About BIRA 91
Flagship Indian craft beer brand by B9 Beverages Private Limited
Launched by Ankur Jain in 2015
Made from wheat, barley and hops, the beer is available in draft, 330ml, 650ml bottles and 500ml
cans at a starting price of INR 150/-
The company has five beers in its portfolio –
o Bira 91 White (all day craft beer, a low bitterness wheat beer with alcohol content of 4%)
o Bira 91 Blonde (an extra hoppy craft lager)
o Bira 91 Light (a low calorie lunchtime lager)
o Bira 91 Strong (a high intensity wheat beer with a higher percentage of alcohol content at 7%)
o Bira 91 Indian Pale Ale (the first IPA brewed and bottled in India)
Recently launched two beers in the sub-brand BOOM
o BOOM Strong – Rich and Malty
o BOOM Classic – Crisp and Mild
Launched its brand merchandise that includes T-shirts, growlers, bags, ice bucket and beer mugs
The company has 4 production facilities in India – Indore, Mysore, Kovu and Nagpur
Bira91 is backed by Sequoia Capital and Belgium’s Sofina Capital
Largest draft brand in India
As of June 2018, Bira 91 is available in India, USA, UK,Singapore, Nepal, Hong Kong, Thailand, and UAE
Bira91 has no brand ambassador
About the logo
BIRA Mascot
The winking monkey to unleash the fun, friendly and playful nature that is inside of us
The monkey mascot was designed considering the urban millennial as the key consumer of Bira91 and
with the idea of presenting the brand with a playful identity
BIRA Logo
The name Bira is how a Punjabi would call his brother and 91 represents India’s Country Code
The reverse B in the logo represents a spirit of irreverence/ rebellion
Brand/ Marketing Campaigns
Free Flow Festival (2017)
A hip-hop platform with live music gigs and partnerships with Indian Hip-
Hop artists
A campaign that narrows its focus on hip-hop and it’s subcultures and
become the one-stop resource for all things hip-hop in India
For its first tour, UK rapper Lady Leshurr visited India and performed along
with various artists
Spread across 5 cities – Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Delhi and Gurgaon and
over 250 bars and restaurants
A chance to sample all 3 BIRA91 flavors with 2+1 offer
Hot Stuff (2017)
Bira91 used its hot sauce for its surrogate advertisement
First digital campaign comprises over five-minute long videos featuring
Rocky and Mayur along with chef Kunal Kapoor visiting eight different
cities exploring spicy cuisine
Launched in August 2017, the web series had collectively garnered over
2.6 million so far on YouTube and Facebook
[Link]
They sell the hot sauce on Amazon
BIRA X SAAVAN (2017)
Collaborated with Saavan to curate a playlist and launched a Bira91 Hip
Hop Channel
BIRA partnered with artists and labels to create original tracks to launch
on the channel
The channel featured artists like Jay Z, Lil Yachty, Kendrick Lamar, Kanye,
Slick Rick, Mad Skillz, Artifacts, Craig Mack, J 5, J Hus, Action Bronson, Swet
Shop Boys
Bira also promoted gigs, festivals and exclusive merchandise through the
channel
April Fools’ Fest (2018, 2019)
Organized its first owned on-ground event - Bira 91 April Fools’ Fest in
New Delhi (April 1 being the 91st day of the year)
Had an exciting line up of stand-up comedy, theater, hip hop, rap, an
assortment of places to get grub and free flowing Bira91 beer and
cocktails
Also launched BIRA91 Merch Shop, where visitors can get hands on the
exclusive merchandise
International Curry Week (2018, 2019)
In 2018, announced the kick-off of the first ever International Curry Week,
across select restaurants throughout New York City, Singapore and New
Delhi that offered custom menus, curated curry dishes and pairings with
Bira 91's most distinctive handcrafted beers.
In 2019, it happened across Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, New York, London,
Singapore & Hong Kong with 100 restaurants in India where chefs created
a custom menu with curry-centric entrees, paired with the newly launched
Bira 91 IPA brewed with Pomelo.
Had free giveaways and redeemable vouchers
BIRA X Magnetic Fields
Brand’s first-ever association with a music festival
Aimed to underline its commitment to cater to the creative Indian
Reason - Magnetic Fields has established a loyal community, with a strong
focus on consumer experience – something that resonates well with Bira 91
and its millennial identity
Out of one of the two main stages – the day stage is called Bira 91 South Stage
#Make Play
Brand engaged with their audience and encouraged participation via
#MakePlay Instagram Stories contest
Participants showcased their creativity and augment their brand recall with
the help of the brand mascot
Bira 91’s Instagram Stories contest required participants to colour the brand
mascot in the most creative way possible and share it with the brand and
win merchandize
By taking a screenshot of the blank template of the Bira 91 mascot,
participants could then colour the mascot any way they liked and send in
the entries to the brand by uploading their entry as an Instagram post and
tagging Bira 91
5 year global sponsorship with ICC
ICC World Cup 2019 marked an important milestone for Bira91
Bira was the only beer to be poured during all the World Cup matches
Through the communication, Bira 91 focused on pegging itself as a reliable
partner while watching cricket – be it in the stadium or on a screen
Association with ICC gave the brand a much-needed push to engage with the
Indian diaspora at large (both domestic and abroad)
Reason - Both cricket and beer defines the Indian cultural identity. With both
of these undergoing a generational shift, Bira wanted to define what beer
means for this generation of Indian consumers both in India and abroad
Brand’s strategy for ICC World Cup 2019
With their first big-ticket sponsorship, Bira kept communication centered on the Sixes scored in every
match. The offline activities such as – in-stadium shenanigans by the mascot and match screening across
the country formed a major chunk of the content hooks
#BiraSuperSixes
Bira 91 focused on possibly the happiest moment of a match – sixes scored. From the re-play of
important sixes to the number of sixes in the match, the brand managed to skip through the anxiety
and stress of winning
Contests
The brand relied on traditional approach such as contests with merchandise gratification and the
ultimate ‘Win a ticket to World Cup’ proposition.
