A new approach to data and targeting has helped AB InBev India in the absence of e-commerce

The Indian alcohol market is difficult to navigate due to a multitude of restrictions on advertising, promotion, high taxes and government control over distribution and retailing. The promotion of alcoholic beverages is subject to strict regulations, which limits the ability of brands to reach their target audience. Traditional advertising channels, especially those available to other consumer goods industries, are often limited for alcohol brands.

Alco-Bev brands want data

Indian AlcoBev companies are not allowed to sell directly on e-commerce platforms. This limitation not only hinders revenue streams, but also deprives them of a valuable opportunity to gain insight into consumer behavior. In an era where data drives strategic decision-making, AlcoBev’s lack of direct engagement with e-commerce means they are unable to provide reliable information about their consumer base. Compounding the conundrum is a blanket ban on advertising, which increases the challenge of understanding and effectively engaging with cohorts.

Promotion = Shooting in the dark

The troubles Alco-Bev brands find themselves in highlight the stark contrast with fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) and consumer goods brands. Unlike their peers who revel in the wealth of consumer data collected at every touchpoint, Indian alcohol companies are shooting in the dark. The lack of comprehensive analysis of consumer behavior and data on purchasing habits limits their ability to effectively adapt campaigns. The result is a reliance on generic, less informed campaigns that may not appeal to a diverse and evolving consumer base.

This paucity of data also perpetuates a scenario where marketing efforts lack the necessary precision to account for changing consumer preferences and market dynamics.

Goals

Create a database of 5 million potential consumers.

Strategy

Our target group was Millennials and Generation Z, deeply immersed in social media and showing a strong preference for e-commerce in their shopping habits. Their online activities, including product discovery, searches and comparisons, resulted mainly in online purchases. This digital landscape provides brands and companies with a rich source of collecting key data and insights into the purchasing behavior, attitudes and preferences of this audience.

It’s worth noting that this audience doesn’t just shop online; they also invest a significant amount of time in pursuing their passions. Whether it’s football, music, art or other areas of interest, they follow relevant connections and influencers on social media who match their passion points. Given the limitations of direct mail advertising, these passion points often become key substitutes for alcohol brands to connect with their audiences.

As they navigate this unique advertising landscape, alcohol brands are finding ways to connect with their audiences through content, events and influencers that align with these passions. However, because these initiatives are limited to engagement only and do not allow brands to go a step further and enable online shopping, AlcoBev brands are unable to collect critical data and insights about their consumers.

“Rethinking Data”

In today’s landscape, data is king. While FMCG and packaged goods companies benefit from extensive consumer data, the AlcoBev industry, with its hands tied in the absence of e-commerce and direct sales routes, finds itself in an age of data darkness. Budweiser was also moving through a dark tunnel devoid of any critical information about its consumers.

Determined to illuminate this information void, we leveraged our existing social media campaigns that reached 70% of our consumers, converting each engagement into identifiable device IDs.

This strategic shift, an industry first, equipped Budweiser with essential data, providing deep insight into consumer behavior.

With this knowledge, we fine-tuned campaigns, going beyond conventional cohort segmentation to understand individual preferences. This data-driven approach allowed us to create personalized ads to suit unique likes and dislikes, ultimately increasing the relevance and effectiveness of our marketing initiatives.

Execution

Budweiser strategically targets young urbanites, millennials and Generation Z, a demographic deeply immersed in digital life, constantly using their phones and active on social media platforms. Their passions are closely related to their presence on the Internet and following the latest trends. Budweiser’s breakthrough moment came from this insight – attracting our audience on social media, which is the epicenter of Budweiser brand engagement. Our data-driven approach has transformed engagement initiatives with robust data sources. The synergy between our platform choices and our audiences’ media preferences has transformed every interaction into a dual-use tool, not only supporting consumer engagement, but also gathering key consumer insights. In this way, our holy grail of data pushed the boundaries of our innovation, helping us create an industry-first innovation that provided deep insights into our cohorts, enabling the creation of personalized campaigns that resonated deeply with our audiences.

While we had previously blindly focused on Gen Z’s passion points when creating campaigns, this powerful new data gave us nuances such as which consumers were Man United fans and which were Liverpool fans, rather than just football fans, so our campaigns were more personalized and therefore effective.

Campaign phases

1. Creating a digital ID

   This is when we attach a digital data collection identifier to each initiative.

2. Testing the remote control on Instagram

   We conducted a pilot study and testing on Instagram because it is the most popular and critical platform for both our audiences and our campaigns.

3. Scaling technology across platforms to capture data

   Following its success, we scaled this campaign across all social media platforms as it provided us with the highest quality data that gave us key, detailed information about our consumers. While we previously blindly focused on Gen Z’s passion points when creating campaigns, this powerful new data allowed us to determine which consumers were Man United fans and which were Liverpool fans, rather than just football fans, making our campaigns more personalized and therefore effective.

4. Running campaigns with new data

   Our new campaigns, enriched with this detailed data, helped us run accurate and thoughtful campaigns that were not only more effective, but also resonated more with our audiences.

Results

This innovation has allowed us to better understand consumer behavior and create more targeted and effective campaigns.

• Collecting data: Our goal was to collect at least 5 million first-party data and call it a successful innovation. In just 15 months, we acquired 14 million gold records, which is an amazing feat that can be achieved in such a short time and at no additional cost! We used this data to create tailored and personalized ads for our audience, not only segmenting the cohort’s core passions like music and soccer, but truly understanding their likes and dislikes.
• Marketing costs: With this data, these campaigns delivered high engagement at a lower cost, significantly reducing CPE and CPM by 120%.
• Marketing return on investment: Thanks to this initiative, we doubled our MROI from 0.5 to 1.15.
• Brand Power Results: Our brand strength scores are the highest in the industry at 30.5 thanks to this breakthrough innovation that has paved the way for more accurate, engaging and effective campaigns.

All this was achieved at ZERO additional costs. This pioneering approach in the alcohol industry has established us as a leader in data mining.

Ready to have your work recognized internationally? Enter the Drum Awards competition today. Need more inspiration, read our award-winning case studies.