The past few decades have given rise to a culture where enjoying a tipple or two socially is no longer a cause for raised eyebrows as much as it was ‘in the good, old days’. This acceptability for moderate consumption is a result of several factors, ranging from the travelling populace being exposed to the drinking culture in various parts of the world, to the rise in experience-based marketing by brands, coupled with the serious efforts being put in by alcoholic beverage brands retailing in India.
Surrogate messaging resulting from the regulations, while limiting, has forced the category to devise alternate means of reaching and growing the consumer base. The events sponsored by alcobev brands — from music festivals to tasting sessions to sports events — have only grown bigger over the past decade. More often than not, such festivals are either properties created by the alcobev brands or are events that provide the brands with a platform to engage with the consumers, as sponsors. Even then, such initiatives largely act as branding and engagement opportunities rather than selling opportunities. So what’s the potential here?
Let the good times roll
Bacardi NH7 Weekender, Sunburn, SulaFest and Tomorrowland are some music festivals created by alcobev brands that have found their way into the diaries of the captive public. Other noteworthy events include Blenders Pride Fashion Tour, Royal Stag Mirchi Music Awards, Heineken Foosball League, Absolut Vh1 Liquid TV, Tuborg Nights, Corona Sunsets Festival and Smirnoff Experience — events that allow liquor brands to come on-board as co-curators, associates or sponsors.
Karan Singh, CEO, Sunburn, notes that it can cost an alcobev brand anywhere between $1 million to $2 million for a full year of association with the festival. Since the fest market in India has evolved, the alcobev brand’s involvement with the fest has easily doubled over the last five years, Singh provides. Brands don’t merely look at such associations as avenues to sell but to engage as well. From product launches to sampling, the association provides brands with an array of opportunities.
Singh notes, “Alcobev brands contribute healthily to our overall IP in terms of revenue. The percentage of contribution is a combination of sponsorship and beverage sales.” At Sunburn, Smirnoff had its own experience zone while The Kingfisher Good Times zone hosted games like Beer Pong, Dunk It, Hammer It, apart from giveaways.
In 2015, global beer consumption declined by 0.6% (122.8 million cases) following a levelling-off of volumes in 2014, as reported by the International Wine and Spirits Record 2016 database. The top three growth markets were Mexico (+47.0 million cases, +6.3%), Vietnam (+25.8 million cases, +7.3%) and India (+10.5 million cases, +4.0%). Amidst the decline, the trend for gradually increasing demand for premium products was apparent. The global premium-and-above spirits market gained 6.7 million nine-litre cases in 2015 versus 2014, a 5% uplift.
While the global trend edges to premiumisation, it cannot be confused to be the norm for all countries. While the push for premium is real, India, for example, is one such market where trade restrictions prevent brands from optimising their channels to gain maximum yield from investments. It then comes back to making sure that your product is top of mind when the consumer buys a drink.
Pernod Ricard is one such player that is strong on the premiumisation play. Raja Banerji, AVP — marketing, Pernod Ricard India, says, “We deliver consumer engagement through experiential brand initiatives which evoke aspiration and are exclusive in nature.” Chivas Regal organised master blender Colin Scott’s visit to India. For wine lovers, the brand organised an exclusive evening with Jacob Creek’s brand ambassador Ben Bryant across cities. In music, the property Royal Stag Barrel Select MTV Unplugged is leveraged while Blender’s Pride Fashion Tour adds the fashion peg to the marketing efforts. The 2015 edition was used to launch select content from the movie Bajirao Mastani.
Another big player that utilises events is Budweiser, which has recently conducted a series of events, the most popular of them being Tomorrowland. Made Stage, a Budweiser music property and part of the Brewed the Hard Way campaign, brought together local talent in its inaugural edition this year in Mumbai. Through Unite — The Mirror to Tomorrowland event in Hyderabad, local consumers in addition to being exposed to local talent were provided with a taste of Belgium’s Tomorrowland, as the event was telecast at the venue.
The regional play
As the biggies continue to find avenues to engage consumers, wine tastings as a concept, considered largely foreign to the Indian populace until recently, is finding a growing number of takers. The past few decades have seen vineyards grow consistently in numbers. The play here is regional, albeit it does compete with foreign offerings but local brands seem to have more of a chance of direct engagement. Being regional, says Harish Bijoor, brand strategy expert and CEO, Harish Bijoor Consults, gives such brands more of a fighting chance. “The more regional a player you are, the more creative you have to be. Today you could be regional just because you sell in one state. But you also can get saturated unless you start retailing beyond your region and that is what matters.”
