NEW DELHI :
Zeenah Vilcassim joined Bacardi’s India unit in April final 12 months as advertising director, after working in London as the worldwide model director for the corporate’s Dewar’s scotch whisky. In India, she heads shopper and buyer advertising for the corporate’s complete portfolio, together with Bacardi rum, Gray Goose vodka and Breezer. The pandemic pressured liquor companies in India to droop all floor occasions, shutting a key advertising channel in a rustic the place they’re barred from promoting on conventional channels. In an interview, Vilcassim mentioned Bacardi moved to digital experiences throughout this difficult time to maintain shoppers engaged. Edited excerpts:
What’s your mandate to drive advertising in India?
Once I took over the function, it was simply after we set out Bacardi “Finest 10″ firm technique, whereby the ambition is the subsequent 10 years of Bacardi would be the greatest 10 years that Bacardi has ever had. And what’s underpinned that technique is holding shoppers on the coronary heart of every little thing that we do. It means leveraging insights to grasp our shoppers past what they want from the class and what they want of their lives.
From a advertising standpoint, that actually meant doing deep dives on all of our manufacturers, particularly throughout covid. The three huge developments that got here out have been round comfort, consolation, and curiosity. We checked out our present properties and the way can we adapt them to handle these key wants. For Bacardi, we now have Casa Bacardi, launched in 2019—it’s mainly an expertise platform that brings collectively meals, music, tradition, creativity, throughout just like the Caribbean vibe that Bacardi is understood for. We took the entire thing virtual-first. We did a 4,000-person attendee digital competition. After which, when the restrictions continued, we moved into an AR expertise—a completely AR immersive expertise throughout 25 nations into this 3-D Caribbean island that was fully sensorial. We had fully new music, individuals may create their (digital) avatars, and it introduced the curiosity ingredient with the AR expertise past only a digital competition.
Will offline occasions come again as soon as the pandemic recedes?
Globally, normally, when the pendulum swings a technique, it’s mentioned that the pendulum will swing the opposite approach fully when it comes to shoppers indulging in revenge spending, revenge journey, going out into bars and golf equipment.
IWSR (a liquor analysis company) did a report, the place, when it comes to the Indian shopper, that stage of consolation for all of these issues isn’t essentially on the similar stage that it’s globally. I believe working with what our shoppers want, we aren’t going to shift every little thing to bodily occasions once more instantly. Curiously, the report has proven that Gen X shoppers are extra snug with going again into revenge journey, out into the on-trade, however really, millennials and Gen-Zers, which is an enormous base of our shoppers, are slightly bit much less snug.
We need to take heed to what they want. Security is the primary precedence. I believe bodily occasions will come again, however the hybrid mannequin for us anyhow might be right here to remain. As an example, Breezer Vivid Shuffle will stay a hybrid mannequin for certain. NH7 Weekender is the most important property we now have when it comes to an experiential occasion. We need to maintain the ethos of that competition intact, however with all the precise security protocols. We’ll be doing the competition in Pune this 12 months once more, however it is going to be at a a lot smaller scale.
Will Bacardi as a model take part within the metaverse?
It’s a very fascinating area. It’s an untapped area proper now for manufacturers and the way manufacturers leverage it. For us, it comes again to what’s the shopper want that we try to handle. I believe subsequent 12 months, we’ll be trying to see and take a look at out just a few totally different improvements. Doubtlessly, the metaverse may be one among them; it won’t. We’ve slightly little bit of a “wait and see” strategy when it comes to its efficacy as a model platform and the flexibility to attach with shoppers.
For liquor, India is an advertising-dark market. Do you interact with regulators to ease this?
We’re a member of the Promoting Requirements Council of India (ASCI) in addition to the Worldwide Spirits & Wines Affiliation of India or ISWAI. For us, it’s about working inside the regulation. I come from the worldwide group at Dewar’s, the place most of our markets are fairly unregulated. To then come right into a darkish market the place you possibly can’t speak in regards to the product in some conventional channels, we see it as an extra problem, however a inventive problem at that. We’re in conversations. We’re not essentially lobbying or pushing for something.
Is promoting liquor on social media a gray space in India?
So, we will promote on social media by way of content material creators. On Fb and Instagram—you can even promote your product. So particularly, after we’re Fb and Instagram, we do a mixture of product-based promoting and a mixture of content material creators. It’s about being culturally related.
Supply: Live Mint