By Saloni Dutta
With a recently launched TVC, Allied Blenders and Distillers hopes to promote not just its premium whisky Officer’s Choice Blue, but also raise a voice against harassment of women. Ahmed Rahimtoola, VP, Marketing of Allied Blenders and Distillers (ABD) Pvt Ltd, talks about the purpose of the campaign, and the brand’s various ATL and BTL marketing exercises to strengthen its presence despite restrictions
Q] What is the core marketing mantra of ABD?
The marketing mantra, inspired by the values of ABD, is continuous innovation and excellence in execution to delight consumers, and at the same time deliver on organizational objectives.
Q] What are some of the factors behind the growth of the liquor industry in India? What are some of the key trends that have gotten your attention?
The success and growth of the alcobev industry in India can be attributed to the entry of a large section of India’s population into Legal Drinking Age Category (LDAC) and exposure of young LDA consumers to global lifestyles and trends; and hence alcobev consumption.
Some of the key trends we’ve noticed, which have contributed to the growth of this industry are:
Premiumisation: Owing to growth in disposable incomes, there has been a continuous trend towards
upgradation across price segments.
Decline in white spirits like vodka and gin: While there is very little data to suggest reasons for the same, the imagery platforms now owned by dark spirits (especially whisky) could be one of the reasons for this shift.
Increase in demand for brandy: It has been the fastest growing category since the past few years.
Q] What is the percentage market share of ABD in the Indian liquor industry? With recent mergers and acquisitions happening, do you think it would have an effect on brands under ABD?
ABD has 7.5% share of the Indian IMFL industry (Sep FY14). To a large extent, we don’t see a need for change in our on-ground strategy in the wake of the recent mergers and acquisitions in the Indian IMFL industry. Our strategies are based on market and consumer truths and change in ownership of competition brands does not alter these truths. However, we have our eyes and ears to the ground and if we believe there are any developments that warrant any change or action from our side then we will do the same.
Q] What does your media mix look like?
For ATL, our media mix usually consists of TV, Radio, Outdoor, Print, Digital/Social media. At this point, TV gets the significant share of the monies allocated for ATL media.
Q] What are some of the recent marketing initiatives undertaken by ABD and how effective have they been?
Marketing initiatives at ABD are a function of the market requirements and consumer truths. The Officer’s Choice Salaam India Awards, for instance, is a televised property that recognises and celebrates the extraordinary acts of courage of ordinary Indians. This is in line with the proposition of the Officer’s Choice brand, which urges consumers to awaken the righteous spirit in them and display it even in everyday situations. Also Officer’s Choice Blue’s ‘Raise Your Voice’ campaign seeks to awaken the righteous person within each one of us to take a stand and raise our voice against any atrocities against women.
Q] The liquor industry in India has to survive despite many advertising restrictions. What initiatives do
you take at ABD for different brands to create awareness and attract eyeballs?
Any initiatives that ABD brands undertake are driven by their respective marketing objectives. All our ATL initiatives are backed by a heavy thrust on on-ground visibility in the form of glow sign boards
(GSBs) or inshop branding (ISB) to increase awareness for our brands. Similarly, we undertake sampling activities or consumer gratification promotions to generate trials for our brands. There are also promotional offers on large pack sizes to promote loyalty for our brands.
Q] What was the inspiration and idea behind your TVC on Officer’s Choice Blue which talks about the
importance of raising your voice against crimes against women?
We conducted an extensive, multi-city research to dig deeper into our consumers’ minds. The findings revealed that even though our consumer is a young, modern, confident and materialistic individual, he has certain core values that remain unchanged.
He always seeks righteousness and given a choice, he will stand up for what’s right. This was a reinforcement of our belief that righteousness is still highly relevant in the present day context and will never be lost in the tide of time. The campaign leverages the research insight aptly and helps the consumer make a choice — of righteously responding to life’s situations.
We live in a society where we are making great economical and technological progress but atrocities against women still dominate the headlines. In such a scenario, the campaign seeks to awaken the righteous person within each one of us to take a stand and raise our voice against such atrocities. The thought is brought alive in our campaign through situations which can happen to any one on any day,
and creates an emotional connect with our target audience — the young, modern and progressive consumers of India.
Q] How has Officer’s Choice Blue fared in the Indian market since its launch in 2012?
Officer’s Choice Blue has had the rare distinction of being a millionaire brand in the first year of national launch. The brand clocked sales of 1.3 million cases in FY13 and has crossed the million cases landmark in this financial year in five months. As of YTD Sept 13, the brand has close to 9% share of the semi-premium whisky segment in the country. We plan to sell three million cases this financial year. The brand’s success has also been recognised by external agencies. Officer’s Choice Blue was awarded the Brand Excellence Award for the Emerging Brand of the Year 2013 by the World Brand Congress.
Q] What are some of the challenges faced by ABD in the Indian market? What are some of your plans to expand the reach of the company in India?
We are continuously tracking the growth of the alcobev industry in terms of number of outlets and aim to reach all such outlets in the country. The challenges faced by ABD in the Indian market are the same as those faced by other alcobev players in the country, which are:
Regulated pricing: Pricing of alcobev products is heavily controlled by most states in the country. Thus, any price changes have to be approved by the state governments. This puts the industry under pressure esepcially since there is an escalation in input costs of raw materials, but we cannot take corresponding price increases leading to stress on the bottom line.
Regulated advertising: Since we cannot talk to consumers directly about our brands and products, it is difficult to establish new brands.
Q] Most brands, including alcobev labels, seem to be focusing on using digital media. What are your plans at ABD to leverage the medium for marketing communications? What are some of the initiatives that you have on the digital front?
At ABD, we plan to leverage the digital medium for marketing communications in both owned and earned formats. Thus, we have our own website and microsites which are the owned digital media platforms. We are also looking at social media platforms like Facebook to make our presence felt in the earned media domain. Currently apart from our website, most of our marketing initiatives have a social media leg which is active on Facebook and YouTube.
Q] Do you see any change in the dynamics of the industry going forward?
Consumers are beginning to be more open to experimentation; hence innovation in products, product formats and packaging formats will be a key driver for companies to attract consumers. Also, traditionally alcobev brands in India have been targeting the male consumer. However, with increasing acceptance of social drinking as well as growing freedom for women, they will certainly be the next target audience.
Feedback: saloni.dutta@exchange4media.com