Sula Vineyards is one such player. Cecilia Oldne, VP, marketing, Sula Vineyards, reveals, “Sula had 250,000 visitors at its different facilities in Nasik last year. We conducted 45,000 tastings at the Tasting Room and Tasting Cellar at the vineyard.” Sula sees 95% of sales happening in India and is on track to sell one million cases in 2016-17. This will include exports to 30 countries.
Metros/tier 1 cities remain the major markets for the player although Sula is seeing growth double among women and tier 2 cities.
Experience-based initiatives are on the frontline of communication for Sula. This is followed by the second wave comprising digital, PR, print and trade marketing. The brand has plans to open a boutique vineyard resort and wine spa later this year. Janus, the recently launched brandy offering by Sula, will be built through the sales and distribution channels already established for the wine offerings. Over 200 tastings of this product have been conducted across the country so far. Brand’s property, SulaFest, provides patrons an experience of a music festival. Oldne emphasises, “SulaFest is not about the earnings in cash but the experience it offers.”
Grover Zampa plays in the same category as Sula. Sumedh Singh Mandla, CEO, Grover Zampa Vineyards says that people who travel abroad see wine consumption more as a culture and demand the same when they return. “That’s when the conversion happens. There is huge scope for on-ground events that are both enjoyable and educational about wine,” he opines.
Currently present in 23 cities, Grover’s events range from tastings to educational sessions, pairing and stomping events. The Great Grover Wine Festival (Bengaluru) last year hosted 2,000 people. The brand aims to reach 10,000 people in five years.
The newest entrant in the domestic alcobev category is I Brands Beverages, currently operational in 15 states. Lisa Srao, its chairman and MD, confesses, “Our products are new in the market when compared to our competitors who are top players. With these activities there is a high level of exposure and an opportunity of consumer response.” It is focussed on activating the brands at pubs, bars and lounges to drive awareness and trial. In Punjab, Haryana and Goa, the Three Royals Party Nights are organised that are essentially music events. Ad campaigns in the local TV and radio channels of Punjab and Haryana, as well as in local cinema theatres and multiplexes using the surrogate brands Granton Club Soda and Three Royals Party Nights have also been explored. Srao adds, “When we integrate marketing and sales activations for an event, we generally see 50-60% increase in the sales volumes of that brand. In some markets we have also seen doubling of volumes, around that quarter.”
The case then for the impact of offline engagement activities, irrespective of size of the brand, is watertight.
Jazzing it up on digital
While offline maybe the best way to reach the consumer, digital cannot be neglected, points out Pinaki Ranjan Mishra, partner and national leader — retail, EY. “In India, such brands deal with restrictions in two ways; surrogate advertising or surrogate products. The digital channel has opened up opportunities that were previously unavailable to this sector.” For example, in the case of a music festival, only the attendees would have been exposed to the brand earlier but now, brands are using the digital platform to put out videos, pictures, updates and in some cases even streaming the festival in multiple locations. This allows them to create a much larger impact. “The single biggest change is the use of social media as an opportunity to go beyond surrogate advertising,” Mishra sums up.
The digital sphere is what’s going to make alcobev players in the Indian market more conscious of the overall ROI from the events. They will perhaps become more discerning with how their marketing and communication budget is utilised. Surrogate advertising is here to stay, but more ROI-centered discussions will be planned by brands.
Cheers! Some interesting international engagement efforts by alcobev brands:
Heineken | The Dilemma
This digital film has a super fan, Simone, choose between VIP tickets of The Beautiful Game and his friends. Simone accepts VIP ticket for a UEFA match despite knowing that watching it together at a friend’s place is almost a tradition. He fakes an illness for having to miss out on watching it together. In the stadium, Heineken puts his friends on the big screen who threaten to expose what he has done as they invite him back to watch the game with them. Simone agrees to join them and later finds out they are all seated in a special viewing box. The super reads, ‘Don’t let your friends down on a UEFA Champions League Night’.
Budweiser | Beer Garage
Anheuser-Busch tried sensory engagement of the attendees at SXSW with Budweiser’s Beer Garage. Through the VR headset, attendees got a virtual tour of the company’s St. Louis facility. Budweiser went ahead with making it a 4D experience.
St-Germain | Vive The Daylife Peep Show
St-Germain made use of Periscope and livestreamed six peep shows, one every hour, in one day. After 24 hours, the films were not available on the platform anymore.
Hennessy | Harmony. Mastered From Chaos
To speak about its high end brandy V.S.O.P Privilège, a cognac, Hennessy created an interactive microsite that lets a visitor view the ever-changing conditions at Cognac, despite which the brand maintains consistent and high quality. Apart from the microsite, video content of 15, 30 and 60-second clips were released.
@shinminbali