In a bid to understand and review the growing potential for premium international spirits in India, global spirits company William Grant & Sons has set up a Marketing Services office in India. William Grant & Sons Limited is the independent, family-owned company distilling some of the world’s leading Scotch whisky brands and other selected premium spirits. The core brands in the company portfolio include the world’s favourite single malt Glenfiddich; the handcrafted range of The Balvenie single malts; one of the world’s top five blended Scotches, Grant’s, and Hendrick’s Gin, recently voted the ‘World’s Best Gin’ by the Wall Street Journal.
Elaborating on the role of the India office, Kevin Fong, Managing Director for Asia Pacific & Global Travel Retail, William Grant & Sons said, “William Grant & Sons decision to set up a subsidiary in India is aimed primarily to understand and review the market potential and opportunities with a firm focus on the Premium Imported Spirits Segment. India continues to be an exciting market for brands within this category and we note with interest how the super premium category is growing most aggressively year-on-year with a CAGR of nearly 27 per cent in the 2004-08 period itself. This is indicative of the shift in customer preferences across major Indian cities. We are hopeful to understand this change better and review our roadmap for India accordingly, creating platforms that bring us close to understanding our consumers here in India.”
The Marketing Office in India is led by Aparna Batra as Marketing Director, Indian Subcontinent (Domestic), William Grant and Sons India and will be responsible for strengthening the presence of its award winning brands in the country. Sharing her plans for India, Aparna Batra added, “Our focus in the coming days is primarily to review the market and understand the dynamics of the Indian market for our core brands in India. The firm focus is to discern consumer preferences for Single Malt consumption in the country, which continues to be a growing, albeit a small part of the overall spirits environment in India.”
The India Marketing Office will lend marketing support while the distributors aligned to the company will continue to be responsible for distribution of the brands across major Indian cities. Bespoke marketing initiatives are planned to understand consumers in order to reinforce the worldwide leadership of Glenfiddich as the most preferred single malt of the young connoisseur. Initiatives are being designed to introduce The Balvenie to discerning malt whisky enthusiasts, who enjoy the simplicity of handcrafted luxury. Dedicated focus will be on building experiential platforms through personalized nosing and tasting sessions for all core brands.
Founded by William Grant in the small highland village of Dufftown in 1886, the company has passed through five generations of the Grant family and today employs over 800 people across the world in a network of offices managing the distribution of its products in 180 markets.
William Grant & Sons are the proud owners of an award-winning portfolio, receivers of Distiller of the Year accolades from the International Wine & Spirit Competition (IWSC). William Grant’s dream to create ‘the best dram in the valley’ remains true even today with the company being named Distiller of the Year by the International Spirits Challenge for the past two years(ISC) – the first time any distiller has ever won back-to-back titles at the leading industry competition.
The International Headquarters for the company’s Commercial and Global Marketing operations are based in Richmond, London. The company also has regional offices in the US (New York and Miami), Asia (Shanghai, Taipei and Hong Kong), Cyprus and Sydney.
