India’s 10.8 million hectalitre beer industry is bubbling over as international majors queue up to capitalise on the nation’s bustling economy, its young and affluent middle class, and recent deregulation in favour of mild alcohol categories.
However, with India being a semi-dark market, new entrants face all manner of challenges to communicate positioning statements and product features for their labels.
“The only option open to a newcomer is to launch surrogate products that are then supported by both above- and below-the-line communication,” says Arun V Kumar, national director - insights, strategy and business science, MediaCom.
“In the absence of a legitimate surrogate route, a newcomer may want to focus on sponsoring or creating events, as well as out-of-home activation points such as clubs, pubs and so on to drive awareness and consumption.”
India lies eighth in terms of beer volume in Asia-Pacific countries, with China being the leader (350 million Hl). However, with a per capita beer consumption of 0.95 litres (as compared to China, which stands at more than 20 litres), the opportunity for further growth is immense.
“India is among the fastest-growing beer markets in the region. The market grew at an estimated 16 per cent last year and this year, growth is expected to be close to 30 per cent,” says Chetan Gupta, marketing manager, Asia Pacific Breweries (APB).
All this is attracting global brewers in droves and most of the leading beer makers - APB, Anheuser-Busch, InBev, SABMiller and Carlsberg - have begun tapping the market, while others such as Molson Coors and Kirin are also mulling an Indian entry.
“While we cannot advertise alcohol, we successfully built our beer brand through association,” says Shekhar Ramamurthy, EVP, sales and marketing, United Breweries (UB). “We do fashion. We do sports. In fact, our water brand is very successful in its segment.”
According to MediaCom figures, the beer majors spent Rs 35.7 crore (US$9 million) in print and TV on surrogate brands such as Kingfisher Mineral Water, UB Export Soda, Hay 5000 CD Rack, Kingfisher Model Hunt and Castle Malt Beverages.
“Surrogate advertising tends to be pure brand advertising, where one has to focus on the key brand values that you want to highlight. If the brand name is familiar to consumers, then surrogate advertising does work,” notes Suman Srivastava, CEO, Euro RSCG.
The agency recently created a TVC for Cobra’s water brand with the same brand positioning as Cobra Beer — ‘So smooth, everything goes down well’. “We wanted to have a very contemporary portrayal of the brand without actually affecting its advertising pattern in other markets,” says Poonam Chandel, chief operating officer, Cobra, India.
“The key is to first identify a set of consumers with a mindset that is most responsive and receptive to the intended brand equity; build on an insight that will help identify a compelling brand proposition; and then take it into the media maximisation/activation space to make the proposition come alive,” says Kumar.
But with everyone, old and new, taking the same activation route to brand communication, the inevitable result is clutter in events and sponsorships. Brands and agencies alike will have no choice but to dream up ever more ways to find cut-through creative.
