Why experiences became AlcoBev’s most valuable media in 2025

For the alcoholic beverages industry, 2025 was a year where consumption patterns continued to evolve, and global beverage alcohol volumes trended unevenly, prompting brands to rethink how they engaged with consumers. 

The year began with clear signs that traditional volume-led growth was under strain in many developed markets. Mid-year industry data revealed that total beverage alcohol (TBA) volumes declined by about 1% in the first half of 2025 across 20 key markets, even as value held relatively steady, highlighting rising premiumisation and changing consumption patterns. 

During Q1, categories such as beer and wine experienced softer demand in developed regions, with beer volumes down and wine slipping by around 5% in H1, according to  industry research firm, IWSR’s data. Meanwhile, consumer behaviour data pointed to moderation as a broad trend, with light and occasional drinking becoming a dominant mode in markets such as the UK and parts of Europe, consistent with external consumption research showing record low average intake and a shift toward premium choices.

By June 2025, emerging markets began to play a more visible role in the global alco-bev narrative. Data from IWSR showed that India recorded the highest growth in total beverage alcohol consumption among 20 major global markets for the third consecutive half-year, with TBA volume rising around 7% year-on-year during January-June 2025, reaching over 440 million 9-litre cases. 

Within this, Indian whisky, the dominant spirit category, also grew by approximately 7%, while vodka volumes rose by about 10%, and premium-and-above segments expanded around 8%, indicating that growth was value-led. 

This divergence, with India outpacing many mature markets, influenced marketing priorities. For many brands operating in multiple markets, India became a focus area for innovation, premium offerings and culturally anchored experiences. 

The first half of the year also saw continued interest in ready-to-drink (RTD) beverages and premium spirits globally, with RTDs gaining share in several markets and reflecting consumer preference for convenience and novel formats. 

IWSR’s outlook also noted that India is projected to become the fifth-largest alcohol market globally by volume within the next decade.

These early signals shaped how brands approached marketing. With media costs rising and digital environments increasingly cluttered, marketers began reassessing the effectiveness of reach-led strategies. 

From reach to relevance

Brands across categories began to question digital reach for reach’s sake, and leaned into engagement over impressions.

For Simba Beer & ZigZag Vodka, From a marketing standpoint, 2025 was about becoming far more deliberate with where and how we invested. 

Ishwaraj Singh Bhatia, Co-founder, Simba Beer & ZigZag Vodka, said, “The biggest shift was moving away from high-frequency, reach-led digital spends towards creating fewer, more meaningful brand interactions. As digital clutter intensified, scale alone stopped delivering proportional gains in recall or consideration.”

“What consistently performed better were culture-led, participatory formats moments where consumers chose to engage with the brand rather than being passively exposed to it,” he added.

For Simba Beer and ZigZag Vodka, this meant prioritising cultural and participatory moments over mass messaging. Initiatives such as First Time with Simba and the Simba Wagwan cultural property were brand ecosystems, inviting consumers to co-create meaningfully with the brand. Limited-edition collaborations such as Rolling Mills: Los Pablos were designed to spark conversation and desire without drowning in media noise.

Simba Beer’s ‘Simba Uproar’ is an experience-led intellectual property that began with a unique online music experience across offbeat locations with artists, expanded to an on-ground experiential property.

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Bhatia noted that this focus on depth over breadth yielded measurably higher engagement and memorability.

Industry data supports this pivot. Rising digital costs and diminishing marginal returns on impressions pushed marketers to experiment with live activations, collaborations and premium on-trade experiences, as highlighted in 2025 trend analysis, which highlighted engagement as key theme amid broader moderation and category shifts. 

Where brands met people

By mid-2025, it became clear that for many legacy beer and spirits brands, the product alone was no longer enough. As consumption occasions narrowed and attention fragmented, consumers were choosing experiences over exposure, spending their time and money on live music, food-led festivals, and cultural gatherings that offered social currency as much as entertainment. For alco-bev marketers, the challenge was not just to be present in these spaces, but to earn attention within them.

Brown Forman India leaned into this realisation.

