PRESENTATION ON CASE STUDY

“COBRA BEER”
MARKETING IN INDIA

GROUP NO.-2

SUBMITTED TO: SUBMITTED BY:

Dr. Rakesh Gupta Tarun Chopra

 AN OVERVIEW…

• Cobra Beer is one of the fastest growing beer brands in the UK, with a current
turnover of £56.9 million at retail value.
• It has been exported to over 30 countries worldwide, and is available
nationwide in more than 5,000 Indian restaurants and in major supermarkets
and off-licenses
• Cobra Beer has been awarded Gold for three successive years at the 2003,
2002 and 2001 for Quality, presented with the Monde Selection International
High Quality Trophy in 2003 for its achievements, and listed on the 1999 Virgin
Fast Track 100 list of the fastest growing, privately owned companies in the UK.
• Founder and Chief Executive, Karan F. Bilimoria, was honoured as 2003 London
Entrepreneur of the Year (Consumer Products) 2003, Entrepreneur of the Year
2003 by the Asian Achievers Awards, Asian of the Year 2002, and is co-
Chairman of the Indo-British partnership.
• Cobra was recently recognized as Business of the Year by the Asian Business
Awards. Headquartered in London, UK, Cobra Beer has offices throughout the
world, including India, South Africa, and the USA.
KARAN BILIMORIA
 THE STARTING....
• The inspiration came with analysis of the eating habits of the people
in U.K. where the people used to drinking beer along with the food.
• The Indian curry-houses were popular among the people for the
Indian cuisine & they used to serve locally available beer to
accompany Indian dishes.
• But Karan found that the local beer would left the person gassy &
bloated & with not enough room for food.
• From here he developed an idea to produce a premium, high quality
lager which would complement rather than fight against the food.
 Portraying idea into
reality…
• The result was “COBRA”, a
premium beer, using best
quality natural ingredients, a
unique blend of barely malt &
yeast with maize, hops & rice.
• Cobra beer is extra smooth &
less glassy, retaining a
premium strength of 5%.
 VISION

• “To brew the finest Indian beer & to make it a global beer brand”.
 USP

• The Cobra USP is that “the beer is the ideal accompaniment to spicy
Indian food”.
 Problems faced…
• Bilimoria could hardly raised funds by getting a bank loan of just
30,000 euro to begin its operation.
• Bilimoria was operating in a highly competitive market with the
presence of all global brands & locally brewed beer.
• Moreover, 1990, the year Cobra launched its operations in the UK,
saw the beginning of a recession.
• The brand & the quality were both unknown to the people.

• The cobra beer was large in bottle size where the customers were
accustomed to small bottle size, suited for individual consumption.
• Logistics was the major threat to profitability & eating time up to
50% of management in managing & organising.
 Strategies adopted….
• Created a strong USP for a niche market segment.
• Targeted growing no. of restaurants serving Indian cuisine.
• Developed personal relationships, by making cold calls, with the South Asian
curry houses.
• Convinced the customers with the benefits of sharing one bottle & two
glasses, which worked.
• Started to brew its beer with ‘Charles Wells’, UK largest independent
brewery under license.
• Creative advertising & premium quality helped achieve Cobra a very
successful penetration of the Indian restaurants sale of beer.
• Availability in super markets & can be ordered through net.
• Going & diversifying into new markets by offering a full range of packaging
formats, including cans & multipacks.
 Going global…

• Commenced brewing with ‘Brower Belgia’ in Poland to serve

European as well as other markets.
• Introduced wine & goes for expansion from south of France.

• Added various South African & Spanish range.

• Major initiative to make cobra a global brand was taken in 2004 by

launching the Krait, the export brand of Cobra in the US.
 Entering Indian market…
• Launched its beer in one city at a time.

• Tie-up with ‘Mount Shivalik Group, India’s largest independent

brewery in 2004 to brew it in Rajasthan, Punjab & Maharashtra.
• Marketed its beer in metro’s like Delhi, Mumbai, Goa, Pune, Kolkata,
Hyderabad & Bangalore.
• Launched at competitive prices but it were higher then the
competitors due to taxes.
 Feeling the heat…
• Consumption of beer in India is one of the lowest in the world.
• The price of the beer was somewhat higher then the competitors.
• Drinking of beer is quite often an independent entertainment activity.
• Unlike the UK people, Indians don’t have the habit to take beer with their
food.
• Licenses are required to serve beer along with food in the Indian restaurants,
resulting in expensive affair & restriction up to smaller no. of restaurants.
• Advertisement of beverage in India is prohibited & illegal, therefore,
restricted to make people aware of the Cobra brand.
• Sponsoring various events will lead to further expense which it can’t weigh
because of low initial sale & limited resource base.
 CONTD…
• State level regulations on sale of alcoholic beverages.

• Transport & infrastructure issues.

• The Indian market is highly regulated.

• Effective duopoly exists in the form of SAB Miller & the United
Breweries.
• Customer base is also very small.

