With a new logo and global positioning ‘Bacardí Untameable Since 1862’, the spirit brand aims to move away from beaches and parties and focus on social themes relevant to today’s millennials instead. Manish Seth, Director – Sales & Marketing, Bacardi India Pvt Ltd, discusses what the brand has in store for Indian audiences
By SNEHA ULLAL
Q] Tell us about the purpose behind Bacardi’s new global positioning ‘Bacardí Untameable Since 1862’. What kind of marketing and advertising activities do you have planned for the Indian market?
With this campaign, we are consciously moving away from our association with beaches and parties to overlay a more emotionally relevant standpoint. The campaign takes the Bacardi brand back to its origins in Cuba. The brand essence ‘An Irrepressible Spirit’ draws from more than 150 years of the Bacardi family’s uncompromising passion triumphing against challenges such as earthquakes, distillery fires, prohibition, revolution and exile. This fits in perfectly with today’s millennial consumers, who continue to pursue their passions despite uncertainty and economic slowdown. The time is right to tell this legendary story and we are proud to showcase this to our consumers in India.
We also have a new visual identity and a typeface inspired by the Cuban Art Deco style of the early 1900s. Our new logo is a creation inspired by Bacardi bat hand-drawn designs from the early 1900s. The new logo stays true to the integrity of the original symbol representing good luck, good fortune and family unity. Bacardi will also be uniting and marketing light and dark rums under one global trademark idea.
The media mix for this campaign goes across print, digital, outdoor as well as TV. We have a TVC titled ‘Procession’ which tells the story of the Bacardi family through struggles to ultimate victory. Filmed in the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Ouro Preto, Brazil, the ad echoes the universal sentiment of today’s audiences that ‘True Passion Can’t Be Tamed’. This campaign began on December 24 and will continue till the end of February 2014.
Q] How does your media mix work? Since advertising of alcohol brands is banned on TV, how do you compensate that with the use of other media and even on-ground activations innovatively?
We carry out a variety of engagements with our audience, always staying true to the core of the brand. We are very active on the digital front, committed to responsible communication and adhere to the country’s laws. All our social media communities and digital assets are age-gated to ensure only LDA+ (Legal Drinking Age) consumers have access to our content. The same applies to our on-ground activations.
Q] How do you see your unique associations with NH7 Weekender music festival and the TV show The Dewarists evolve in the next few years?
The irrepressible spirit of Bacardi gives it a natural affinity for great music. Throughout Bacardi India’s history, right from the iconic Bacardi jingle to path-breaking live events such as Bacardi Blast, Eristoff Invasion and The Dewarists (a Dewar’s Initiative) to name a few, the company always engaged audiences and music lovers through unique experiences, outstanding performances and unforgettable properties. We also extended our social activity ‘Walk the Line’ to Bacardi NH7 Weekender this year and it met with a fantastic response. We also carried out innovative activities like the ‘Bacardi Hot Air Balloon’ and ‘Meet
A Dewarist’.
Bacardi will continue to support this passion point and create platforms to push talent while creating unique experiences for our customers. 2014 will hold several surprises for our consumers and it all begins with the ‘Bacardí Untameable Since 1862’ campaign.
FACTS
Creative agency - Leo Burnett
Digital agency - WebChutney
PR agency - The Communication Council
Q] How do you see experiential marketing as a key medium in India, for both alcohol and consumer brands? Where do you see the scope for development?
Today a company’s ability to deliver an experience that sets it apart in the eyes of its customers is crucial to inspiring loyalty to its brand. We believe that loyalty is greatly influenced by a brand’s interaction with its customers and how well it delivers on their wants and needs. In other channels, the communication is purely one way; our attempts have been towards giving the consumer an immersive experience, which is what we believe has set Bacardi apart.
Experiential marketing allows us to create an emotional connection with our consumers. For brand Bacardi which has a strong legacy of being innovative, experiential marketing has worked in the past with our other properties and shall remain a crucial peg in our customer engagement in times to come.
Q] How has digital media supported the brand’s advertising and marketing strategy so far? Can you give examples of campaigns that have been very successful for the brand?
Digital is a very important medium for Bacardi as it allows for direct and two-way communication with our audience on an ongoing basis. With respect to our campaign ‘Bacardí Untameable Since 1862’, an unprecedented digital roadblock delivering over 50 million unique impressions in a single day is how we launched this new phase on December 24, 2013. The roadblock was spread across all of India’s top sites like TOI, ET, ZigWheels, Gaana, IndiaTimes, Facebook, YouTube among many others. This will be followed by a 30-day digital engagement and sustenance campaign across top 10 video sites and social platforms.
Q] What is Bacardi’s current market share in India? How does it stack up against its competition in India right now?
While we do not disclose numbers, Bacardi is by far the dominant leader in its category. Interestingly, most of the company’s other brands are also number 1 players in their categories: Breezer RTDs, Grey Goose Super-Premium Vodka, Bombay Sapphire Gin, and Martini vermouth and sparkling wine.
Q] What are your current core challenges in the Indian market and how you plan to overcome them?
Bacardi has been on a continuous growth path in the Indian market and we are well-placed to gain from demographic and social changes. Our objectives now are in the area of making our high-quality product offerings available to more and more consumers.
MARKETING TIP
Know both your consumer and your product well by spending time in the market, not in the conference room
CMO FILE
Manish Seth became Vice President – Sales at Bacardi India Ltd in July 2010, and is currently the Director Sales & Marketing at Bacardi India Pvt Ltd. Seth has experience across sales, brand management, trade marketing and business management functions. He has previously worked with Seagram, Airtel, Cargill India Ltd and Perfetti Van Melle. Seth studied at St Peters College, Agra, and then did his B Tech, Mechanical Engineering from Govind Ballabh Pant Krishi Evam Praudyogik Vishwavidyalaya. He did his MBA, Marketing from Institute of Management Technology (IMT), Ghaziabad in 1995
ABOUT THE BRAND
Bacardí, the largest privately held spirits company in the world, produces and markets internationally recognised spirits and wines. Launched in India in 1998, the brand portfolio comprises more than 200 brands and labels including Grey Goose vodka, Dewar’s Blended Scotch whisky, Bombay Sapphire gin, Martini vermouth and sparkling wines and Eristoff vodka among other leading and emerging brands. Founded 151 years ago in Santiago de Cuba on February 4, 1862, Bacardí now employs nearly 6,000 people, manufactures its brands at 27 facilities in 16 markets on four continents and sells in more than 150 countries.
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