How the hip-hop movement is helping Bacardi's consumer engagement grow

In the last ten years, India's hip-hop scene has exploded, with new styles of dance, art, and music appearing every day. The largest hip-hop festival in India, Breezer Vivid Shuffle (BVS), has grown into a global phenomenon with performances by over 225 artists, participation from more than 340k shufflers, and 24 international judges. It has been launched in more than 320 cities to date.

Arti Hajela, Regional Brand & Category Head, RTD Bacardi, discusses the six-season journey of Breezer Vivid Shuffle, the expanding hip-hop scene in India, reaching consumers through festivals, and other topics in an interview with Sociapa.

How was the Breezer Vivid Shuffle concept brought to life? How has the transition from Season 1 to the current Season 6 been?

Over the past five seasons, Breezer Vivid Shuffle has experienced phenomenal growth. Introduced five years ago as a dance festival to give India's most genuine underground hip-hop artists a stage, the fest has since evolved into a cultural phenomenon, elevating hip-hop culture as a whole in the nation. It has been gratifying to watch this festival blossom into a nexus of culture, community, and talent after giving over 225 artists a national stage, 340K shufflers' participation, and 24 international judges across 320+ cities. Due to the overwhelming support it has received from fans and artists year after year, the festival has established itself as India's largest hip-hop league, and we are proud of that. It has given street art, culture, and performance a bigger national platform with each passing season.

What is your preferred marketing approach this year?

All of our marketing and advertising strategies are focused on serving the needs of our consumers. We do this in order to keep up with the shifting needs and interests of the consumer base. As consumers sought out enriching at-home experiences over the past few years, turning to the virtual world was imperative. With the opening of on-location events, there is now a huge window of opportunity to reconnect with customers offline. Specifically, a CAGR of 6% is forecast between 2020 and 2025 in Live Music Market - Forecast and Analysis Report 2021-2025. With consumer tastes changing and people seeking out immersive, engaging, and culturally relevant experiences, there is a huge opportunity for us to interact with them offline through the festival route. That is the approach we took with Breezer Vivid Shuffle Season 6. The goal was to deliver a carefully curated experience that appeals to our consumers' senses while also utilising the entire marketing mix to create genuine brand awareness by implementing this strategy to bring the #BeatsOfTheStreets offline for this season.

What steps will BVS take to support artists and celebrate the hip-hop movement in India?

One of our most popular brand extensions, Breezer Vivid Shuffle, is all about supporting local hip-hop artists in India. The festival was initially intended to showcase the skills of the underground fraternity and offer opportunities to the locals, but it has since developed into a venue for India's expanding hip-hop scene.

With sub-genres like colloquial and anti-caste rap, the hip-hop scene is currently sweeping India. Many up-and-coming artists are establishing themselves alongside established performers, making waves in the industry. The goal of BVS is to continue providing opportunities for the most outstanding hip-hop artists in the nation by giving them a national stage and introducing them to the right audiences as we grow our footprint yearly and raise the hip-hop culture even higher. Artists like Raftaar, Krsna, Brodha V, Seedhe Maut, Hanumankind, Wicked Sunny, DJ Proof, Dino James, Khasi Bloodz, Meba Ofilia, and others have performed at this year's festival in Hyderabad, Mumbai, and Guwahati, among other cities. We are eager to advance this vision and broaden with our upcoming seasons as the hip-hop community continues to expand.

How is Breezer Vivid Shuffle giving fans of hip-hop an immersive experience and empowering this art form?

Breezer Vivid Shuffle is more than just a music festival; it also immerses audiences in hip-hop culture. Since the festival has established a following among music lovers by showcasing some of the most sensational hip-hop talents in India, we wanted to take things a step further by discussing other aspects of hip-hop that are essential, such as dance and fashion. In light of this, we encouraged attendees to partake in delicious food, update their drip at the street-style souk, and show off their moves at open dance cyphers all under one roof. In order to give hip-hop fans all over the nation a completely immersive experience, the platform also hosted #BeatsOfTheStreets, a digital dance competition judged by international heavyweights Marie Poppins, Boubou, and Outrage.

What did people anticipate this year's BVS festival to be like?

The main goal of Breezer Vivid Shuffle, which returned this year for its sixth edition, was to give street art, culture, and performance a national stage. This time, however, we made it bigger and better. For the first time in two years, we brought the festival to the streets of Hyderabad, Mumbai, and Guwahati. Our goal was to interact with the expanding hip-hop fan base in India as they looked for live events in a more meaningful and pertinent way. We worked very hard to make this happen at scale and finally offline, and we are thrilled that the festival was successful in connecting with the right hip-hop fans in the nation.

What distinguishes Season 6 and the source of #BeatsOfTheStreets appears to be quite an intriguing campaign.

All the excitement and enthusiasm that has been building in the nation on two fronts — hip-hop and festivals — served as the inspiration for bringing the #BeatsOfTheStreets to life with this year's festival. Over the past few years, a growing number of artists, music fans, and fashion devotees have jumped on board India's hip-hop trend. Additionally, it has been noted that more people are interested in experiencing this rapidly growing hip-hop culture firsthand due to changing consumer preferences. This is what motivated us to offer our audiences a musically inspired exhibition this season that honors the #BeatsOfTheStreets. This year was particularly memorable for us and India's hip-hop community because it was the first time we had implemented BVS in a festival format.