Saying ''cheers'' to India, UB Group kicks off McDowell promo tour

Mumbai: McDowell''s No.1, the flagship brand of United Spirits Limited, India''s largest spirits manufacturer and marketer, has kicked off a multi - city promotional tour through a specially orchestrated musical extravaganza comprising composers Shankar, Ehsaan and Loy.

According to a company press release, this ''rock tour'' synergises best with the brand''s proposition of ''Cheers to Life!''

According to Ashok Capoor, COO, United Spirits Limited, McDowell''s No.1 is one of the most aspirational and youthful Indian spirits brand. He said that the music tour with Shankar, Ehsaan and Loy is a celebration of the spirit of happiness, expressing the hope that in the years to come, the ''Cheers India Tour'', becomes a reference point for happy moments for the brands customers.

The brand has shown a growth of 43 per cent in 2006-07, with sales crossing nine million cases.

Composers Shankar, Ehsaan and Loy have taken Hindi music to a high with tunes that tug at Indian heart strings while retaining the freshness of their music.

Speaking about the tour, Shankar Mahadevan said that their music and McDowell''s No 1 together make for perfect harmony, as both have been a timeless hit with the people and have brought cheer to people''s lives.

Mathew Xavier, business head, United Spirits Limited, said the company has used music previously as well, as a strong and effective platform to reach out to millions of its brand patrons, and attributes the brand''s strong connection with Young India to the music.

According to the company, the McDowell''s No.1 brand is amongst the fastest growing brands in the spirits category anywhere in the world. The brand''s ability to innovate and present the itself in an all-new avatar while retaining the connection with customers is cited as a critical success factor in the success of the brand.

The concert has been planned as an integral part of the brand''s future consumer engagement strategy, with a larger footprint across 20 cities in 2008. Future concerts will provide an opportunity to young Indian talent to co-perform with established artistes. The brand intends to synchronise energies with other like-minded brands sometime in the future, by making this a recurring, annual event.

The 2007 tour will kick-off in Kolkata from 12 October, and cover the cities of Hyderabad, Bangalore, Pune, Mumbai, Delhi, Ludhiana, concluding with a concert at Lucknow on 14 November. The event will be promoted through artist visits to prominent malls across these cities, branded floats at other vantage points and consumer interaction at clubs and bars.