Five years ago, upon realising that being a mammoth brand also has its cons and the unorganised packaged water industry in the country is taking advantage of it to sell duplicate water brands, Bisleri rolled out the Har paani ki bottle Bisleri nahi (every bottle of water is not a Bisleri) campaign to arm consumers with the awareness that they cannot be sold just any packaged water that the shopkeeper fancies and that they have the power to choose the real Bisleri from amongst the one-litre bottle Bisleri lookalikes.
What perhaps stood out the most in this campaign was Bisleri’s brand ambassador – the camels! Cut to five years later, Bisleri is back again with global and youth icon Deepika Padukone, who is seen matching the steps to the iconic song ‘Jhoom Jhoom Jhoom Baba’ in the #DrinkItUp campaign.
“One thing we have learned in the post-pandemic world is that health is of paramount importance to everyone. Out of the narrative, two basic things people do to stay healthy today are to hydrate and exercise. Hydration, as an insight, became important for us. As an organisation, we want to own the narrative of hydration. We have been hydrating the country for the past 50 years. The #Drinkitup campaign is just taking it forward,” says Tushar Malhotra, Head of Marketing, Bisleri International Pvt. Ltd, and adds, “Drinking water is fun is the premise of this campaign. As a company, the evolution of contemporising the brand from a communications standpoint and finally choosing Deepika was a no-brainer. She is a global icon, a youth icon, and who better to spread the message that hydration is fun than Deepika Padukone?”
Taking sports marketing a notch higher
One very important step Bisleri has taken at the beginning of 2023 is the #CarryYourGame campaign, which features top athletes. “We have taken hydration, performance, and sports very seriously,” states Malhotra.
Bisleri spends 15-20 percent of its budget on experiences. Bisleri has partnered with four IPL teams and has also been associated with the national game and the Dubai Marathon. The top professional-level table tennis league in India, Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT), has announced a sponsorship deal with the packaged drinking water brand, Bisleri.
While addressing advertising mediums, Malhotra says that since Bisleri is a mass fast-moving consumer good (FMCG) spend, TV will always be around 50 percent of its spend. He also highlights that Bisleri has been focusing on digital since the youth can be found on connected TVs, mobile phones, and laptops; for them digital and influencer marketing sites play a bigger role from an OOH angle.
Post-pandemic, with everyone up and about and on the road, consumption of packaged drinking water has increased. Bisleri is witnessing huge sales coming from its 20-litre jar business, which consumers can access through its app, Bisleri@doorstep.
Bsileri has also been enjoying the fruits of quick commerce. Its five-litre packs see business coming from Swiggy, Zepto, and Blinkit. “At Bisleri, 5 percent of sales are coming through the digital medium,” shares Malhotra.
Infusing humour, sustainability, and luxury
Bisleri started the year with its campaign #BisleriApneAapAyega, which is a humorous take on how Gen-Z and millennials want everything at the click of a button. On the sustainability front, Bisleri came up with the Greener Promise campaign, which created conversations around plastic circularity through the eyes of a bird. Bisleri also launched its first sustainability report and initiated a college outreach programme called #BottlesforChange, where the brand took it upon itself to educate students on the right way to dispose of plastic.
Bisleri International’s premium beverage brand Bisleri Vedica Himalayan Spring Water has partnered with prestigious events of the country across genres of music, art, fashion, food and lifestyle such as Professional Golf Professional Golf Tour of India, Jaipur Literature Festival, Lollapalooza, Gin Explorer’s Club, India Cocktail week, GQ Best Dressed, Elle Sustainability Awards, GQ Most Influential Young Indians, Backstreet Boys India Tour Hamley’s Winter Wonderland, Red Bull Showrun, and Invincible Women.
“We are making inroads into 5-star hotels and luxury fine dining restaurants. Vedica, as a brand, is catching up since everyone wants an epicurean and fine dining restaurant at home,” shares Malhotra.
Bisleri has partnered with more than 130 co-packers and franchises. For example, in Mumbai, Bisleri has one of the biggest water plants in the world. “For us, distribution is making sure you are present where the consumption patterns are,” signs off Malhotra.