Comprehensive SWOT Analysis of Royal Stag – An Iconic Indian Scotch Whiskey Brand

Updated on: Dec 2, 2021

  Hey there!

My name is Aditya Shastri and I have written this case study with the help of my students from IIDE's online digital marketing courses in India.

Practical assignments, case studies & simulations from Harvard Business Review helped the students from this course present this analysis.

Building on this practical approach, we are now introducing a new dimension for our online digital marketing course learners - the Campus Immersion Experience.

If you find this case study helpful, consider leaving a comment below.

After exploring the Royal Stag’s royal advertising campaign last time, we are back with an in-depth and elaborated SWOT Analysis of Royal Stag.

Seagram’s Royal Stag is regarded as one of the world’s most popular Indian alcohol brands. It’s really popular among the upper-middle class aged 25-40 years. It is Pernod Richard’s best-selling brand by volume. Royal Stag mixture of grain spirits and imported Scotch malts. 

Hearing the words “Royal Stag” a slogan might pop up in your head, right?” It’s your life, make it large”, in a nation full of cricket enthusiasts and Bollywood lovers Royal Stag’s surrogate marketing techniques have truly been a benchmark.

Royal Stag’s marketing strategies helped the rise in the liquor industry and digital marketing strategies played a big role in the marketing strategies of Royal Stag. In response to current consumer trends and interests, marketing develops. If you want to learn more about today’s effective marketing, attend our Free MasterClass on Digital Marketing 101, led by the Founder and CEO of IIDE, Karan Shah. 

Before we dive into the SWOT Analysis of Royal Stag, let’s take a look at the company, its history, finances, products, and opponents.

Digital Marketing Academic Challenge 2024 - DMAC

About Royal Stag

SWOT Analysis of Royal Stag - Seagram’s Royal Stag
(Seagram’s Royal Stag, Source: Hype Auditor)

Seagram’s royal stag was launched in 1995. The brand redefined the spirits space by not using molasses but choosing instead to engineer grain spirit blended with Scotch malts. It is named after a deer species known for huge antlers. It is the first whisky brand launched in India which did not use any artificial flavour. 

Pernod Richard and Diageo in December 2000 bought Royal Stag from its parent organization Seagram. Seagram’s business was later split up by the companies by the framework announced earlier.

As it is illegal to advertise alcoholic beverages in India due to certain laws. Surrogate marketing is used by the alcoholic brand to circumvent the ban. Royal Stag uses three main themes – Royal Stag mega cricket, Royal Stag mega music, Royal Stag mega movie to promote the brand among the youth of India.

 

Quick Stats on Royal Stag
Founder Pernod Ricard
Year Founded 1995
Origin India
No. of Employees N/A
Company Type Private
Market Cap N/A
Annual Revenue N/A
Net Income/ Profit N/A

 

Products of Royal Stag

SWOT Analysis of Royal Stag - Royal Stag’s Marketing Campaign for its Packaged Drinking Water
(Royal Stag’s Marketing Campaign for its Packaged Drinking Water, Source: IIDE) 

  • Packaged Drinking Water
  • Royal Challenge
  • Seagram’s Imperial Blue
  • Seagram’s Blenders Pride
  • Chivas Regal
  • Seagram’s 100 Pipers


Competitors of Royal Stag

Royal Stag competes in the Deluxe segment of the Indian whiskey market. It is priced in a way to target the upper-middle class aged 25-40 years. It faces fierce competition from a host of other products. Here are the top 5 competitors from whom Royal Stag face intense competition.

  • United Spirits LTD’s McDowell’s No.1 whiskey
  • Radico Khaitan’s 8 PM Royale
  • Mason & Summer’s “Royal Crown”
  • United Spirits LTD’s Royal Mist whiskey
  • ABD’s Officer’s Choice Black

After understanding the core of the company, let us now proceed to the SWOT analysis of Royal Stag. 


SWOT Analysis of Royal Stag

The main function of a thorough SWOT analysis of Royal Stag is to determine a company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. It Is a tried-and-true management paradigm that permits Royal Stag to match the business and performance to competitors and therefore the industry as an entire. 

A SWOT Analysis is a very popular tool among modern-day managers, competent managers regularly employ this ”management boon” to analyze their company’s current position and to find out what more the company could do to perform and function better in the market.

To better understand the SWOT analysis of Royal Stag, refer to the infographic below:

SWOT Analysis of Royal Stag - SWOT Infographics of Royal Stag

Let’s proceed further with expanding on the strengths of Royal Stag from the SWOT analysis of Royal Stag.

