SBU - Kingfisher
Kingfisher is an Indian beer brewed by United Breweries Group, Bangalore. The brand was launched
in 1978. With a market share of over 36% in India, it is also available in 52 other countries.
Alcoholic Brands Non Alcoholic Brands
Kingfisher Premium Kingfisher Radler Lemon
Kingfisher Strong Kingfisher Radler Mint & Lime
Kingfisher Ultra Kingfisher Radler Ginger & Lime
Kingfisher Ultra Max Kingfisher Premium Packaged Drinking Water
Kingfisher Ultra Witbier Kingfisher Strong Power Soda
Kingfisher Storm Kingfisher Storm Strong Soda
Kingfisher Blue Kingfisher Ultra Non Alcoholic
Kingfisher
It not only promoted itself but created the platform to provide talent to entertainment industry
through its own way. The Kingfisher Supermodels, annual model hunt had started in 2010 and the
calendar campaigning has been significant force in advancing modelling and acting careers of artists
like Deepika Padukone, Katrina Kaif etx.
Kingfisher’s marketing strategy and interesting reasons behind its success
After the grand launching of Kingfisher Premium, kingfisher Lager and the canned beer, Vijay Mallya
decided to create an amalgamation of the breweries namely Punjab Breweries, Kalyani Breweries,
Kesarval Beverages and High Range Breweries to integrate them into United Breweries.
After acquiring Premier Breweries in 1994, Bombay Breweries was acquired in 1996. The all-time
sensational Kingfisher Strong was launched in 1999 and supposedly this was the foundation of rave
success of Kingfisher.
In the following year, Kingfisher acquired Mangalore Breweries and Associated Breweries. After
acquiring Inertia Industries in 2001, Kingfisher changed its name to Millennium Beer.
By this time, Kingfisher had schemed to separate its brewery business into a new entity completely
and hence, it started a partnership with McDowell Alcobev Ltd and Scottish & Newcastle UK and
changed the name to MAPL –Millennium Alcobev Pvt. Ltd. Empee Breweries and GMR Breweries
after being acquired by Kingfisher, became MAPL’s subsidiaries.
A strategic alliance was set up with Scottish & Newcastle where it acquired equity shares and
became equal promoter of UB. In 2005, Mangalore Breweries was partnered with UB and once
Karnataka Breweries was acquired and amalgamated along with London Draft Pubs and London
Pilsner Breweries.
Full-fledged brewing under Greenfield Breweries helped in experimentation with new products like
Kingfisher Blue (2008), Kingfisher Ultra (2009), Kingfisher Ultra Max (2015), Kingfisher Buzz (2016)
and Kingfisher Storm (2017). Since 2007, the Greenfield Breweries had been in fully operational
state in Khurda (Odisha), Chopanki (Rajasthan), Nanjungud in Karnataka, Naubatpur in Bihar and
Sangareddy District in Andhra Pradesh.
Factors influencing the Buying process:
The Indian Beer Consumer: Beer is a beverage that is best served chilled and for a tropical country
like India with a favorable demographic dividend and growing per capita income with growth of the
service sector, India should ideally by a heavy beer drinker. However, the annual beer consumption
in India is around 2 liters per capita in India, a stark contrast to 35 liters per capita in China, another
Asian giant (Scandinavian Brewers Review, 2014). This anomaly in consumption volume arises from
multiple factors.
Socio-political factors affecting beer consumption
India is the world's fastest growing large developing economy and has seen significant
developmental goals being met in the past decade. However, ethnic diversity a deep-rooted
traditional culture, coupled with external agents such as corruption in polity has had a deep impact
on the alcoholic beverages industry. Such socio-political factors beyond the control of brewers have
influenced beer consumption patterns in India.
1. Religion
80% of the country practices Hinduism whereas 14% practices Islam. Where Islam
completely prohibits the consumption of any intoxicating substance, especially alcohol,
Hinduism preaches the side effects of alcohol and its use with much greater restraint than in
the Western World. Religion thus becomes a major deterrent to beer consumption volumes
in India where alcohol consumption is seen as an act of hedonism and not as casual
consumption of a beverage which is a matter of choice for the people.
(According to 2011 census)
2. Politics and Pricing
Each individual state has a different taxation regime for alcohol in India, depending on the
power of negotiation of lobbying organizations before the Government. Politicians often
have personal stakes in the manufacturing and sale of illegal hard liquor in local stores,
thereby imposing higher taxes on commercially manufactured beer by large organizations to
create a dear price gap in a price sensitive economy. Thus, as beer becomes expensive, the
*working man' of India, who has little disposable income for luxuries such as alcohol,
refrains from consuming beer thereby driving out large volume sale opportunities.
3. View of the purpose behind consumption of alcohol
Based on a survey conducted among 57 respondents (hereafter referred to as Qualitative
Survey, January 2017), close to 91%of the respondents consider intoxication among their top
3 motives behind drinking beer. In such a situation, beer with a lower ABV (alcohol by-
volume) content is a more expensive option compared to hard liquor to 'get a high' and
hence is not preferred by the price-sensitive consumers. This affects beer consumption
significantly in India.
Brand Parity and Positioning:
Product Positioning
Kingfisher Premium The King of Good times
Kingfisher Strong The King of Good times
Kingfisher Ultra Maximum Taste Maximum Life
Kingfisher Ultra Max Step out and Push the limits
Kingfisher Blue Life is colorful
