision-making, stronger collaboration, and more effective resource allocation.”
The early returns have been strong. In H1 2025 net revenue was down 6 per cent. Fast forward to the end of H2 and it risen 20 per cent year on year. Across the whole 12 months, net revenue growth was 7 per cent.
So how did it happen?
Its largest brands, such as 818 Tequila, Stoli vodka, Elijah Craig bourbon, delivered 32 per cent growth, driven by wider distribution, new SKUs and improved promotional planning.
ALDI was standout channel, with sales in the discount retailer growing 225 per cent following a more tailored ranging and pricing approach.
Campaign performance, while not the most important part of the strategy, also improved.
A Christmas campaign for Stoli brought together social, retail media and e-commerce under one plan. With pricing and trade execution aligned, the campaign delivered a twofold increase in sales uplift and more than three million impressions, according to Linenko.
Margins and EBITDA also improved. Linenko is measured in how she attributes that success. Pricing, discount management and inventory discipline did the heavy lifting, with marketing supporting rather than leading the change.
For Linenko and Amber Beverages the focus now is continuing to build upon the momentum.
“We are building a clear roadmap for where the business is heading and how we will achieve it together as a team.”
Nowadays, not every marketer gets to control all four of the Ps. But Linenko shows what can happen if a good marketer does.