Content
Roped in Gaurav Kapoor, to give a recap of the top moments of the match in every episode.
Executed an activity with Jhonty Rhodes- African cricket commentator and former Test and One Day
International cricketer, asking consumers to #AskJonty all doubts and qualms around World Cup 2019.
Offline + Online
Bira 91 used its social media channels to create awareness around the match screenings happening
pan India
The brand’s presence on the stadium in the form of the mascot, banners, and the beer itself formed
a part of its communication
Social media analysis
According to the word cloud, terms that received higher engagement were #CWC19, #Bira91Beer,
and #Bira91
Photo posts received more engagement than video posts
Bira91 gained approximately 10K followers across its social media channels
What could have been done better?
Posts on high moments such as Ed Sheeran enjoying the beer seemed to have missed the brand’s
attention
Social media analysis
Instagram
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74K followers & Verified account
Posts are not regular, mostly one in 5 days
Make use of their products and merchandise very well
Low engagement on posts
No influencer reposts
Facebook
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137,959 likes & verified account
Most of the posts are similar to instagram
Almost no engagement on posts
Twitter
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9790 followers & verified account
Tweets regularly
Quick in giving responses and resolving queries
Influencer engagement
ICC World Cup 2019 – Provided match kits for the India vs Pakistan match #bira91 #makeplay
#bira91atcwc
o Natasha Shrotri – 120K
o Vipin Changi – 4094
o Nikita Shrotri – 6108
o Ilisha Milind Dhond – 36.5K
o Jatin J (The Style Doodler) – 55.6K
o Kavya Trehan – 31.9K
o Parakaram Rana – 36.8K
Merch online shop – Provided merchandise (tees, caps and mug) to fashion influencers with a link
to the digital page #makeplay
o Komal Pandey – 790K
o Ashna Shroff – 707K
International Curry Week – Tied up with food bloggers to launch the new IPA
#internationalcurryweek #gotcurry
o Karan Tripathi – Food Fanatic - 68.6K
o Gunjan Chawla – Gluttony Goddess – 44K
o Debolina Ray – 20.8K
o Nikita Verma – I am dating food – 194K
o Kuljyoti Dhingra – 268K
o Anhaita Dhondy - 76.9K
o LBB –
o Sakshi Tomar – 65.3K
o Food Talk India – 289K
o Ruchira Hoon – 11.7K
o Richa Gupta – My Food story – 40.2K
o Aniket – Belly over mind – 34.5K
o Kritika Sharma - 158K followers
Collaborations with below chefs for ICW -
o Chef Vikas Seth during International Curry Week
o Chef Pallavi Jayswal during International Curry Week
o Thomas Fenn and Zacharia Jacob, Founder, Mahabelly during International Curry Week
o Chef Radhika Khandelwal, Fig&Maple during International Curry Week
o Vikramjit Roy, Head Chef, Whiskey Samba during International Curry Week
#MakePlay – Partnered with Neha Doodles (127K) to doodle on the Bira can as a part of its
campaign.
Others
Raja Kumari – Bira posted a photo of her drinking beer on its instagram
Neha Dhupia tagged Bira during the U2 concert
Akansha Redhu tagged Bira during the U2 concert
Naina Gahlaut (56.8K) tagged Bira in a photoshoot
Dimple Mehta (21.2K) tagged Bira in a random post
Arjit Bose , Founder, The Lovers Rum – create cocktails for the limited release Malabar strout
Limited release of Malabar Strout with Blue Tokai – An informal chat between Matt Chittaranjan and
Ankur Jain
Learning from competitors for the SNS channels
Could make Instagram and Facebook more engaging by adding meme relatable content
Re-post from other bloggers and influencers
Promote collaborations
Post more frequently and go live during events
Use Instagram stories and IGTV more often
Funding
Raised $1.5 million from a group of friends when started B9 Beverages Pvt. Ltd
In January 2016, B9 Beverages Pvt. Ltd received its first round of funding with $6 million from Sequoia
Capital (which was Sequoia’s first investment in the Alcohol Beverage segment)
o This Series A funding also saw participation from Angel investors of India like Kunal Bahl and
Rohit Bansal (Co-founders - Snapdeal), Deepinder Goyal (Zomato), Ashish Dhawan
(ChrysCapital) and Mayank Singhal.
