Whisky trade marketing in bars and restaurants
Bars and restaurants are where many drinkers first try a whisky they later buy in a shop. This guide explains how trade marketing in the on-trade works, what it costs the team in effort and where the rules draw the line.
On-trade and off-trade are different jobs
The trade splits outlets into two groups. The on-trade is anywhere the drink is consumed on the premises: bars, pubs, restaurants, hotels and clubs. The off-trade is retail: shops that sell sealed bottles to take away.
Volumes in the on-trade are usually smaller than in retail, but its influence is larger than its volume. A drinker who tries a whisky in a highball at a good bar may buy the bottle later. A bartender who recommends a brand does more than any shelf strip. Trade marketing in bars is about earning that recommendation.
Getting listed is the first battle
A listing means the outlet stocks the brand and puts it on the menu. Without one, nothing else matters. Listings are negotiated outlet by outlet or with a group that runs several venues. The pitch usually covers the liquid, the price to the outlet and margin per serve, the support the brand will give and how the whisky fits the menu.
Margin per serve is the language bar managers speak. A 750 ml bottle gives 25 serves of 30 ml or about 12 large pegs of 60 ml, the common Indian measure. The bar thinks in cost per peg against menu price. A trade marketer who can do that sum at the table is taken more seriously than one who only brings a brand deck.
Visibility on the back bar and the menu
Once listed, the brand wants to be seen. That means a place on the back bar at eye level, a line on the menu with a short description and, where allowed, branded glassware or coasters. A menu line that names the serve and one flavour cue ("with soda and an orange twist, light and fruity") sells better than a brand name on its own.
Point of sale material in bars is regulated in India and the rules vary by state, so what a venue may display changes from city to city. Trade marketing teams should work from the current state rules and their own legal team's guidance.
The serve is the product
In Indian bars, whisky is mostly drunk with soda, water or ice. A brand that owns a serve owns an occasion. The highball is the clearest example: whisky, chilled soda, lots of ice in a tall glass, built to be refreshing in heat. Our guide to the whisky highball for Indian summers explains why the ratio and the ice matter.
A good signature serve is easy to make in a busy bar in under a minute, uses ingredients the bar already has and tastes the same in every outlet. The liquid team should check it. A lighter blend that shines with soda may go thin and sharp if a bar uses warm soda and two small cubes of ice.
Training the people who pour
Bar staff turn over quickly, so training is never finished. Brands that do it well run short sessions in the venue before service: what the whisky is made from, how it is aged, two or three flavour notes and how to make the signature serve. Sessions are for staff who opt in, with tasting kept to small measures and nosing first.
A bartender who can say in one sentence why this malt tastes of dried fruit (it spent time in a sherry cask) will recommend it with confidence. Our guide to whisky sensory training for marketing teams covers the same skills for head office.
Where the rules draw the line
Direct advertising of alcohol is restricted in India. Promotion inside outlets is governed by state excise rules that differ widely. Promotions that encourage heavy drinking, target anyone under the state's legal drinking age or link drinking with driving are out everywhere, whatever the local rule says. Many brands also follow their own responsible marketing codes, which are stricter than the law.
Rules change, so check the current notification for each state and take advice from your legal team before any activation. This guide is not legal advice.
Measuring whether it worked
Trade marketing is easy to spend and hard to measure. Useful measures are listings won and lost by outlet, depletions to on-trade accounts before and after an activation, menu presence checked on visits and staff trained per outlet. Track them by venue, because a strong programme in ten top bars can hide a quiet decline in a hundred others.
Your first step
Take your brand's best selling SKU and work out the cost per 60 ml peg for a typical bar in your largest city, using the outlet price your sales team quotes. Then look at three real menus and note the price of the same peg. That spread is the conversation every trade marketer has to be ready for. Now your team can have it with real numbers.
Common questions
What is the on-trade?
The on-trade is any outlet where drinks are consumed on the premises, such as bars, restaurants, hotels and clubs. Shops selling sealed bottles are the off-trade.
How many pegs are in a 750 ml bottle?
About 12 large pegs of 60 ml or 25 small pegs of 30 ml, before any spillage or waste.
Can whisky brands advertise inside bars in India?
Point of sale and promotion rules are set by each state and change over time. Check the current state notification and take legal advice before any activation.
