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Teachers. Seldom shaken, never stirred

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‘If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you, If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or being hated, don’t give way to hating, If you can dream—and not make dreams your master; If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim; If you can meet with triumph and disaster and treat those two impostors just the same; Yours is the Earth and the light to claim, if the belief within burns bright as flame.’



If this made you want to get up from the couch and move mountains while feeling confident in your boxers, then you have joined the Teachers League. From this moment on you have been raised and are floating in the air for Teachers believes you are a class apart. You are their target group – a group of successful achievers and those who aspire to be the achievers of tomorrow. And Teachers believes it is this group that is worthy of their drink. After all a brand that was established over 180 years ago comes with a heritage and a lineage so fine that the person sipping the spirit must also feel the same ‘spirit of achievement’ – and that’s what they have set out to achieve.



“Last year was a little difficult for us and we went a little off the scene. But this year we are back with a brand new commercial that communicates our brand value perfectly. Ours is a strong product, our consumer base is very strong, and this year we have pushed the on-air campaign along with a number of other things”, says Beam Global spokesperson. A brand that essentially doesn’t believe in separate marketing campaigns has launched its very own Teachers music CD. “It is an on-going campaign that started off in January focusing on four to five focus areas mainly – visibility, off-premise functions (our very own desi thekas) and on premise functions (bars, hotels, clubs, etc).” says Beam Global spokesperson.



“An average Teachers drinker associates himself with the following qualities that the brand stands for - heritage, self-belief, feeling of having ‘arrived in life’, confidence, displaying maturity – long story short, it’s about making a class statement. It is not a drink you would associate with someone who has just hit the legal drinking age. Our target group is a group of seasoned drinkers with basic knowledge of the brand and the type of alcohol it is. Until a consumer has ‘arrived in life’, he would not be spending an x amount on scotch – thus, the affordability factor. The person feels the need to be seen as a class apart, or chooses the drink to aspire to upgrade itself to that group. Keeping in mind the legal drinking age is 25 in India, a Teachers drinker is essentially at least 28 years of age. Those are our people,” divulges Beam Global spokesperson.



But does that make Teachers a ‘serious conversation’ drink? “Definitely not. We are not completely evading the fun factor from our brand. It’s an alcohol at the end of the day and is associated with relaxation, celebration and a means to recreate. We’re not a ‘serious’ brand per se, but yes, we do have a certain type of people as our target audience – and they sure do need to know how to have their fun. We are not the kind of brand you would see sponsoring an event like Sunburn but we would something more along the lines of the Forbes calendar and our very own Teachers Achievement Awards. That’s who we are”, says Beam Global spokesperson. Teachers makes sure its consumer has a great time while keeping the snob factor also in place.



“Teachers Achievement Award, our flagship award is on its way to the 13th edition this year. It will probably happen in the month of November, 2014. We have four different streams and we look at our list of people who have achieved in their specific fields and celebrate their success in a very nice, elite, five star environment. We are telling our winners oh yes, you have arrived, and you have achieved. This is in line with my communication. When it comes to on-ground events we don’t partner with anyone. If we do something we want complete ownability. It is very important to us. We also follow every compliance that’s there under the sun when it comes to the law of the land. For eg – The law states that after every event, the liquor that is not consumed must be auctioned off. That’s exactly what we did after our Teachers Achievement Awards ”, divulges Beam Global spokesperson.



For a brand that’s looking for the ownabiity factor when it comes to events will not always find a similar arrangement. So does that keep Teachers from sponsoring events? “Absolutely not. We are a brand that’s open to such activities provided they are in line with our communication. For the last one and half years we have been a little low but we want to go full throttle now. We are associating ourselves with the Forbes calendar, the JW event where Hrithik would launch a book on his father, the Zoom Holi party, GQ Best Dressed Man of the Year and so on, giving our consumer an environment where the premiumness is attached. We are looking to partner with events that are also high end and premium,” says Beam Global spokesperson. “We had the opportunity to associate with Top Gear awards in Mumbai. We pulled out in the last minute because we did not want to associate ourselves with drinking and driving, although it was otherwise the kind of event that we are looking to sponsor and be associated with. We are not hungry for visibility and branding, the brand has made a place for itself in the market. But yes, it needs to be sampled and tested with the right kind of audience. At 25, you are not a loyalist. And we stay away from the crowd as far as Teachers is concerned,” reveals Beam Global spokesperson.



The Teachers experience is all about being exclusive and believing in ‘the light within’. “Experience starts at home. The way a brand connects with the consumer plays a very important role. It is a make or break situation. You have to give the customer an experience that will live with him till the end of time.it is all about the talkability factor, a larger than life experience. Mediocre experiences will not cut it. With so much happening with technology and digital, brands have to really think hard before they come up with an idea that would leave an impression on the minds of their target audience,” says Beam Global spokesperson. Turns out one-day shabby experiences are a thing of the past and it’s time to make way for top of the line, state of the art, over the top, never thought of before creative ideas. Experiential marketing is not based on convenience anymore. It’s about making people live the brand.


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Achievement Awards Beam Global experiential GQ teachers

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