The Hindu Business Line : Beating the ban

Liquor companies have gone all out to dodge the ban on liquor advertising by plugging a host of other products under their brand names. Most of them are not even available in the market! Moreover, the companies have only replaced the original voice-overs or text in the advertisements with those specifying the surrogate.

MUSIC videos, auctions, Web sites, audio cassettes, perfumes, crystal, sporting equipment, kits of darts, awards, soda, juices, playing cards - the list seems almost endless. What's the connection, you might ask?

What seems to bind all these products together is that these are a list of just a few categories which liquor majors across the country have forayed into over the past year. Sounds strange? Well, it is perhaps the most feasible option left for liquor companies in order to dodge the ban on liquor advertising. As an industry analyst observes, "Liquor companies have in a way made a mockery of the ban on advertising. The trend exposes the many loopholes in the current law. Further, most of the products being advertised are not even available in the market. Many companies have not even modified their existing advertisements and instead just replaced the original voice-overs or text with those specifying the product."

Examples include 8PM Whisky (apple juice), Aristocrat Whisky (apple juice), Bagpiper (soda), Haywards 5000 Beer (darts kit) and Gilbey's Green Label Whisky (water).

According to Amrit Kiran Singh, Area Director and Vice-President, South Asia, Brown-Forman, the American liquor company with brands such as Jack Daniels and Glenmorangie, "The reason why the ban has not worked is mainly because the policy with respect to liquor still remains rather confusing. On one hand, liquor continues to be one of highest revenue earners for the State, while on the other hand, there is the ban on advertising. Either there should be a blanket ban on the sale of alcohol or no ban at all."

Interestingly, none of the liquor companies are ready to admit that the new launches are surrogate and instead claim to be "seriously looking at the new non-liquor products as a logical brand extension and a genuine business proposition."

However, product extensions are getting more and more innovative by the day, whether it is music cassettes from Romanov Vodka and Bacardi Rum or a charity auction from Seagram or even business case studies from Johnnie Walker. In fact, most recently, liquor major Shaw Wallace announced its decision to launch new products such as men's accessories and sporting equipment under the brand name of its liquor brands - Director's Special and Royal Challenge.

The first product to be rolled out will be an eau de Cologne for men under the Director's Special brand name. It will be followed by an entire range of men's accessories including perfumes and toiletries, all under the same brand and targeted at the premium end of the market. Shaw Wallace has already launched a range of golf accessories under the Royal Challenge brand name. The range consists of graphite shafted golf sets (with lifetime warranties), golf bags, caps, gloves and other golfing accessories, in addition to a quarterly publication which will keep golfers abreast of the latest in the sport. Bacardi, on the other hand, apart from advertising through its Bacardi Blast album and parties, recently tied up with rediff.com and has been advertising on television for its Bacardi Limon channel on the site.

The incidence of liquor majors sponsoring and conducting events such as awards has also increased. Examples include the launch of the Teacher's Achievement Awards and the Smirnoff International Fashion Awards. Liquor brand Jack Daniel's also recently conducted a corporate debating competition.

Says a liquor company official on the condition of anonymity, ``With so much competition in the market, the ban on advertising makes it even more difficult to create a brand identity or differentiation. It's almost unthinkable to expect liquor companies to stop advertising altogether. Meanwhile, another emerging focus for premium liquor brands is promotions through sports, and that too principally `high-profile' sports such as golf and polo. By associating with these sports, the company is able to directly connect with its target customers."

Shaw Wallace, for instance, already has a long-standing association with golf. It has tied up with the Indian Golf Union (IGU) and International Management Group (IMG) to promote the game.

According to a company official, Shaw Wallace will sponsor the Indian Open golfing event as the Royal Challenge Indian Open. Additionally, Royal Challenge Golf and Club Accessories will sponsor India's flagship golfing event, the $300,000 Indian Open, for the next five years till 2006.

The company will also sponsor a four-leg national Royal Challenge Grand Prix for the first time in India. Seagram too has been sponsoring events such as the Chivas Regal Polo Championships and the Chivas Regal Invitational Golf Challenge for corporates.

Recently, in view of the festive season, the company has also been airing public service messages on television which discourage irresponsible drinking.

Meanwhile, this year could see an even greater number of liquor companies taking the surrogate route.

As the tariffs on imported liquor are reduced, subsequently leading to more affordable prices, foreign liquor majors which already have a presence in the market are likely to get more active in their promotional and marketing activities.

Says an industry analyst, ``The reduction of duties will see a sudden rise in marketing and promotional activities of many players who have already been conducting low-key promotional activities in India."

Says Brown Forman's Singh, ``What is needed in fact are certain guidelines which should be followed by liquor companies while advertising. The guidelines can include aspects such as not allowing endorsements by models who are under age, doing away with the perception that consumption of alcohol makes one more attractive to the opposite sex, and so on." However, till that happens, liquor marketers can continue to rule the airwaves.

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