• Some market experts say that the market growth at a double digit
level is highly exaggerated as the real growth is only 2-3% during last
2-3 years.
 QUESTIONS?
• Analyze Cobra beer’s decision to enter the Indian market
& evaluate the possibility of its success.
• What should be Cobra beer’s marketing strategy in the
face of Kingfisher’s well established product positioning &
marketing strategy?
 Analyzing Cobra beer’s decision to enter
Indian market & possibility of its success
DECISION PARAMETERS :
• As the Indian market is one of the largest beer market so the decision is viable
& sound.
• The consumption level is lower at present but in future it will increase like
other nations (China, South Africa, UK & Czech Republic ) i.e. from 0.5 litre per
year per person to somewhat 5-15 litre per year per person or even more.
• The Indian market is growing @ 7-8% & is valued at Rs. 4500-5000 crores,
therefore, turning into an altogether profitable scenario.
• The attitude of the consumers are also changing with respect to drinking mild
intoxicants including beer.
• Large no. of deptt. stores are also retailing beer.
 CONTD….
• Many classy up-markets & stylish bars & lounges are opening up in the
metros.
• The beer more-or-less is becoming a life-style product as the experience of
purchasing & its consumption is changing.

POSSIBILITY OF SUCCESS :
• As the Indian market consumes 85 million cases per year & Cobra see it
growing 30-35 times in the next 25 years, so more scope is there to establish
& position itself & snare a huge market share.
• If the market continues to open up then there are more chances to succeed.
• If the customers are provided with greater choices then they do respond,
hence possibility is there to penetrate into the market.
 CONTD…
• As the economy grow also grow the consumption pattern of the consumers
which may lead to higher demand.
• A slight relaxation in the govt. norms & tax would lead to access to more
markets & lowering of price of beer, thus leading to more growth prospect &
sales.
• By looking at the potential of Indian markets Cobra like to make India a
production hub for the entire South Asia which would result in more access
better management.
• By joining the hands with Greenfield's brewery in Andhra Pradesh the
company is looking for gaining market share as A.P. is the biggest consuming
state with 16 million cases out of the national total of over 80 million cases.
Moreover by producing in A.P. the company will be publicized easily & be
better known by the citizens of the state.
 Cobra Beer marketing strategy in the face of
Kingfisher’s product positioning & marketing
strategy

PRODUCT POSITIONING STRATEGY :

• Cobra Beer should position himself as a brand that enhances brand
imagery and creates awareness about the brand in India as a brand
that was born in India, went to UK, became successful there and has
come back to India now.
• It should carry on with the same USP “the beer is the ideal
accompaniment to spicy Indian food”.
• The company should go for product adaptation at regional, country,
city & retailer level.
• The company should build brand form bottom-up both strategically
(building awareness before brand-image) & tactically (creating
sources of brand equity in the market).
 CONTD….

• The non-gassy feature of the beer should be highlighted as it won’t create any
bottleneck problem & it’s smooth also.
• The beer can also be associated with the changing attitude of the consumers
in India w.r.t. drinking beer as it can be highlighted as 100% natural beer with
no added flavors & helps in digestion & don’t do any harm.
• The company should position himself as first company to produce 100%
alcohol free beverage.
• The company can also present its product more of a general/normal need
product instead of a luxury need product.
• As it had already tied up with so many Indian breweries, so it can present
himself as original Indian brand serving its people with finest of quality.
 CONTD….
MARKETING STRATEGY :

• The company can focus on the 30% remaining portion in Andhra Pradesh
where 64% is with SAB Miller & 6% is with UB.
• The company should do surrogate advertisement like Kingfisher & others to
promote their brand & product.
• The company should target it more as a youth product by sponsoring various
events like sports (ICL tournament), fashion shows, concerts etc.
• Apart from using only few forms of advertisement means (TV ad, hoardings,
sponsoring ) the company should spread positive WOM & can go for
developing relationship with the local retailers as they did in UK to serve
their beer to the consumers & potential consumers.
 CONTD….
• Kingfisher is having strength in national & regional products. So the
company can also look for developing strength in city & some retailer
products apart from having strength in national & regional product.
• Kingfisher has projected its product as a life-style product whereas
Cobra can project it as a life-style as well as a general product which
everyone can have.
• Cobra can highlight its 0.0% alcohol free beer & can develop a niche
market for those who earlier were not taking beer because they
think that it contain alcohol.
• Cobra can also project its low calorie lower carb beer for those who
are health conscious & want to take a low calorie fat free drink.
 CONTD….
• The Cobra beer can also promote its brand by tieing up the various airlines
companies where the passengers being provided with the cobra beer.
• The company also can back-up its brand by highlighting the various awards
won by it in different-2 categories. Thus creating a brand image & a type of
impression in the minds of consumers & potential consumers to shift from
the existing brand & to start taking Cobra beer.
 UPDATES
• The founder of Cobra beer, Lord Karan Bilimoria, has put the brand
up for sale at around GBP200 million. Lord Bilimoria said he was
looking either for a strategic partnership for the brand or a sale in
order to fully achieve sales potential.

• In October 2008, Cobra announced year-on-year volume growth of

37% and retail sales of GBP178 million, both in line with analyst
expectations. That said, the company has still never recorded an
annual profit during almost 20 years of existence
 UPDATES
• Lord Bilimoria aims to hold 10% of the Indian beer market by 2012,
but does not feel the company can realistically expect to achieve this
in its current incarnation.
• Likely suitors for Cobra could include Diageo, which was previously
linked with acquiring a stake in Cobra in July 2008.
• Diageo is understood to be in advanced talks with Cobra Beer for
purchasing a 30% stake in the company . Cobra Beer, which is
seeking a valuation of about $400 million, the stake in Cobra Beer is
being valued at $100 million.