Inertia Inds In Plan To Promote Sandpiper

Inertia Industries Ltd, the maker of Sandpiper beer, is set to launch Rs 1.5-crore brand promotion campaign in electronic medium this summer.

"The brand promotion campaign will be launched in the electronic medium very soon," company's vice-president, sales & marketing, Prathmesh Mishra said but declined to divulge further details.

The focus of the forthcoming television commercials is not on any particular product of the company but to promote Sandpiper as a brand, he said.

Inertia's brand portfolio includes Sandpiper Extra Gold Lager beer, Sandpiper Premium Strong beer, Turbo Super Strong beer and Sandpiper Draught beer.

Ruling out the selling off the company, Mishra said, "The aggressive marketing and brand building exercise is the proof that we are not selling off the entire company to another party."

 

However, the company is having talks with an European liquor major to form a joint venture where the incoming partner may have majority stake, he said.

Denying that the company is being sold to one of the subsidiaries of United Breweries (UB), Inertia's product manager Digvijay Sharma added that the talk between Inertia and an European liquor major are in an advanced stage.

Sharma, however, declined to disclose the name of the potential European partner.

"The talk of possible tie-up is on for more than six months and the purpose is to strengthen our market position. The launch of Sandpiper Draught beer in the capital recently is a proof that we are still interested in the beer market," he said.

The company claimed to have grabbed a market share of over 53 per cent of Delhi's draught beer market.

"Launched in September 1999, the company has sold 2,029 numbers of 50 liters kegs and 1,333 numbers of 30 liters keg through 38 outlets in the capital by April 2000," Mishra said.

We plans to cover all 50-odd outlets during this summer, he said, adding that it would increase Sandpiper Draught's market share considerably.

According to Mishra, the other two competing draught beer brands present in the capital, Golden Eagle and Black Label, share about 50 per cent of draught beer market in Delhi.

Though, the company boasts to have about 50 per cent marketshare in the draught beer segment, Sandpiper's market share in bottle beer segment is insignificant.

Company claims to have about 38 per cent market share in the total bottle beer segment sold through hotels in Delhi. However, according to a survey, Sandpiper beer bottles are hardly available in the retaill vends of Delhi.