Faced with the daunting task of marketing its premium scotch brand Johnnie Walker in a prohibitive tax regime prevailing in the country, UDV India, the wholly owned subsidiary of Diageo PLC, has undertaken novel brand promotion strategy to infiltrate into the upmarket consumer strata.
The company has initiated a direct contact programme to build brand consciousness among upwardly mobile and top-of-the-line consumers. Named as the 'The Johnnie Walker Mentor programme' it is a audio-visual extravaganza that retraces the journey of John Walker and his world famous blend, Johnnie Walker Black label.
"The programme makes the participant identify with the aspiration and attitude the brand 'Johnnie Walker Black Lebel' stands for," Anupam Dutta, general manager (global brands), UDV India, said.
"We do not believe in surrogate advertising. The brand JBL is big enough and it already occupies a place in Indian psyche. To boost its presence further with Indian customer such direct contact programme has been undertaken," Dutta said.
The programme is aimed at inspiring people to buy UDV global brands such as JBL with all duties paid so that the proceeds from sale go to UDV India's kitty. Due to high import duties and exorbitant sales taxes in different Indian states, a consumer pays almost double for a bottle of JBL if he choose to buy with all duties paid.
For obvious reason, a sizable chunk of customers prefer to buy from bootleggers at half the price. "However, the customer can not be sure of the authenticity of the product he is buying. We are trying to convince people that when it comes to buying such premium products, he should not take chance," Dutta said.
The entire program takes between 50 and 60 minutes per session and is run by Indian Mentors who have been through extensive training in and around the Cardhu distillery in Scotland, the 'spiritual home' of Johnnie Walker.
The journey starts with the year 1820 when John Walker was only 15 years old, and already the proprietor of a small grocery store in Kilmarnock and traces key business and strategic milestones that lead to the creation of the largest Scotch trademark in the world today.
From this anecdotal presentation of history the program moves to the sensual part where the participants sample 4 distinct grain and malt whiskies that go into the Johnnie Walker Black Label blend. The session ends with a tasting of Johnnie Walker Black Label that ties the entire program together into a cohesive unit.
Dutta, however, admitted that such programme may not bring all the potential customer back to pay double for a bottle of JBL. "Lets hope that such punitive tax structure would be replaced in future as such hurts the government more than the company. The parent is not too bothered about which subsidiary selling the product as long as the proceeds are going to central kitty. But the Indian subsidiary should stand on its own. Though we are making profit, the volume is still nothing to talk about," Dutta added.
The UDV global brands are available in now through retail outlets in Maharastra. In the first phase, the company is aiming at other metropolis Kolkata, Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore. In the next phase, the products would be made available in Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and some other capitals.
