Digital activities & innovations are the key

She has many success stories under her belt and has been recently featured in Spiritz Magazine Achievers’ Club. Taking the Covid-19 pandemic head on, Anmol Gill, Head of Customer Marketing India and neighbouring countries at Bacardi India, converses with Shalini Kumar in this freewheeling interaction. She says the smart idea now is to innovate and reach customers through the digital platform. For her, the Covid-19 pandemic besides throwing a lot of new challenges has also come as a window of opportunity.

Nobody was prepared for it, neither companies nor consumers. All of a sudden, everything went into lockdown mode thus throwing life out of gear. All routes to the market dried up and all avenues to reach the consumers came to a halt. The most important aspect to contend with was how to address the needs of the consumers, since their behaviour too, had changed during the series of lockdowns,” Anmol observes.

Savvy Marketing

She says the consumer is now looking at safety as first preference, while the second preference is convenience and entertainment but not at the cost of personal safety. And, then the new regimen of work from home came into being. “This sudden change was overwhelming for a lot of people. However, within two to three weeks people started to settle into the new routine. And digital platforms became the point of contact. This is where we began to engage with consumers,” she shares.

“For example, we launched BACARDÍ #HappyAtHome Sessions, a music festival at home. DEWAR’S Scotch hosted The Doers Club’s DIY edition with Chef Ranveer Brar, Vicky Ratnani and Anahita Dhondy on Instagram.

This was in line with the growing consumer trend where during the lockdown, home Chefs were set in motion because many were sitting at home, cooking and baking,” informs Anmol.

They also organised a #BreezerShuffle, which is again a hip-hop platform sponsored by BREEZER. “We converted that into a digital activity where people submitted their Breezer Shuffle moves while doing chores online. So, we had a lot of well thought out marketing initiatives during the lockdown phase,” she discloses.

With regard to several jobs being lost in the pandemic, she observes that on trade had to be shut down because of the lockdown. “Now, gradually the lockdown is being lifted and we are seeing 30 percent occupancy,” she expresses.

During the lockdown, Bacardi launched a global campaign called Raise your Spirits. “Under this campaign we contributed 3 million USD for the bartending community globally. It is being used to support established non-profit organisations to help the industry. In India, under this umbrella we supported one thousand plus bartenders by giving them food coupons,” affirms Anmol.

With regard to innovative marketing, Bacardi continues to keep consumers at the heart of everything they do. “Instead of think brand first we think consumer first,” she asserts. During these difficult times, Bacardi decided to take its premium brands to consumers who had deep pockets. “Initially, customers were just buying their groceries keeping safety in mind. However, soon after, many high-end consumers also wanted to drink and experience premium liquids. Hence, they chose brands which spoke authentically to them during these times,” she observes.

During the lockdown and un-lockdown phase, consumers did go for alternate brands when their regular brands were not available. “During such times, it is very important for companies or brands to make themselves available at every consumer point,” she points out.

“We also see e-commerce gaining currency. We are also available on e commerce platforms. As long as their favourite brands are available in the pack sizes they want, consumers will eventually stick to their preferred brand,” she proffers.