Culture, tech & regulations to shape alcobev marketing by 2030

For decades, India’s alcoholic beverage (alcobev) industry moved to a familiar rhythm. The storytelling was predictable, the imagery firmly male-coded, and the communication tightly constrained by regulation. Growth came largely from volume, distribution muscle, and incremental line extensions. But as the country’s social fabric shifts, so too does the meaning of alcohol in Indian life, and with it, the way brands imagine their future.

Industry estimates suggest India’s alcohol market, already one of the world’s fastest-growing, will touch roughly INR 5,793 billion by 2030, driven not just by rising consumption but by premiumisation and a steady influx of younger legal-age consumers entering the category every year. What is changing most decisively, however, is not just how much Indians drink, but how, why, and what they expect from the brands they drink.

Industry leaders say the future of alcobev marketing will be shaped less by volume-led messaging and more by cultural relevance, experiential depth and long-term trust.

Redefining gender & cultural codes

For decades, Indian alcobev marketing leaned heavily on a narrow definition of aspiration,  authority, power and masculinity.

The ad features two men in conversation, where one enthusiastically recalls a restaurant he enjoys but struggles to remember its name, or even his wife’s. He fumbles further while trying to recall the name of a flower, which also happens to be his wife’s name. What the film ultimately does is reduce blatant sexism and a lack of emotional awareness to a punchline, normalising it as humour by suggesting that this forgetfulness and indifference are simply ‘how men are’.

That framework has steadily broken down over the last ten years, pushed by social change rather than marketing intent alone. Reflecting this shift, Magic Moments last year roped in actor Kriti Sanon as the face of the brand. The ‘Ishara Samajh Le’ campaign placed her firmly at the centre of the narrative, moving away from misogynistic humour and dated gender tropes, and signalling a more conscious departure from the industry’s earlier communication codes.

Bikram Basu, Managing Director, ABD Maestro, frames this transition as a response to deeper cultural currents rather than a top-down marketing correction. “Over the last decade, we have seen changing aspirations, increased exposure to global culture, and a more confident, values-driven younger generation, both men and women, reshape how brands communicate,” he says.

According to Basu, the increasing presence of women celebrities and creators in alco-bev campaigns is a visible outcome of this shift. But he is careful to draw a line between representation and replacement. “Importantly, this shift is not about replacing one archetype with another,” he adds, “but about broadening representation and storytelling.” In other words, the category is moving away from singular, hyper-masculine ideals towards narratives that reflect a more plural, lived reality.

This cultural change is also mirrored in consumption patterns. Premium spirits, flavoured alcohol, and cocktail-led formats, categories that traditionally see higher participation from women, are among the fastest-growing segments in urban India. As women’s participation in the workforce increases and disposable incomes rise, women are no longer peripheral consumers but active decision-makers within the alco-bev ecosystem.

For Moksh Sani, Founder of Living Liquidz and Cartel Bros, this transformation has been led squarely by the consumer, not the brand. “Younger audiences see brands as part of their everyday lifestyle, not as symbols of authority or power,” he says. As social spaces become more mixed and expressive, he argues, marketing that clings to rigid gender codes feels increasingly disconnected from reality. “Women entering the narrative—whether as creators, entrepreneurs, or cultural voices—is not just a trend but a natural shift,” Sani adds.

Looking ahead, Sani believes that these boundaries will continue to dissolve. “By 2030, strict gender codes will matter far less,” he says, pointing instead to storytelling rooted in relatability and cultural honesty. At the same time, he flags a key risk for brands navigating this transition. “The real opportunity is to tell honest, human stories,” he says. “The risk is pretending to be progressive without truly understanding or respecting the audience.”

At Goonda, Co-Founder and PR Director Karan Tacker describes the evolution as a move away from dominance-led storytelling towards emotional nuance. “We’re moving from assertion to expression,” he says, explaining how alco-bev communication is becoming less about labels and more about experience. While masculinity and femininity will continue to exist, Tacker believes they will be expressed in more fluid, contextual ways. “The opportunity for brands is to tell quieter, more human stories,” he adds, cautioning that surface-level shifts without cultural depth risk being mistaken for meaningful change.

