How BACARDÍ has come to own the Halloween marketing space in India

The love for Halloween in India has grown immensely in recent years, as the occasion has become a cultural touchpoint for the new generation. BACARDÍ has been a powerful driver in building this key cultural moment, hosting India’s largest Halloween party each year for over 5 years. Each edition of CASA BACARDÍ Halloween brings the essence of the occasion to life through unique and immersive experiences.
In an exclusive interaction with Adgully, Ashish Jha, Brand Lead, BACARDÍ, speaks about the inspiration and vision behind CASA BACARDÍ Halloween 2024, emphasizing how BACARDÍ curates unforgettable experiences for its audience. He delves into how the brand crafts interactive and experiential elements to resonate with trending consumer interests, making these activations a core part of its marketing and consumer engagement strategy. Jha also reflects upon BACARDÍ’s journey in owning the cultural space of Halloween celebrations in India, evolving its consumer touchpoints each year to be more creative and engaging.

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Beyond Halloween, Jha also discusses BACARDÍ’s approach to the festive season in India, connecting with consumers and amplifying brand presence. He offers insights into how 2024 has shaped up for the liquor industry in India, BACARDÍ’s performance over the year, and more.

What was the inspiration behind CASA BACARDÍ Halloween 2024, and how does BACARDÍ aim to create unique and unforgettable experiences for partygoers at such events?

CASA BACARDÍ Halloween was created with the aim of providing an immersive space for our consumers to indulge in the ultimate form of self-expression, in celebration of the cultural phenomenon of Halloween. It is an occasion that inspires creativity and individuality, which are elements BACARDÍ has always celebrated. For the 2024 edition, we aimed to capture the spirit of the festival and find touchpoints where consumers can engage in creative self-expression. We hosted an exclusive film screening and afterparty in the pre-Halloween weekend at Liberty Cinema to get fans in the Halloween mood, announced a salon takeover in Mumbai where visitors could get their spooky makeover, and hosted a variety of selected bar takeovers across the country featuring our curated Halloween cocktail menu. All of these activities, combined under our umbrella theme of ‘Give In To Your Mood’, were a celebration of self-expression.

These events culminated in India’s biggest Halloween party, the CASA BACARDÍ Halloween in Mumbai’s Great Eastern Mills, which featured incredible performances from Indian artists, a dynamic and multi-faceted venue, a variety of experiential zones, and specially curated food and cocktails. Our aim was to help guests indulge in various forms of self-exploration, unleashing their Halloween alter ego, and in that regard the event was certainly a success.

How does BACARDÍ tailor interactive and experiential elements, such as Halloween-themed decor, live performances, and custom cocktail menus, to align with current consumer interests and preferences?

BACARDÍ’s approach to experiential elements centers on keeping consumers at the heart of all we do, and building in line with their preferences. New age consumers today are strongly inclined toward immersive and interactive experiences, and are looking for new ways to engage with their preferred cultural touchpoints. We took this as a core insight when curating events for CASA BACARDI Halloween, through our experiential salon takeover and exclusive movie screening events in the pre-Halloween period.

For the CASA BACARDÍ Halloween party, we hosted various experiential zones such as the prosthetics lab to let people accentuate their costumes, created a complete Halloween-themed environment, and offered a custom Halloween cocktail menu designed for the event. Our invited artists for the event also elevated this vibe by presenting their unique and offbeat music styles, as we let audiences discover their next favorite performers. We carefully selected each element to create an atmosphere that was both eerie and exciting, creating the perfect Halloween experience, and caters to our audience’s love for unique, shareable experiences.

What is the current trend of Western culture in India, and how do Halloween-themed events like CASA BACARDÍ engage with audiences, particularly in terms of connecting with the cultural preferences of younger generations?

Younger generations today value cross-cultural experiences that resonate with their personalities and interests, regardless of their origins. We at BACARDÍ keep a finger on the pulse of emerging consumer trends, and Halloween as a cultural event has gained substantial popularity in India in recent years as it represents freedom, authenticity, and self-expression for the new generation. It is a cultural moment for celebration, and we are excited to leverage the occasion to bring together traditional Halloween themes with local tastes and preferences – which meet our brand mission at BACARDÍ of making exciting and relevant experiences for consumers.

How has the brand evolved its consumer touchpoints to ensure these events are more creative and engaging each year?

BACARDÍ has always placed a premium on evolving our consumer touchpoints in line with changing trends. Consumers are constantly interacting with brands at online and offline touchpoints, and it is essential to make sure that the experiences we provide are not just limited to points of purchase, but also at third places where we can add genuine value to their experiences and build authentic connections. From digital activations to immersive on-ground experiences, we continually seek new ways to deepen engagement with fresh concepts, interactive zones and collaborations with artists to keep our offerings innovative.

For Halloween, for example, we reimagined how our audience can experience the brand through not just cocktails, but through multiple curated touchpoints such as our exclusive movie screening, our salon takeover, and in-person prosthetics lab. These help build visually and emotionally stimulating connections with consumers and help attendees elevate their experience.

Beyond Halloween, how does BACARDÍ approach the broader festive season in India to connect with consumers and amplify its brand presence?

At BACARDÍ, we aim to engage with consumers round the year at selected occasions and experiences, where we can create highly relevant experiences that will resonate with them. We carefully select occasions where we can genuinely connect with our consumers and offer exciting innovations – and this approach is the heart of BACARDÍ experiences. Our various activations with our CASA BACARDÍ experiential events through the year are a testament to this approach, where we celebrate a variety of experiences from new music and artists to offbeat and unique workshops and more. Our goal is to enhance these special moments with memorable experiences that elevate the spirit of creativity and celebration that is a core pillar of the BACARDÍ brand.

As a brand lead, how do you integrate consumer insights into BACARDÍ’s overall marketing strategy to ensure continued relevance in a competitive market?

Listening to our consumers is a fundamental part of BACARDÍ's approach – it serves as our North Star when it comes to our market strategy. We analyze market trends to understand not just how consumer preferences for flavours, experiences, and interaction styles are evolving; but also understand what is driving these changes. Often, consumer behaviours and attitudes are independent of market conditions and more reflective of broader cultural trends – which can guide us towards building more relevant products and experiences for our consumers. By identifying the right direction, we then leverage our decades of expertise in the Indian market to innovate and exceed consumer expectations, and position the BACARDÍ brand as a leader in these cultural spaces.

How important is digital and experiential marketing in BACARDÍ’s strategy to maintain its cultural relevance and create memorable experiences for its audience?

Digital and experiential marketing are vital pillars for BACARDÍ, particularly as we engage a digitally native, experience-driven audience. Customers today are growing more receptive to new avenues of brand engagement, including social media, partnerships, and on-ground activations like CASA BACARDÍ – as these are spaces where they naturally interact. By meeting consumers through these channels, we can build and maintain cultural relevance in the spaces they value and trust, while creating lasting brand impressions.

How has this year been for the liquor industry in India, and what has BACARDÍ’s performance been like in 2024? Have there been any significant trends or challenges that shaped the brand’s strategies and growth this year?

The Indian liquor industry in 2024 has been marked by evolving consumer preferences, with a noticeable shift towards premium, cocktail-friendly spirits. As a market leader in the premium rum segment and one of the most versatile cocktail spirits on the market, BACARDÍ is well positioned to capitalise on the opportunity presented by the market. We have responded to the growing trends towards unique flavours and experimentation in spirits and cocktails with new and innovative variants like the BACARDÍ Mango Chilli, tapping into the consumer interests for offbeat flavours and local Indian tastes. We are optimistic about the future in the Indian market and actively working to build on the emerging opportunities it presents.