The Lens - Ch 2: The Game Changer Campaign

In 1995, Indian Ministry of Health took a strong stance on the ban of advertising liquor and tobacco products. The ban was enforced after extensive research from the Indian Ministry of Health found that cigarettes and liquor have adverse effects on a person's health.

Ever since the ban, brands like Blenders Pride, Antiquity, Teachers have been marketing their brand using products like Music CDs, soda and liquor glasses etc. to maintain a presence in the eyes of the customer. Such a campaign is known as "surrogate marketing". This literally means duplicating the brand image of one product to promote another product by the same brand.

With both customers and brands shifting to digital marketing strategies, there was one brand that decided to use this new platform and it's flexibility to establish itself as the top contenders in its domain. This brand is "Dewar's".

Dewar's is a blended scotch whiskey brand founded in 1865 by John Dewar Senior and presently owned by Bacardi; famous for its Double aged Scotch 18 years, 15 years and 12 years. Dewar's marked its entry in India in 2010, in a market flooded with loyal customers of brands such as 100 Pipers, Teachers, Hayywards, Old Monk Rum to name a few. Pioneering in such a competitive market and brands with years of loyalty associated with them, Bacardi essentially known for its White Rum faced challenges with creating a name for them.

This was the time when social media marketing was gaining a rise in India thanks to cheaper access to internet and decreasing smart phone process; Bacardi tapped into this pool to gain the edge. Dewar's started by collaborating with a cook show called "You got Chef'd" by Gobble, a show with celebrity chefs teaching cooking a meal with cocktail to young celebrities where they first put out their tagline "Double is Better". In another attempt to put out their brand, they partnered with Dice Media for a show centered around male friendship of four young working professionals, where they gave another hook line, "Make the drink an experience".

WHAT DID DEWAR'S DO DIFFERENT?

THE IMPACT

Even in an otherwise dominated market space, Dewar's has managed to create a visibility for itself using it's unconventional approach. This led them to push up volumes by 6.4% to reach 30 Lakh Nine liter cases in 2019 and it’s growing.

The marketing and growth strategy incorporated by Dewar's is not just about pushing their product but also a testament of the brands resilience to push the envelope of "branding" itself. They have managed to break the chain of surrogate marketing by using the new flexible structure of social media platforms to engage the customers in a more direct manner which was a long awaited move in the sector.

As a marketing professional it is our responsibility is not only to ensure penetration of the product but also make sure we stretch out from the constraints of the conventional marketing approach. At the same time, the onus is on us to ensure a positive campaign which will help connect with people on an emotional as well as sub conscious level. 

"Making the public resonate with the representation of your product is the greatest trick when it comes to marketing."