In 2018, the company raised a further amount of $50 million from Sofina, a Belgian family owned fund
and its existing investors
In May 2019, Bira91 raised the funding of $4.3M from Sixth Sense Ventures in its Pre-Series C round
B9 Beverages looks to raise $100 mn to support growth. Of the $100 mn, company will raise $20 mn
from the company’s existing base of investors
Leadership
Ankur Jain – Founder and CEO
Vinaya Jain - CFO and Senior Vice President – Finance
Deepak Malhotra – Senior Vice President – Sales
Deepak Sinha - Vice President - Marketing
Sudhir Jain – Lead the manufacturing operations
Thomas Hartman - Vice President – Innovation Brewing
Leadership in news
Ankur Jain – Business interviews around the launch BOOM Beer, Interviews around any events, soft
profiling, industry and trend stories
Highlights his entrepreneurial journey and how he started
Focuses on how getting various rounds of funding helped in expanding the business
How BIRA91 makes beer keeping in mind the consumer needs
Types of beers the company is manufacturing
Details about the active breweries and production capacity
Key markets in India brand is planning to enter
Key reasons to enter tier-2 and tier-3 markets
Product and pricing strategy
Expansion to global markets
Expanding into retail shops and building presence across channels where beer is sold. Planning to
partners for in-flight services too
Highlighting growth numbers and expansion plans for the next few years
Key trends dominating the Indian beer market
Key challenges for Bira91
Strengthening the leadership team - announcements
Recent interviews have highlighted the partnership with ICC
Thomas Hartman - Vice President – Innovation Brewing – One interview with Brewer World
Meaning of Innovation Brewing at Bira91
Importance of capability development and training amongst the production teams
Different stages involved in product development at Bira91
Development of various BIRA91 beers
Raw-materials used for the manufacturing of beers
Growth of craft beer in India
Future of Bira91 in the international market
Key messages delivered
Ankur Jain
The target is to become the beer of choice for consumers
Have grown almost 200 per cent in the last five years
Looking at strong revenue growth driven by new product launches, market expansion and going
deeper into existing markets
Company closed 2019 at $100 million in revenue.
Have a market share close to two-and-a-half per cent of the overall beer market and 10 per cent of
the premium segment
Bira 91 to expanded from 56 cities at the start of the year to 386 cities now and became the fifth
biggest beer maker in India
Progressively started expanding into retail shops. Building presence across channels where beer is
sold as the brand aspires to be available in all those formats. Brand is available at airports and are
exploring few partners for in-flight services too
Highlighting international expansion, the brand is present in nine countries currently and expect to be
in 16 by the end of this fiscal year. Bira91 is currently being exported to the US, the UK, Australia,
Singapore and Hong Kong
The brand is profitable in terms of unit economics. The gross margin is two times that of the industry.
At the corporate level, it will be profitable by FY2022.
The highest funded FMCG start-up Bira91, will be raising its Series C round of funding this year in May
2020
The company is expected to use the proceeds from the funding to ramp up its production capacity to
about 1.7 million cases, up from its current 400,000 cases
Though Bira’s Merchandise business is fairly small right now, it aspires to make it 3-4 per cent of its
contribution to overall business
Thomas Hartman
Aim to create a new beverage category that hasn’t been seen in the market
Focus at processes and inputs and figuring out how you can make the same beers better
Brewing is an interconnected process, not just the production of the beer itself, but the whole
business, and BIRA91 is pushing on all fronts to make betters beers for more people with less impact
Friends of Bira
S
No. Journalist Name Media Title
1 The Hindu Sunalini Mathew
2 New Indian Express Sesa Sen
3 The Economic Times Sagar Malviya
4 The Economic Times Pawan Nahar
5 The Economic Times Mohit Bhalla
6 The Hindu Business Line K Giriprakash
7 Business Standard Yuvraj Malik
8 Business Standard Veer Arjun Singh
9 Business Standard Dhruv Munjal
10 Mint Deepti Chaudhary
11 Mint [Link]
12 Mint Tanima Banerjee
13 The Financial Express Sandeep Soni
Anuradha
14 CNBC TV18 & News 18 Sengupta
15 Business Insider SANCHITA DASH
16 Inc42 Bhumika Khatri
17 Business Today Goutam Das
18 The Morning Context Harveen Ahluwalia
19 Quartz Sangeeta Tanawar
20 Forbes India Rajiv Singh
21 Entrepreneur India Magazine Punita Sabharwal
22 Marketing Mind/ Freelance Surabhi Kedia
23 Your Story (Funding) Tarush Bhalla
24 Exchange4Media Sonam Saini
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Free Flow Fest
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Hot Stuff
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Bira & Saavan
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April Fools Fest
[Link]
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International Curry Week
[Link]
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Magnetic Fields
[Link]
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ICC Global Sponsorship
[Link]
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