Alcohol brand Bacardi has just launched the Bacardi Ocho - India’s first premium rum - in Mumbai. At the product launch, Anshuman Goenka, Head of Marketing, Bacardi India talks about premiumization of alcohol, Bacardi’s marketing strategies, growth of the brand in India and more.
ON PREMIUMIZATION OF ALCOHOL: Consumers in India increasingly want to consume high quality products that have a significant taste and proposition to themselves and are willing to pay the price. Most alcohol categories are already premiumized, except for rum. We are confident that this product is going to be a runaway success in India.
MARKETING STRATEGY: With Ocho, we have a two-pronged strategy, i.e., education and experience. We want to educate our consumers and also the bartenders as they are the ones who advocate premium brands and influence consumer choices. We have launched the ‘Rum Room’, which is a global experiential platform to give consumers the taste of what Bacardi Ocho is. Word-of-mouth is going to be the most critical form of our marketing strategy. The challenges with regard to alcohol advertising have only been an opportunity for us to be better thought-through in our marketing plans.
GROWTH PROGRESS: For the last five years, we have consistently gained market-share across most of the categories that we operate in. When it comes to rum, vodka, gin, tequila and vermouth, we are the category leaders. Our whiskey portfolio has grown in excess of 60% in the last couple of years and in some States we’ve got a double-digit market-share in less than 24 months. Collectively as an organization, we are now 6 million cases in terms of volume.
FUTURE EXPECTATIONS: With India taking charge, we anticipate 40% of global growth from emerging markets by 2030. India presents an exciting growth opportunity as the No.1 market globally for whiskey (212M cases), rum (40M cases) and brandy (70M cases).
ON PREMIUMIZATION OF ALCOHOL: Consumers in India increasingly want to consume high quality products that have a significant taste and proposition to themselves and are willing to pay the price. Most alcohol categories are already premiumized, except for rum. We are confident that this product is going to be a runaway success in India.
MARKETING STRATEGY: With Ocho, we have a two-pronged strategy, i.e., education and experience. We want to educate our consumers and also the bartenders as they are the ones who advocate premium brands and influence consumer choices. We have launched the ‘Rum Room’, which is a global experiential platform to give consumers the taste of what Bacardi Ocho is. Word-of-mouth is going to be the most critical form of our marketing strategy. The challenges with regard to alcohol advertising have only been an opportunity for us to be better thought-through in our marketing plans.
GROWTH PROGRESS: For the last five years, we have consistently gained market-share across most of the categories that we operate in. When it comes to rum, vodka, gin, tequila and vermouth, we are the category leaders. Our whiskey portfolio has grown in excess of 60% in the last couple of years and in some States we’ve got a double-digit market-share in less than 24 months. Collectively as an organization, we are now 6 million cases in terms of volume.
FUTURE EXPECTATIONS: With India taking charge, we anticipate 40% of global growth from emerging markets by 2030. India presents an exciting growth opportunity as the No.1 market globally for whiskey (212M cases), rum (40M cases) and brandy (70M cases).