Strengths of Royal Stag

The strengths of an organization are the unique attributes that give it an edge in capturing more market share, maximizing profit, attracting more customers while also establishing a strong foot in the market. Following are Royal Stag’s strengths:

  • Brand Loyalty: The shape and the name of Royal Stag are easily recognized by almost everyone who has a thing for whiskies.
  • Customer Base: It was the first brand that did not use any artificial flavours which carved out a new and unique customer base for itself.
  • Popularity: One of the most popular whiskey brands of India. People prefer a top-notch drinking experience which is the forte of Royal stag.
  • Packaging: The rectangular shape and a dominantly positioned gold two-tone illustration of the stag is a part of its logo that makes it stand out from the competition.
  • Advertisement: Royal Stag has a high brand recall because of its advertisements. Saif Ali Khan, Ranveer Singh, and Rohit Sharma are among the famous ambassadors of Royal stag. Royal Stag is also popular on various social media platforms with thousands of followers.

A Must Visit: If you are someone who is 25 years old or over, then you must visit the Instagram profile of Royal Stag to see how creatively the advertising films, creatives are constantly promoted on the brand’s social media. If you want to learn ad designing & social media marketing techniques then IIDE offers several short term courses in digital marketing for the same. Do visit to learn more about it. 


Weaknesses of Royal Stag

These are the places where an organization has to improve. Royal stag major flaws are:

  • Brand Switching: As the income of people increases in the developing economy they tend to move to a more premium whiskey. This leads to the switching of brands.
  • Limited Production: Due to the limited production of alcohol, an increase in sales is hampered.
  • Fluctuations: With more companies entering the arena the competition is increasing and it may lead to price fall. Also hurting the market share of Royal Stag.
  • Competition from Foreign Brands: With the new alcohol companies entering the Indian market it may lead to a decrease in sales of Indian whiskey.


Opportunities for Royal Stag

These are the potential areas of focus for an organization. This area helps the company to devise an action plan or to plan a sustainable growth strategy.

  • Legacy: Royal Stag is relatively a new brand. With its unique taste and blend, it can carve out a story in the books of history for itself.
  • Policies Regulations: If sometime in the future there is an increase in excise duty of beer it will lead to a hike in sales of whiskey.
  • Foreign Markets: Though Royal Stag is already present in other markets apart from India it can always look for new markets and increase its footprint.
  • The rise in Disposable Income: With the increase in income many people who used to buy an inferior quality of whiskey may now look to buy a more premium one Royal Stag.
  • Social Media Campaigns: Social media campaigns are nowadays used by almost everyone in India. Royal stag can start huge campaigns to promote itself.


Threats to Royal Stag

Some factors may hamper the growth of Royal stag in the future. Threats for royal are:

  • Other Alcoholic Drinks: Any decrease in the price of a beer or any other alcoholic drink can directly impact the sales of whiskey.
  • Government Rules: The increase of taxes on alcoholic beverages may lead to an increase in prices and result in a decrease in sales.
  • Health Concerns: With the growing awareness of the adverse effects of alcohol on the human body many state governments have started to declare themselves as a “dry state”. This hampers the growth and the sales of the company.
  • Cannibalization: Pernod Richard has many brands in similar product and price categories which may lead to the cannibalization of one sale by another.
  • Political Instability: There is a lot of political instability nowadays which threatens the environment needed for business growth.

This ends our comprehensive SWOT analysis of Royal Stag. Let us conclude our learning below.

Digital Marketing Academic Challenge 2024 - DMAC

To Conclude

Royal Stag is an established brand of Indian whiskey. In SWOT analysis of Royal Stag, we saw that the brand enjoys popularity among the youths, a loyal customer base, and thanks to its strong advertising & famous ambassadors make it always remains in the mind of potential customers.

However, it suffers from brand switching and limited production. Increasing competition from foreign as well as the new Indian manufacturers, Royal Stag is constantly stepping up its marketing strategies.

The new battleground for Royal stag is the internet where they must step up their social media campaigns. Digital marketing is a go-to skill that every individual should possess in this modern-age marketplace. Interested in upskilling and starting your digital marketing journey with a boost? Check out IIDE’s 3 Month Advanced Online Digital Marketing Course to give a head start to your career.

We hope this blog on the SWOT analysis of Royal Stag has given you a good insight into the company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. You can also read our profound study on the SWOT analysis of McDowell’s.

If you enjoy in-depth company research just like the SWOT analysis of Royal Stag, check out our IIDE Knowledge portal for more fascinating case studies.

Thank you for investing your valuable time to read this, and do share your thoughts on this case study of the SWOT analysis of Royal Stag in the comments section below.

Share post via

Aditya Shastri

Lead Trainer & Head of Learning & Development at IIDE

Leads the Learning & Development segment at IIDE. He is a Content Marketing Expert and has trained 6000+ students and working professionals on various topics of Digital Marketing. He has been a guest speaker at prominent colleges in India including IIMs......[Read full bio]

0 Comments

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Related Posts