Mediaboss Marketing

With summer in the last leg of its fury, homegrown beer companies are jostling for attention in an increasingly crowded marketplace. The challenge for brands is to get past the prohibition on advertising alcohol on mainstream media platforms like TV, print, and radio. This has led most beer marketers to harness the power of digital.

Digital Bubble

According to Adrine D'mello, Creative Director - Strategy, White Rivers Media, The market and industry have evolved so much over the years but some things still remain the same, the way I see it. Take a look at one of the most iconic brands from the category Kingfisher and how they built the brand image in the mid-80s to early 90s, a time with stricter advertising laws. It was all about the Kingfisher image and it was considered cool.

Today, he points out, brands, especially the new brands, are pushing the envelope of creativity. The packing is no longer dull, from a Simba to Bira 91, the brands are carefully and purposefully creating a persona for themself keeping in mind their evolving consumers and their preferences.

Abhinav Jindal, CEO and Founder, Kimaya Himalayan Beverages (which owns BeeYoung),agrees that beverage brands are adapting to the current climate and radically rethinking their core messages while communicating with consumers on social media.

Jindal says brands are using the power of collaborative promotions and cross-brand activities such as one betweena beerbrand and barware or clothing etc. There is an entire range of collaborations that can gain a lot of digital traction in terms of geographical reach and engagement, with the summer season providing the perfect stepping off point, he notes.

We are running an exciting campaign called #SUNSOUTBUZZOUT. This campaign aims to showcase an innovative, quirky, happy take on the beer lovers this summer and how BeeYoung, with its refreshing taste, would make a perfect choice for summer activities. We are collaborating with comedians, DJs, and lifestyle curators to promote this campaign on social media through collaboration posts, Jindal added.

Devans Modern Breweries, which has been in operation for 60 years and owns establishedbeerbrands like Godfather, is also keenly aware of the need to be a part of this social media bubble. Prem Dewan, the MD, says, We engage with our consumers primarily through Instagram and Facebook and are also looking to establish our presence on other emerging social media platforms. We have an active influencer marketing campaign on Instagram which has helped create good visibility for our brands. We also run online contests and giveaways.

Elaborating further on the marketing activities, DMello says: A strong social media strategy, which brings out that persona to the digital world to me, can help these brands own some conversations among all the chatter in the sector. Brands like Zomato (a food delivery app) and Netflix (an OTT platform) have managed to create a distinct identity for themselves. Its not just about posting content to get likes and follows, but getting you the audience who can relate to and connect with the brand beyond its function.

Crafting Influence

While Indians' penchant for strongbeershows no signs of slaking, it is the craftbeerspace that has seen a major movement. Jindal notes that, as of now, the decade-old Indian craftbeerindustry is at a nascent stage with a market share of 2-3% of the Indian market. It is estimated that sales of craftbeerswill grow at 20-30% y-o-y, which is higher than 5-7% y-o-y growth in thebeermarket as a whole.

Brands are coming up with highvoltage campaigns, cross-brand and influencer collaborations leading to digital product placements leading to digital visibility in the quirkiest way. Sampling and participating in small- and large-scale events also give a boost to brand awareness and visibility, says Jindal.

We have been instrumental in securing online and print media mentions in portals promoting alcohol, interviews and authored articles by us as a brand and we get enormous support from our brand friends and influencers through story shoutouts, he added.

With festivals, concerts, and events already returning to the ground this year, beer brands are looking to cater to the milling crowds of young consumers with disposable income and a thirst for new experiences. Noting that introducing your brands through free samples at events is key to spreading the word, managers ensure that they are also heavily involved with food and music festivals. We do focus on event sponsorships and on our draught beers in order to improve visibility of our products, Dewan remarks.

Celebrity associations are also something that brands consider to attract communities of people that may be following a particular celebrity, says Pushpanjali Banerji, Brand Director of Kyndal Group. But Gen Z is a population that tends to follow influencers and also is concerned about the authenticity of the brand and its stand.

DMello agrees, Celebrity collaborations are but a tiny part of the big beautiful digital world. You have so many different modes and mediums to push communication, hyper-targeting it to your desired audience to get the best possible results. At the risk of sounding cliche, getting onto Web 3.0 is a good shout for the new and upcoming brands, creating cool experiences goes a long way in crafting that cool brand image.

Read more news about (internet advertising India, internet advertising, advertising India, digital advertising India, media advertising India)

Read the original here:
Cheers to all: How beer brands are tapping the summer market - Exchange4Media