Marketing within guardrails

Alcohol marketing in India continues to operate under strict regulatory frameworks, particularly across mass media, with direct advertising of alcoholic beverages prohibited by law. This has pushed brands to cluster around a narrow but powerful set of platforms, short-form video, influencer ecosystems, closed communities and on-ground experiences, where messaging can be more targeted and contextually relevant.

At the core of these constraints is the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Rules, which prohibit both direct and indirect promotion of alcohol on broadcast media. While surrogate advertising through non-alcoholic brand extensions has long offered a workaround, oversight has tightened in recent years. ASCI now bars visual or textual cues that allude to restricted products, while proposed CCPA guidelines seek clearer definitions and steeper penalties, extending liability to brands, celebrities and influencers.

As brands look ahead to 2030, this regulatory reality has created a paradox: fewer platforms, but higher expectations from each. 

Tacker points out that lifestyle brands are gravitating toward these spaces because they allow nuance that mass media often cannot. But that concentration comes with its own risks. “Platform rules shift, algorithms evolve, and creator behaviour isn’t always predictable,” he says. The response, according to Tacker, has been to think beyond platforms altogether. “Less emphasis on optimising for a specific channel, and more on building a recognisable point of view that can travel.”

For Sani, the challenge is not scale but stability. Short-form video and creator-led platforms offer speed and flexibility, he notes, but they also introduce volatility. 

“Creators are human, not controlled media channels,” he says, arguing that brands need to balance reach with resilience. From his perspective, the next phase of growth will depend on owned communities, physical experiences and direct consumer relationships. “Scale in the future will come from consistency and trust, not just visibility.”

Basu situates this shift firmly within the category’s regulatory context. With limited room to manoeuvre across mass media, he says brands have been forced to operate with greater discipline. 

While reliance on a narrower set of platforms does raise concerns around policies and algorithms, it has also encouraged longer-term thinking, through sustained creator partnerships, owned ecosystems and on-ground experiences. “At its core, alcohol is a social, consumption-led category rooted in shared moments and celebration,” Basu adds, pointing out that no single platform can fully contain that behaviour.

AI in Alcobev

Artificial intelligence is already reshaping how brands plan, produce and personalise marketing, and alcobev is no exception. By 2030, industry leaders expect AI to play a central role in visual storytelling, campaign ideation and audience segmentation.

Basu says AI will significantly enhance speed, scale and precision, allowing brands to create customised narratives at a fraction of traditional costs. 

In the past, the company has collaborated with virtual creator Kavya Mehra to position ZOYA Small Batch Gin, and AI influencer Kabir Manja to build the “Bold Explorers” community for Woodburns Indian Contemporary Whisky.

However, all three leaders stress that alcobev remains a deeply human category. “AI can amplify creativity and efficiency, but it cannot replicate human intuition or lived experience,” Basu says. The emotional nuances that build genuine brand connection still come from people.

Sani views AI as a support system rather than a decision-maker. He adds, “we see AI as a tool, not a replacement. Taste, cultural sensitivity, and emotional connection still come from people. The risk is that brands start to look and sound the same because they rely too much on automation.” 

Tacker says, “By 2030, AI will play a significant role in shaping how brands create and communicate, bringing greater speed, adaptability and precision to visual systems, idea exploration and audience understanding. Storytelling will likely become more modular, responsive to context and platform rather than fixed in form.” 

Expiriential for the win 

Experiential marketing has moved from being an add-on to becoming central to alcobev brand building. Festivals, nightlife collaborations, F&B partnerships and private communities now function as core media channels, especially in a category where direct advertising remains restricted.

Basu sees this shift as part of a broader move toward an experience-led economy in India. “India is clearly shifting toward an experience-led economy across music, food and beverage, lifestyle, travel, and leisure,” he says, noting that alcobev brands have often been early adopters and drivers of this change. 

