Diageo to entice smaller towns with local touch

Even as it deepens its forays into the major cities in India, premium liquor company Diageo is taking the country's tier II and tier III towns seriously and it is approaching consumers in such towns with the appeal of 'high-end' experience packaged in a manner suitable to the local sensitivities.

Diageo India managing director Asif Adil said here that the company believes there is quite a bit of high-spending power in semi-urban India, and they are waiting for the right products to be offered.

"We will use the cultural and sports icons to create a link with consumers and resort to promotions that will appeal to their sensitivities," Adil said.

Adil said that the company has been engaging in promotions like the Johnny Walker Race Day, JW Polo Day or the Smirnoff Experience events in the metros, the tier II and tier III towns don't always lend themselves to holding such events but the company has tailored locally-relevent events for these, he informed, adding that the 'Cocktail Shocktail Nights' in towns such as Chandigarh or Ludhiana have been a great success.

"There are towns in India such as Kolhapur in Maharashtra which boasts of the maximum number of Mercedes cars and we can't overlook their potential," he said.

At the back-end, the company is expanding the supplies as it has planned its fourth bottling site in Haryana.

This is a greenfield plant set up under the guidance of Diageo and will bottle the company's brands based on the market needs. The company has similar third-party bottling plants in Maharashtra (Aurangabad), Madhya Pradesh (Indore) and Karnataka (Chamundi).

Adil said that the company has struck deals with two wine producers - Renaissance and Mountain Dew - for distributing their wines.

"We will strictly supervise the quality standard and packing of these wines and in fact work with these partners to bring their products to Diego's international standards," Adil said.

Diageo bottles its premium spirits like Black & White, Vat 69 and Haig in the whisky segment, Smirnoff Red and Shark Tooth in the Vodka segment and Captain Morgan in the rum segment.

Adil said the entire Johnny Walker range is imported from the company's central location in Scotland.