Suntory names Bruce Song to lead APAC growth

Suntory Global Spirits has established a commercial excellence team in Asia-Pacific to bolster consumer engagement and accelerate business growth across seven key markets, according to media reports.

The company has announced the appointment of Bruce Song as Vice President, Commercial Excellence for Asia Pacific (APAC). Based in South Korea, Bruce will oversee the newly created commercial excellence team in the region.

Masato Hayashi, President, APAC and global commercial excellence for Suntory Global Spirits, said the formation of the team in APAC was a “critical step to strengthening our regional capabilities and accelerating growth,” media outlets reported.

Bruce, who joined Suntory Global Spirits in 2017 as managing director of Korea, was responsible for establishing the Korea route to market and business entity. Since 2023, he has served as managing director of emerging Asia, leading a team of more than 200 across Korea, Taiwan and Southeast Asia. Prior to joining Suntory, Bruce was head of the reserve business unit at Diageo.

Speaking about the strengthening of the commercial excellence team, Bruce said, “We want Suntory Global Spirits to be the most admired premium commercial organisation and the preferred spirits partner for our customers. The Commercial Excellence agenda is essential to reaching this ambition and delivering sustainable growth, providing a shared set of global standards, as well as the tools, insight and commercial capabilities we need to support executional excellence and best-in-class customer engagement across our key markets.”

Bruce will report to Masato and serve on both the APAC and Global Commercial Excellence leadership teams, stated reports.