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Indian Racing League (IRL) recently onboarded United Breweries’ Kingfisher Power Soda as their presenting sponsor for the 2024 edition in Chennai. Talking about the association in an exclusive conversation with e4m, Vikram Bahl, Chief Marketing Officer of United Breweries, shared that Kingfisher has always been associated with sports through its partnerships with big cricket and football teams.
“We are always on the lookout for what are the latest fashion points when it comes to all these fields and similarly in sports. Motorsports clearly is trending and picking up and IRL seems to be the premier event on motorsports,” he said.
According to Bahl, experiential marketing is a really important facet of connecting with their consumers. “A few decades back, there was neither the avenues nor the mindset; it was a scarce and frugal mindset. But the country has changed now and avenues are available now.”
According to Bahl, everyone is now looking for opportunities where they can engage with their passion points. Consumers across age groups, especially Gen-Zs and millennials, are looking for experiences and hence, United Breweries connects with their passion points.
Another aspect of experiential marketing is restaurants and bars. “That is where they can experience the brands. They've come there to have a good time and if your brand is present, they're presented in the right manner with the right visibility with the right offers and with the right activation, that becomes a super important touchpoint for us,” said Bahl.
In addition, customers visit bars because beer is a cool, refreshing beverage that should be consumed in moderation and looks good when presented. Therefore, if done correctly, that's a fantastic strategy to promote your brand, Bahl suggested.
Speaking about top consumer trends in the alco-bev sector, Bahl shared the trend of premiumisation has picked up pace. Secondly, experimentation and looking for new, different experiences within Alco-bev has gained prominence among consumers.
“Thirdly, among some of the younger consumers and also more affluent consumers, there is a trend of moderation as well. So, that's why beer is such a good Alco-bev option, because it is a drink of moderation,” he added.
The first thing about trade is that the brand has to be available, then it has to be visible and then they have to engage with consumers. Therefore, there are various levels but the basic level is just being available.
Bahl highlighted, “We are the most widely distributed beer brand in the country. and that's a big strength of ours. That is possible because of our capabilities, both from a manufacturing and selling point of view. So, you know, a combination of the two works the best.”
When it comes to challenges for the alco-bev sector, Bahl shared that beer is still a relatively small part of the total alco-bev category. A part of this is concerned with the pricing for beer, which is not very favourable compared to spirits.
Even though according to Statista, in 2022, India consumed over 2 billion litres of beer. By 2025, beer consumption is estimated to reach 3.4 billion litres.
“But, if that pricing relative to spirits is corrected or made more attractive, I think that could lead to the beer category growing faster than it is today,” he said.
Earlier, there were handful of leading brands in the market, but we now see competion from many newer brands.
“The new brands that are coming in, are delivering the right experience, the right quality and hence, the overall beer experience for consumers becomes good ultimately,” he said.
With the approaching festive season, United Breweries plans to accelerate their trade. Bahl shared, “We have October coming up and we're going to do ‘Oktoberfest’ activation. Then, when December arrives, which is the new year and festive season, we activate trade in a big way so that anybody visiting a bar or a restaurant, gets to interact with the brand with great offers and more.”
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