Packer Cracker

"Khoob Jamega Rang, Jab Mil Baithenge Teen Yaar,
Mein, Aap aur Bagpiper Tetra Pak!"

Wait a minute! This is not me! But you actually just might see Mr. Sanjay Dutt promoting Bagpiper whisky, UB's Millennium brand, with these golden words which actually should never have been said, let alone repeated!

Bagpiper, our very own largest selling world famous in India whisky, is now selling whisky in Tetra Paks. The initial round of test marketing in Maharashtra is done and now the company is gearing up for a national launch.



I for one really cant imagine liquor in Tetra Paks of all things! Mango Frooti-Fresh and Juicy- Yes, Appy - Yes, Amulflavoredd Milk - Yes, Any Milk - Yes, Nestle Something - Yes. But Bagpiper Malted Whisky ? I think No.

Maybe because of the brands which are marketed in Tetra Paks, I would think of a youthful audience when I think Tetra Paks. My take would be youth, health food and nutrition when thinking drinks in Tetra Pak. Style, Strength and Machismo, the very feelings Bagpiper stands for, are the last things which will come to one's mind when looking at Bagpiper Tetra Pak.

Can we imagine a Sharaabi with Mr. Bachchan holding a Bagpiper Tetra Pak instead of that omnipresent bottle in his hand? Ok. That's way back. How about a Paro screaming Devdas with a Bagpiper Tetra Pak? Yup. I can hear him turning in his grave.

Let alone these two, but imagine any Bollywood scene when there's no smashing of bottles when the villain's drunk and angry. Instead we have the villain stamping the tetra paks coz he is frustrated, drunk and angry as he misses the bottle smashing!

Thats an exaggeration, of course, as UB plans to keep the bottles alongside Tetra Paks even in the 180 ml category.

On a serious note - Marketing for liquors is definitely not an easy job. Neither in India, with its share of ban on liquor publicity, nor in firang land. But when Bagpiper was doing absolutely fine with its own brand of surrogate advertisings, this change in packaging comes as a surprise.

Just to get a perspective of how well it was doing - here are the figures - 30% Mkt share, 12.6% growth against an industry avg. of single digit growth and 7.4 lakh bottles sales! So why change a winning formula?

The benefits sighted are brand innovation, tamper resistant packaging and benefits across value chain. I am no liquor connoisseur. Even then can make out that this packaging comes with its own share of problems. What happens if the consumer does not want to gulp down the entire 180 ml in one go. Will the taste remain the same during the second round of guzzling which might happen after x hrs or even a day?

Brand innovation is ok. Even if they would have come out with a pet bottle, it would have been an innovation. So Brand innovation is really not too strong a reason for switching to Tetras. Tamper resistant packaging they already had with the bottles.

Benefits across value chain? Here I say what benefits? There just might be a reduction in costs for the company which is really looking at improving its bottomline following the doubling of raw material prices last yr. But apart from that, benefits to the consumer are limited.

Even though UB has made an investment in the packaging and gone ahead and set up a whole plant with the facility to make Tetra Paks, it remains to be seen, how the Tetra Paks appeal to the Indian Macho man.

You can bet, if this is a success, then we'll have the other liquor majors also following suit. Seems like we just might have to get used to missing the clink of the bottles of the good ol days, when celebrating life with the paper cartons! Of course, thats not to happen in light years. Thank god for that.