Over the next five years, Basu expects experiential strategies to become more localised and customised, particularly as growth accelerates beyond metros. “In smaller markets, consumers are seeking access to premium, well-curated experiences closer to home,” he explains, adding that the focus will increasingly be on culturally relevant formats that can scale thoughtfully across Tier I, II and III cities.

Sani believes the future lies in smaller, repeatable experiences rooted in local culture. “Experiences will become more local and more personal,” he says. In smaller cities, especially, Sani notes that consumers respond more strongly to formats that mirror their own cultural rhythms, regional food, familiar music, and established social habits. 

While large-scale events will continue to play a role, he believes emotional connection will increasingly be built through “smaller, repeatable experiences that feel authentic.” Phygital formats, he adds, will help extend these moments digitally, “but the emotional connection will always start offline.”

Tacker echoes this sentiment, describing the next phase of experiential marketing as a move toward everyday rituals rather than one-off spectacles. “Experiential strategies are likely to become more intimate and locally rooted,” he says, pointing to neighbourhood gatherings, regional collaborations, and culturally native partnerships as key growth drivers in Tier II and Tier III markets. 

Digital layers, from QR-led storytelling to invite-only communities, will add continuity and memory, but not overwhelm the core experience. As Tacker puts it, “The opportunity for brands is not to import a predefined idea of culture, but to recognise, support and elevate what already exists.”

Beyond metros: Language, identity & cultural translation

As alcobev brands look beyond metro audiences for their next phase of growth, long-held assumptions around language, culture and gender are beginning to shift. 

While inclusive communication in the category has historically been shaped by urban, English-speaking sensibilities, industry leaders agree that this framework is no longer sufficient, nor accurate, for Tier II and Tier III markets.

Tacker cautions against viewing progressiveness as an urban export. “A common misconception is that progressive thinking is confined to English-speaking spaces,” he says. 

Looking toward 2030, Tacker expects cultural and gender codes to evolve in hybrid, self-assured ways, shaped as much by regional pride as by wider cultural exposure. The most frequent misstep, he notes, is treating this transition as a language exercise rather than a cultural one. When storytelling feels “imported or overly instructional,” it risks alienating rather than including local audiences.

Sani echoes this view, arguing that inclusivity cannot be retrofitted through translation alone. “Inclusivity is not about copying metro narratives,” he says, pointing out that consumers in Tier II and Tier III markets are increasingly confident in their identities. 

For brands, this means listening more closely, collaborating locally, and resisting the temptation to impose a “city lens” onto regional stories. In these markets, Sani adds, respect and cultural sensitivity matter far more than reinvention.

Basu places this shift within a broader redefinition of aspiration itself. Historically, English-speaking urban narratives were seen as aspirational, he explains, but that equation is changing. Younger consumers today are more English-conversant than earlier generations, even as regional languages gain renewed cultural and lifestyle relevance. 

By 2030, Basu expects a more fluid, hybrid expression of identity, where English and regional languages coexist naturally through formats like Hinglish and local blends. The risk for brands, he warns, lies in treating regional markets as a diluted version of metros. “Progressive storytelling doesn’t need to be translated down,” he suggests; it needs to be culturally adapted.

Looking ahead

Even as the industry grows, challenges beyond regulation are becoming more pronounced. Rising costs of market entry, state-level fragmentation, and limited avenues for differentiation make building and scaling brands increasingly complex.

Sani believes the biggest challenge of the next decade will be attention. Consumers are overwhelmed and selective, forcing brands to earn their place rather than interrupt. Tacker adds that scrutiny from culture itself — public opinion, social discourse and misinformation — will intensify. Expectations will extend beyond products to behaviour, values and the ecosystems brands choose to support.

Imagining the alcobev ecosystem of 2030 without today’s constraints reveals a shared aspiration: brands competing more openly on creativity, quality and engagement rather than structural navigation. Basu envisions a future where stronger compliance and streamlined policies allow deeper, more transparent brand–consumer relationships and richer storytelling.

By 2030, India’s alcobev industry will almost certainly be larger. But its real evolution will be measured in cultural relevance. The brands that succeed will be those that listen closely, adapt thoughtfully and engage with consumers not just as buyers, but as participants in shared cultural moments.