In Conversation with Rishi Walli

In our recent chat with Rishi Walli, Head- Marketing, Beam Suntory, India, he talks about the brand’s special consumer-connect initiatives that help generate awareness for its popular international spirits. He also elaborates on the ‘Growing for Good’ initiative in India and how Jim Beam makes for a successful name in the country.

Q. Beam Suntory has recently done away with its chief marketing officer role in favor of a more powerful “president of brands” position. Please elaborate on this.

A. Beam Suntory has named Jessica Spence to be the company’s first President of Brands. Spence will join Beam Suntory from Carlsberg Group, where she currently serves as Executive Vice President & Chief Commercial Officer. In this new role, Spence will have P&L responsibility for Beam Suntory’s largest global brands and will work closely with the region presidents to lead the company’s global premiumization agenda. In addition to end-to-end global brand strategy, development and performance, Spence will lead global innovation and product R&D; emerging marketing technologies, tools and platforms; and integrated marketing communications and design.  

Q. Your American whiskey marque, Jim Beam, posted a solid growth last year (9.8%) and has seen its sales increase by almost 3m nine-litre cases since 2013. What are its primary growth drivers and how much does it contribute to the whole category?

A. Bourbon is still underdeveloped globally versus other whisky categories like Scotch. Bourbon’s versatility, mixability and sweet flavor profile increase its appeal to many palates globally and give it a lot of headroom for growth.

Jim Beam has been posting strong year-on-year growth, and this year to date, it’s up double digits. Several years ago, we invested in a global packaging redesign, which has really helped the brand stand out. We launched new advertising last year and have elevated our approach to integrated marketing to ensure Jim Beam looks and acts the same at any consumer touchpoint around the world. 

We see an opportunity for Bourbon to become the world’s favorite whiskey. Backed by global and local trends, we are committed to building Jim Beam in India. We had started bottling Jim Beam in India several months ago and this has helped gain greater and deeper access to the Indian consumer.  We are focusing on live music as a platform to build connect with young metro consumers. Our gifting & visibility strategy is also music focused to be consistent with activation platform.

Q.  Considering Beam Suntory is the third largest producer of premium spirits beverages worldwide, what kind of special promotions or consumer-connect initiatives do you roll out to generate brand awareness for the brand’s popular international spirits?

A. We work to make our brands globally consistent and locally relevant. So, Jim Beam for instance is known around the world, and it should look the same everywhere you see it. For e.g. in India, we are activating the music platform to build the brand because we believe we can connect better with our legal drinking-age consumers through music.  Similarly, our efforts on Teacher’s, our biggest brand in India, are focused on making it a preferred choice in all celebratory occasions. The Ardmore, our single malt is perfect for lifestyle occasions. So, our activations are focused on getting a share of conversation within the fashion & lifestyle space.

Our consumer connection strategy is guided by our insights backed understanding of the key touchpoints that drive consumption in this category. 

Q. Your company has an ambitious goal of reaching $1 billion in sales by 2030. Since you have this big a goal, what would be your active marketing mix look like in India? What do the current trends of your consumers indicate?

A. Our path to $1 billion can only be achieved by ensuring that our brands become the first choice in any relevant occasion or category. A big driver of that preference will be a deep commitment behind driving consumer trials of our brands. Promoting trial is a continuous activity for any brand since India has 25 million new legal drinking age consumers every year. So, finding innovative ways of sampling our products and experience at bars, clubs, restaurants will be at the top on our agenda. 

Presence at the point of purchase or consumption are key factors that decided determine consumers navigate their brand choice. Packaging is a critical touchpoint for driving brand education too. So, ensuring our share of visibility is equal to or greater than our share of market will be a focus area. 

Consumer engagement principles will be driven by the brand propositions, based on insightful study of touchpoints which can impact and influence across our powerhouse portfolio of brands in India.

Q. Globally, Beam Suntory is committed to preserving and protecting clean water, fertile fields, and healthy forests, precious and shared natural resources that are also integral to your products. Please throw light on your vision of ‘Growing for Good’. How are you executing this in India?

A. We are very proud of our corporate social responsibility strategy, which we call Growing for Good. This includes three key pillars: commitments to protecting water and the environment, giving back to the communities where our people live and work, and promoting responsible consumption of our products. In India, water is a been key issue where millions are impacted by lack of safe drinking water, and proper sanitation. The extreme water stress continues to be a challenge across cities and villages, and through Beam Suntory India CSR activities, we have partnered with multiple organizations that specialize in Water Quality, Water Access and Water Conservation.

We additionally partner with charity: water to identify the areas of greatest need in India each year. During 2018, our funding led to three drilled wells, 10 rehabilitated drilled wells, and 4 school water point and sanitation facilities for communities in need, serving nearly 2,300 people. We’re looking at ways to increase that positive impact even further. 

Q. We see Beam Suntory has a very balanced portfolio of spirits, targeting both premium and mass segment consumers. However, it is possible that all brands may not be performing equally well. Which spirits from the portfolio need more marketing attention?

A. In keeping with our ambition to be the most admired, premium spirits company with a healthy growth aspiration from the India market, we continue to build demand for our premium brands. In whiskies through Teacher’s, Jim Beam, The Ardmore, Laphroaig, Bowmore and in white spirits through Sauza tequila. Our most immediate priority is to build on our East-Meets-West competitive advantage. Our biggest brand in India, Teacher’s Scotch Whisky, has been on a solid growth momentum and Jim Beam targeting emerging whisky drinkers, has been growing in high double digits each year. The task for us is to keep the momentum of Teacher’s going and scale up Jim Beam to new cities & outlets. We are also very excited to scale up our premium portfolio and build The Ardmore, our newly introduced Scotch Single Malt which was voted the best BIO Single Malt in India in the 2019 Ambrosia awards. The Ardmore is a balanced smoky Single Malt & a new taste for Indian consumers.