Allied Blenders and Distillers Pvt. Ltd. is a Kishore R. Chhabria promoted company. ABD contributed to 32.8 million cases for the year 2019-20. Its flagship brand is the famous Officer’s Choice Whisky counted amongst the world’s largest-selling whiskies. The portfolio includes Sterling Reserve Premium Whiskies, Officer’s Choice Blue Whisky, Kyron Premium Brandy and Jolly Roger Rum. ABD possesses a strong sales and distribution network nationally and a pan-India manufacturing base that includes 40 manufacturing/bottling units. It has 14 sales offices in 27 states across the country.
Anupam Bokey, Chief Marketing Officer, Allied Blenders & Distillers in an exclusive chat with MediaNews4U speaks to us on the Alco – bev industry in India, their marketing initiatives for the festive season and much more.
What is the market scenario of the Alcohol industry in India and what are the challenges?
The alco- bev industry in our country largely comprises of Indian made whisky which accounts for a sizable share in boosting the growth of this sector. Across segments, domestically produced brands account for a higher share of consumer preference and there is still significant scope for new entrants to gain consumer preference. The Indian consumer is also seeking out quality experiences. Irrespective of their socio-economic background, alcohol drinkers are increasingly inclined to better quality versus consuming more. With our portfolio straddling multiple segments, we are poised to deliver on these elevated consumer expectations with well-tailored product offerings.
Having said that, the alco- bev industry is a highly regulated domain with a complex tax structure. The taxes are levied by both, the Central and State Governments. With pricing being regulated by most State Governments, any cost side changes are difficult to make up leading to stress on profitability. Over the last couple of years, there has been a lot of pressure in terms of the cost of raw materials and packaging material going up. These factors contribute to a lower incentive for innovation, especially for the Indian whisky segment.
The pandemic hit certain industries hard, Alcohol was one, and how did you navigate through the crisis?
We faced the same issues that most of the other players in the industry did due to the lockdown, with complete closure of the retail/manufacturing environment in most of the first quarter last year. COVID related taxes imposed by various State Excise also impacted pricing. The closure of on-premise channels till late last year followed by the curfews imposed in the second wave left us with fewer pathways to interact with consumers. Discretionary spends also went down, impacting the spirits industry at large.
Our focus during this time was to continue investing in building strong product narratives with our marquee brands that would aid in consumers making more informed choices. When markets opened up, we drove visibility at sales touch points in the form of topical collaterals like face masks, window shields and face shields for counter salespersons. At ABD, we also actively participated in the e-commerce channel that opened up for online ordering and home deliveries of alcohol during the pandemic. We are closely watching how this space evolves to widen consumer reach for our brands.
Lastly, we made concerted efforts to ensure a safe work environment for all our frontline teams on both the sales and manufacturing ends of the business and are continuing to build more employee-friendly policies to manage working within the new normal.
In marketing, what are the trends you are seeing when it comes to the marketing of Alcohol brands?
Experimenting with and using digital platforms as a reach medium to build strong product stories seems to be a growing trend in the industry. Besides having a large active user base, digital platforms allow for a variety of formats of content to be showcased as well as deeper avenues for engagement through likes, shares and comments.
Moreover, alco- bev brands are not only leveraging digital mediums by orchestrating compelling social media marketing campaigns but also strategically engaging with influencers. Influencers bring with them a significant degree of authenticity making them a smart tool to deploy for building brand credibility.
Marketers in this space are now opening up to experimenting with various mediums to reach consumers and create interesting conversations online.
Do you see a roadblock when it comes to advertising alcohol brands?
Advertising in the alco- bev industry certainly presents challenges in terms of restrictions to showcasing direct product references in most mainstream media. Regulations in terms of in-store branding also differ from state to state which leads to complexities when designing point-of-sale merchandise. However, exciting avenues are opening up through which disruptive interventions and conversations can be had on the brand. Advancements in advertising technologies are allowing packaging to become more interactive. Indigenous OTT platforms are opening up to the possibility of hosting guard-railed communication on alco – bev products and content creators are finding seamless ways to support brands in their efforts to build imagery and appeal. In my opinion, therefore, the category presents an exciting opportunity for experimental thinking while still being within the confines of responsible advertising.
With your brands, what would be the marketing initiatives for the upcoming festive season?
For the upcoming festive season, we are building fresh brand communications to garner awareness for our product stories. Officer’s Choice Whisky is a powerhouse brand and we intend to invest behind the same and grow the segment. Officer’s Choice Blue will take forward its narrative on the ‘3 Steps to Smoothness’ with a bold new packaging that will be rolled out in key markets across the country. Sterling Reserve will continue leveraging initial successes and establishing itself in the segment that it operates in through limited-edition packs and launching in key markets, nationally and globally.
Our blends have been receiving accolades from several international forums like the International Taste Institute, Brussels and IWSC and we are looking at dialling up the product functionality on all our communications in the coming months.
Would you be launching new products this season?
While we are not looking at launching new products in the coming season, our lead brands will be supported with a plethora of consumer offers to add to the festive merriment. Limited edition packs will also be explored to create excitement on-shelf. Explorations for growth across categories and segments will continue.
What is the market share for whiskeys in India? How are Indian Whiskey’s perceived in the International market?
The Spirits industry in India with over 60% preference for whisky, offers great untapped potential for growth. There are several opportunities within the domestic sector markets itself for Indian whiskies to grow. There is huge country liquor consuming audience base that is seeking better quality products and would be open to upgrading. India’s relatively young population sees newer individuals added each year to the legal drinking age- wherein Indian whisky could become the entry point for this audience. There has also been a growth of women whisky drinkers aided by on-premises and retail environments. All of these factors have us thus focusing on fully exploring the complete extent of the Indian market.
Internationally, markets with a large Indian diaspora as well as those that have a similar palette to the Indian consumer see a strong preference for Indian whiskies. Some of the world’s top-selling whisky brands come from India and find much consumer love globally as well. At ABD, we are working towards strategically expanding our footprint in the Middle East, Africa and select Latin American markets.
What are the marketing initiatives for the brand in general, as today digital is the front runner?
A digital focus has been guiding our communication efforts for a while now. We have built communities for our brands on Facebook and Instagram and strategically leveraged these platforms for our IP – Sterling Reserve Projects. Testament to our community-building efforts has been the rapid growth of subscribers on the Sterling Reserve Music Project YouTube channel which crossed the 100,000-subscriber mark within the first year of launch and went on to win a Silver YouTube Creator Award. Be it an amplification of limited-edition packs on Sterling Reserve, promotion of content from the Music and Comedy Projects, building a product narrative around OC Blue’s 3 steps to smoothness claim or garnering views for the new Officer’s Choice Whisky commercial – digital has been key.
On the personal front, you have shifted from FMCG to Alcohol Beverages, what are the challenges here?
I believe that the core principles of marketing are the same, but one needs to adapt to the category requirements in a big way. At ABD the team did a great job in my induction and familiarisation, which made adapting easy. There are differences though vs. FMCG – Spirits is operationally very intensive given the state-wise variations; the penetration of alco-bev is low and there is a legal drinking age (LDA) that needs media planning to be done diligently to reduce wastage. Role of trade is very important as it’s a very limited universe, and hence one needs to contantly find innovative activations at trade level. Market research tools and trackers are not easily deployable either, so needs suitable adapting – there is still scope for experimentation here to adapt the tools to get the right consumer/shopper insights.
Having said that there is scope for practicing pristine brand-building approach that FMCG marketers know best. It’s also an advantage to bring ‘Fresh Eyes’ that can help disrupt some closely held and well-entrenched beliefs – which is what I enjoy most!
