To beer or not to be

Soccer viewing is often associated with beer. Turn on the TV and take generous servings of your favourite beer. No wonder, beer brands leave no stone unturned to flaunt their association with the beautiful game. If Budweiser is the official beer of FIFA World Cup 2014, then Heineken has been associated with the prestigious club football tournament, UEFA Champions League, for some years now.

So how does a spirits major such as Diageo, that markets brands like Smirnoff, Johnnie Walker, Ciroc and others push non-beer categories during the World Cup? After all, both beer and whisky (Indian Made Foreign Liquor) dominate consumption in India with a share of throat in the range of 70-75 per cent. Out of that, beer would be 35-40 per cent.

Bhavesh Somaya, marketing director at Diageo India says the occasions of consumption are very different for a beer, whisky, vodka or rum. “The state of a consumer’s motivation drives the certain choice,” he says. For example, when the occasion is of watching football together and the need to bond with friends, the motivation state is affiliation. Beer fits into that territory very well. Or when the social motivation state is the desire to make an impression, whisky enters the fray, or when the consumers want to express themselves, the motivation state is release and hence vodka blends in.

Does that mean marketers of spirits would look the other way when beer cans sell by the carton? Certainly not. “There are interesting ways to tap into opportunity,” says Somaya. As the motivation state is to bond with friends, vodka brand Smirnoff has an offering called Huddle (a group serve of four different cocktails of Smirnoff) that is offered to customers who are catching a game at restaurants or pubs. “We have leveraged the opportunity that the season offers,” says Somaya, referring to the on-premise consumption initiative.

Then to encourage consumption of vodka at home, the company offers something called a Smirnoff triple S pack consisting of a carbonated beverage, Sprite, Soda Smirnoff and has recipes on mixing your own drink. “It helps in changing behaviour. One of the barriers to consumption of vodka is not knowing to mix,” says Somaya, adding that this pack helps consumers make their own drink.

For its high-end vodka brand Ciroc, the company offers Flavour Flights. Though, all these initiatives are not necessarily focused towards soccer lovers, the company admits to stepping up its scale of activation during the World Cup.

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