Raising a digital toast

India accounts for over 125 million active Internet users, going by various sources. With many of them increasingly opting to be mobile, and also active on social media platforms, brands are choosing to advertise differently. Zoom in on a sector plagued by regulatory challenges in India — the alcohol beverage market — and things get even more interesting.

Wine and beer brands are taking social media seriously. Spends on digital platforms are likely to increase, while traditional advertising may plateau or be optimised for opportunities emerging in retail and places of consumption.

The law of the land has restricted alcohol and cigarette brands from promoting their mainstays, liquor and cigarettes, directly on mass media. However, the ‘surrogate’ path these brands take – advertising mineral water and accessories, for instance – attract criticism.

“Kingfisher packaged drinking water is a legitimate product. Think about it, it’s the fourth largest in its category in the Indian market. Just at a consumer price level, it is valued at ₹200 crore. All our communication is for packaged drinking water,” argues Samar Singh Sheikhawat, Senior Vice President – Marketing, United Breweries Ltd (UBL).

Not necessarily shying away from the term, Cecilia Oldne, Global Brand Ambassador, Head - International Business, Sula Vineyards, states, “If we do look at it as ‘surrogate’ advertising, then our annual Music Fest and the promotion of Sula Vineyards as a destination is the form it takes.

“India still consumes print through magazine and newspaper readership. We’re restricted by what we can advertise in these, but in this market, they continue to be important. But there is a fundamental shift in the way people communicate in the days of 24-hour access to information.” The “shift” is visible even if measured just at the level of follower counts on social media networks. Sula Vineyards has more than 46,000 ‘likers’ on Facebook, while Kingfisher World has crossed a whopping 76 lakh as far as followers go.

Twitter, many have argued, is popular and sometimes taking over from Facebook at a user experience level, but it is still a network that is personality-focused rather than brand-focused. Given that, Sula Vineyards has, nevertheless, managed just under 7,000 followers. Kingfisher, with its longer run in the market, and the popularity of beer, has gathered more than 47,000 followers.

Says Amit Roy, Consultant at Think Tanc, an outfit focused on setting up bars and lounges across the country, “Social media and digital advertising just garners more eyeballs. Spends are increasing in favour of online platforms because of the power of engagement and on-ground activation potential. Foosball tournaments and music events are great routes for brands to use social media to their advantage.”

Spending by brands in the alcohol beverage space will increase on social media. Ironically, with all the sensitivity around direct promotion of alcohol to mass audiences, global social media brands are not tailored yet to factor all the conventional concerns of regulators in India. For example, while there are restrictions on what an alcohol beverage brand can advertise on TV, YouTube can hardly be monitored in the same manner. Sula's Oldne reveals the brand is using short videos to drive traffic through its Facebook and Twitter page. According to YouTube’s Press Room, top YouTube video creators have been found to be more popular than even celebrities among teenagers in the US. The video platform reportedly has more than one billion users with the number of hours of viewing each month going up by 50 ‘per cent year on year. That makes for a strong case for where ad spends should flow. “For our biggest campaigns, we don’t leave out social media platforms. Google Ads, YouTube and Facebook are great for driving traffic to our event pages. Prior to our Music Fest, a lot of build-up happens on these platforms.

“Going digital, being online helps us humanise the brand and actually talk to people. It’s more immediate,” explains Oldne.

UBL’s Sheikhawat says the brand is largely winning at places of consumption (pubs and resorts that have a licence) and place of sale (retail) where, again, restrictions are not as stringent. UBL, has arguably optimised traditional advertising, maxing its footprint because the number of retail points in the country (around 80,000, according to Sheikhawat) haven’t increased all that much in recent years.

“Around 20-25 per cent of our annual spends go into branding and advertising. Our social media budgets have doubled year-on-year, so that’s about 10 per cent of our total advertising outflow. Five years ago, this was as low as 2 per cent,” he explains.

In India, the legal drinking age is 21. There are no such restrictions imposed on social media. On self-regulation, the brands stick to the age criteria of 21 years and their pages they claim their pages are open only to those aged 21 and above. But UBL specifically claimed it self-regulates and one way is to allow entry only to those who are 25 and older. Sula Vineyards is also active on LinkedIn and Foursquare (for check-ins) and bets big on blogs. Oldne says that in the future, spends on a platform will be proportional to what it is able to deliver to the brand. UBL envisages at least 50 per cent of total branding expenditure going into social media, without ignoring shop floors and places people grab that drink. Think Tanc’s Roy says that the target market dropping to include younger people who can spend is also helping brands communicate where they are active — on social networks.