“The single biggest shift in our marketing plans in 2025 was to focus on experiential 3rd space events/activations to engage with consumers, build affinity with them and recruit into our brands. Consumers today are spending more than ever time and money on 3rd space experiences whether music concerts or food & cultural festivals such. Therefore, we have to connect with them where they are,” said Vinay Joshi, Marketing Director, Brown Forman India.

Joshi described how premium spirits portfolios, from Jack Daniel’s Family of Brands, Woodford Reserve Whiskey, Glendronach Single Malt, Gin Mare Mediterranean Gin and Diplomatico Rum, found traction via immersive live moments that fused music, culture, food and community. These platforms served to capture attention and build affinity, recruiting consumers into ongoing brand stories.

A similar philosophy shaped AB InBev India’s approach with Budweiser, particularly in music, a space the brand has invested in consistently over the years.

“A space that has really taken off is international music. That scene has exploded over the last two to three years, though we’ve actually been present in this space for nearly a decade,” said Vineet Sharma, Vice President- Marketing & Trade Marketing, AB InBev India.

Sharma pointed to strong consumer insights driving this focus, noting that Budweiser’s young consumers demonstrate deep affinity toward specific forms of sport and music. As a result, the brand has committed to long-term partnerships across both international IPs and homegrown festivals, rather than short-term sponsorship bursts.

“People are spending a lot of their quality time at Lollapalooza, at Boiler Room, or watching a cricket match. They’re giving us their time and attention. It’s then up to us as a brand to earn that attention,” Sharma added.

For Brown Forman, this emphasis on experience also reflected a broader shift in consumer expectations.

“Consumers are looking for enriching, exciting new experiences as experience becomes the new currency,” Joshi said, adding that this mindset has kept the brand agile as it plans for 2026 and beyond.

In a year marked by digital saturation and rising CPMs, such physical and hybrid engagements offered something traditional media increasingly struggled to deliver, memory, meaning, and social resonance. 

Both Brown Forman and AB InBev acknowledged that a substantial portion of their marketing investments in 2025 flowed into on-trade activations and third-space events, including music concerts and food festivals.

Against a backdrop of cost pressures and economic headwinds, these choices reflected a wider industry recalibration: optimising spend by showing up where consumers were already meaningfully engaged, rather than trying to chase attention across increasingly crowded digital feeds.

Winning with culture and credibility

The final phase of the year was marked by consolidation and refinement of experience-led strategies. Brands doubled down on formats that offered participation, credibility and cultural relevance.

For some players, heritage and authenticity became central to engagement.

“2025 marked a pivotal shift for the AlcoBev industry, from chasing visibility to earning credibility. Consumers became far more intentional, gravitating towards brands with authenticity, provenance, and a story they could truly believe in,” said Sharad Tibarewala, Brand Owner, MCKT Beverages Pvt. Ltd.

For Tibarewala’s brand, Khukri Rum, this meant grounding storytelling in cultural roots, particularly leveraging heritage and community to build deeper, more memorable connections with consumers.

These shifts were not unique to one brand or market. Broad data from trend reports shows that premium segments continued to outperform base categories toward the end of 2025, even as global volume growth remained constrained, indicating that consumers were trading up and seeking experiences over price-driven purchases. 

How 2026 is shaping up

As 2025 concludes, the industry’s strategic focus is clear that experience and engagement over scale and reach. The shift is reflected not only in marketing tactics but also in resource allocation and long-term planning.

For 2026, most industry leaders we spoke to emphasised sustained investment in deeper brand interactions. The year promises to deepen the themes of meaningful engagement, consumer obsession and cultural authenticity.

“Our single biggest marketing resolution for 2026 is to focus on building fewer campaigns but stronger brands,” said Bhatia, underscoring the priority of brand equity over momentary reach.

Joshi added that in 2026, Brown Forman will aim to become “even more consumer obsessed” to understand evolving palates and preferences.

Tibarewala‘s focus will be on micro-communities and co-creation, ensuring authentic voices shape the next wave of premiumisation and engagement.

In hindsight, 2025 was the year the alcobev industry recalibrated its compass, shifting from volume-led metrics to engagement-led outcomes, from visibility to authentic relevance, and from scattershot campaigns to purposeful cultural resonance.

If 2025 taught the industry anything, it’s that consumers don’t remember advertisements, they remember experiences, emotions, and stories that resonate. And in 2026, that is where the game truly begins.