The Rise of Bira 91 in India’s Beer Industry

Q: What is Bira 91’s brand strategy?

Bira 91 positions itself as a playful, creative lifestyle brand for urban youth. It avoids slick mainstream ads and instead focuses on engaging cultural experiences (music, art, comedy) that reflect its “bold, fresh, playful and fun” personality.

Q: How does Bira 91 use influencers?

Bira 91 partners with influencers in music, art, and comedy who resonate with young audiences. It curates playlists on music apps, runs social campaigns (e.g. meme contests), and works with bar and club promoters to feature the brand. These influencers organically promote Bira by sharing events and branded content with their followers.

Q: Which artists and celebrities has Bira 91 worked with?

Bira 91 has collaborated with many indie and international talents. Examples include UK rapper Lady Leshurr, Indian rappers Divine and Prabh Deep, singer-songwriter Raja Kumari, and veteran singer Usha Uthup. These partnerships feel more community-driven.

Q: Where can I get popular artists for promoting my business?

Whether it’s an influencer, rapper, comedian, or even a cricketer, we’ll help you find the perfect match for your brand. Just fill out the form above, and our team will reach out to you soon. Let’s create something fun, fresh, and unforgettable together, just like Bira 91 does with every event!

Q: How do events fit into Bira 91’s marketing?

Bira 91 appears at and sponsors many music, food and lifestyle events to engage customers directly. By hosting its own festivals (like April Fools’ Fest) and partnering with existing ones (NH7 Weekender, Magnetic Fields, Global Citizen), the brand creates memorable experiences. These appearances let people taste the beer in a fun context and spread the word on social media.

Q: Why is Bira 91 considered “cool” by millennials?

Because the brand actively lives in the same spirit millennials do. Its marketing is fresh, embracing memes and street art; its ads feature diverse, modern imagery. Bira 91 also supports causes that matter to young people (like supporting women DJs at its festivals). All this makes the brand relatable and “of the tribe”, which is the essence of its urban-cool image.

What is Bira 91?

Bira 91 is India’s leading craft beer brand, brewed by B9 Beverages. It offers five main varieties (White, Blonde, Light, Strong, and an IPA) formulated to suit Indian tastes (spices, wheat, and tropical aromas). At launch, Bira was brewed in a Belgian contract brewery with global ingredients and then later moved production to India. Its positioning was always premium yet accessible, targeting young city consumers.

By mid-2024 Bira 91 had grown impressively. It ranks #1 among 60 craft beer competitors in India. The company raised hundreds of millions in funding and its valuation was about Rs. 4,370 crore as of July 2024 (as per the reports by Tracxn). In FY2023 it logged roughly Rs. 849 crore in revenue. (That’s about $100 million.) All these figures, strong sales and backing by investors like Sequoia and Kirin show how much Bira 91 has expanded in just a few years.

Pop Culture & Music Collaborations

Bira 91 Hot Stuff

Instead of traditional mass-market ads, Bira 91 aligned itself with youth subcultures. The brand embraced indie music and hip-hop as a way to stay cool and relevant. For example, in 2017 Bira 91 launched Bira 91 Hot Stuff, an eight-episode web travel documentary exploring India’s spiciest chillies and snacks with the food and travel influencers Rocky Singh and Mayur Sharma. It also partnered with Saavn (now JioSaavn) to create a dedicated Bira 91 Hip-Hop music channel. These projects tied the brand to India’s emerging rap and hip-hop community.

FreeFlow

Building on that, Bira 91 created the FreeFlow programme in 2018, a concert series that brought international hip-hop acts to India. The very first FreeFlow tour featured British rapper Lady Leshurr and Delhi MC Prabh Deep in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore. This gave Indian fans access to global talent while putting local artists on the same stage.

As Bira’s events head Rohit Pillai explained, the goal was to “grow the hip-hop community in India” and to share resources (studio time, show funding) with artists. FreeFlow also sponsored a special stage (“FreeFlow Garden”) at the Magnetic Fields electronic music festival, highlighting hip-hop acts. Through these music ventures, Bira positioned itself as a friend of the urban music scene: bold, youthful, and fun.

NH7 Weekender’s 15th Edition

Bira 91 also sponsors major multi-genre music festivals. In 2024 it was the official beer partner for NH7 Weekender’s 15th edition in Pune. This was historic, the first time that long-running festival added a dedicated beer partner. Bira 91 showcased beers like its Summer Lager and White Citrus brew on-site. The festival lineup included international stars like Jorja Smith and DJ Craze, alongside Indian legends like Usha Uthup and Amit Trivedi. By sponsoring stages at NH7, Bira 91 not only sold beer but also associated itself with cutting-edge music culture.

Bira 91’s April Fools’ Fest

Live events have been a huge part of Bira 91’s strategy. The brand often appears at music, comedy and cultural festivals to meet customers face-to-face. One standout is April Fools’ Fest, first held in Delhi around 2019. This 2-day festival featured a hip-hop/main stage and a separate comedy arena.

Artists on the music stage included Prabh Deep, Raja Kumari and Naezy (big names in India’s rap scene) as well as DJs like DJ Ishani and Mocity. On the comedy side, the lineup included popular Indian comics like Kunal Kamra, Sejal Bhat, Rohan Joshi, Rahul Dua, and more. By mixing music, comedy, art and theatre, April Fools Fest embodied the brand’s “playful” ethos and drew crowds of young adults.

More Events

Other events include craft beer festivals, stand-up comedy tours, and tie-ups with sports (for example, Bira 91 promoted itself at events like the IPL through legal surrogate ads). Even in 2018, Bira took over the United Nations HQ bar in New York as “Beer of the Month”. Each festival sponsorship and pop-up event gave Bira huge social media exposure and helped it stay embedded in the public eye. These events, from local street fests to international conferences, reinforce the brand’s image as part of a global creative scene.

Unique Campaigns & Takeaways

Bira 91’s portfolio of creative marketing pushes its urban vibe:

Bira 91 Hot Stuff: A spicy travel show, plus a series of web videos, showing how the brand isn’t afraid to get unconventional.
Hip-Hop Saavn Channel: A branded music channel on Saavn streaming service, reinforcing the brand’s association with new music culture.
April Fools’ Fest: A self-produced festival blending multiple art forms.
FreeFlow Tours: Sponsoring international artists on India tours, bringing global culture home.

These examples show Bira 91’s consistent theme: Create experiences, not just ads. Each event or partnership becomes a story people share online. Instead of standard traditional advertising with popular stars, Bira uses celebrity attendance, getting known artists to perform or speak at events. Their involvement (being visible at gigs, festivals, and even bars) means that wherever young people socialise, Bira is part of the conversation.

For other businesses, Bira 91’s playbook is clear: immerse your brand in the culture of your audience. Host cool events, collaborate with niche influencers, and build your own content that people will talk about.

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