Inside Bisleri’s Brand Playbook: From in-house creative muscle to premium play and global expansion
With a digital-first launch for ‘#DrinkItUp 2.0’ campaign, Bisleri is sharpening its Gen Z appeal while building a premium, globally relevant hydration brand anchored in culture, innovation, and long-term strategic planning, reveals Tushar Malhotra, Director- Sales and Marketing, Bisleri International.
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As Bisleri doubles down on elevating itself from a household hydration staple to a culturally resonant, globally relevant FMCG brand, the company has just unveiled one of its most ambitious brand statements yet - #DrinkItUp 2.0.
Rolled out with a digital-first philosophy and anchored by global brand ambassador Deepika Padukone, alongside rapper Hanumankind's track 'RunItUp', the campaign signals Bisleri’s intent to speak directly to Gen Z through bold visual language, immersive storytelling, and an integrated ecosystem of IP-led assets. With a vibrant carnival-inspired world and a sharp focus on culture, music, design and premium cues, the campaign marks a significant evolution in Bisleri’s creative expression.
In this conversation, Tushar Malhotra, Director of Sales & Marketing at Bisleri International, takes us behind the making of #DrinkItUp 2.0. The campaign was conceptualised through a creative collaboration between Zero Fifty Media Works, Bisleri in-house creative team and Ace Director Uzer Khan. The celebrity and music partnerships were managed by GroupM.
He breaks down the investment behind the campaign, the ROI they’re targeting, and how the brand is stitching together limited-edition bottles, retail POSM, fleet branding, social-first content, and digital commerce into a unified marketing system.
Malhotra also discusses Bisleri’s broader roadmap: navigating intensified beverage competition, driving premiumisation in hydration, strengthening distribution, leveraging AI, and accelerating the brand’s global expansion through its partnership with Apparel Group.
Edited excerpts:
How long was the campaign in planning, and what was the core thought behind it?
Bisleri is synonymous with the packaged drinking water category in India- we’ve championed hydration for over 50 years. This campaign is a celebration of hydration in a way that feels cool, fun, and expressive.
In this category, purity and quality are table stakes for established brands. While Bisleri has always been strong on heritage, quality, and consistency, our aim now is to elevate the category from functional benefits to something consumers can express themselves through- a lifestyle statement.
We also want to deepen our connection with pop culture, build stronger relevance with Gen Z, and enhance our premium and global appeal. With our expansion plans- including our partnership with Apparel Group for the Middle East- this direction becomes even more crucial.
All of this led to the '#DrinkItUp' campaign a few years ago, when we signed Deepika Padukone as our global brand ambassador. #DrinkItUp 2.0 is bigger, richer, and far more visually immersive. It shows Deepika on a hot Mumbai day navigating traffic, grabbing a Bisleri bottle, and moving through a world full of cool, kitschy characters before reaching a Bisleri truck that transforms into a DJ console. The carnival bursts to life, everyone has a bottle, and we end with the bottle flip- something we truly own as a brand.
Our campaigns typically run for at least two years to ensure consistency.
#DrinkItUp has two major legs: the brand campaign that shapes positioning, and a large sports marketing program that is hydration-driven.
Additionally, we’re associated with around 60 sporting properties- from IPL teams and the International League T20 in Dubai to marathons in India and Dubai, DP World Tour, Indian Racing League, and WTA events like the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open.
The third pillar is concert hydration centres. From Coldplay to Travis Scott, we set up free hydration stations at major concerts. In fact, at Lollapalooza last year, Bisleri was the most consumed beverage.
So, #DrinkItUp 2.0 spans pop culture, sports, and music, and will run for at least the next two years.
Which agencies did you work with for this campaign?
For this campaign, we worked with Zero Fifty Media Works on a project basis. GroupM (Wavemaker) handled the collaboration with Deepika Padukone and the music label.
We also have a strong in-house creative team, and the campaign is really the result of a collaborative effort between the agency, the director, and our internal team.
Over the last two to three years, we’ve built a robust in-house team that handles short-form and topical content, as well as adaptations for the 250+ events we amplify digitally. For large strategic projects, we partner with external agencies after a structured pitch process. The advantage is getting to tap into diverse creative minds while keeping agility and consistency in-house.
Is this project-based agency model your standard approach?
Yes. Our in-house team manages short-form, topical, and adaptation work, while strategic, high-impact projects are assigned to external agencies through a pitch process. This hybrid model allows us to balance agility with fresh creative perspectives.
With all the disruption in adland, including consolidations, mergers, what works better: in-house or external agencies?
Both models have their merits. We have a clear 5–10 year roadmap for where we want our brands to go, backed by strong research and strategic planning.
From a creative standpoint, we want to collaborate with the best minds, whether they’re agencies or directors, to ensure our content remains engaging, entertaining, and culturally relevant.
Our in-house team currently has around eight members, and we plan to scale it further.
How do you plan to distribute this campaign?
The launch is digital-first, focused on driving consumption of the 60-second film on YouTube and Instagram.
We then transition to TV, especially during key cricket moments, to build impact and memory. Out-of-home is a big part of the plan- our iconic billboards, including a 40-foot site at IGI Airport T3, are booked for the full year. Our 2,000+ trucks also serve as moving billboards.
At retail, our 500,000 outlets will carry POS and dealer boards, and Deepika will feature on the packs.
With such extensive distribution, how have you increased ad spends?
I can’t disclose numbers, but our sales are growing in double digits, and our ad spends are aligned to that growth. Quarter-on-quarter, spends will rise naturally since we did not have a campaign in the previous quarter.
What KPIs will define the success of this campaign?
We track all standard measures: engagement, consumer funnel metrics, top-of-mind recall, equity studies, GRPs, and competition. But the bigger ambition is disruptive thought leadership. As category leaders, we want to redefine hydration by positioning water as a lifestyle expression. That’s the ultimate goal.
This is a full 360-degree campaign across all channels.
How are your various portfolios- carbonated and non-carbonated beverages, growing?
Bisleri water remains our largest contributor and continues to grow strongly. Vedica, our premium spring water, is accelerating with health-conscious consumers. We now have a dedicated sales team for it, and have launched glass bottles and a sparkling range. Our carbonated soft drinks benefit from our extensive distribution and differentiated flavour profiles. Overall, Bisleri water continues to be the biggest driver of the portfolio.
As we move into 2026, how would you sum up 2025, and what major ad trends do you foresee for 2026?
Experiential marketing has grown massively, and we had a head start, we anticipated this shift two years ago. It remains a significant competitive advantage for us.
From a creative perspective, it will be interesting to see how AI evolves. Whether AI becomes a co-pilot or takes on a bigger role over time remains to be seen, but it’s certainly reshaping how ads are conceptualised, produced, and analysed. We already use AI in creative production and in sales data modelling.
What are your retail expansion plans in India and globally?
Apparel Group is setting up manufacturing for us in the UAE, followed by expansions across other GCC countries and Africa over the next 5–7 years.
In India, we’re present across 0.5 million outlets with 6,000 distributors. General trade is our backbone, but quick commerce is growing quickly. Each SKU has its own use case—travel packs, banquet packs, e-commerce packs, and the 20L jar.
Online contributes around 5% of turnover. Water logistics limit scale, but our goal is to meet shopper needs across every channel.
Premiumisation is accelerating in hydration- from functional water to flavoured products. How does Bisleri view this opportunity?
Premiumisation has two parts:
Elevating brand imagery, which we’re achieving through #DrinkItUp and our cultural associations.
Premiumising the portfolio, where Vedica continues to show strong growth. Both dimensions will be important drivers for us, going forward.
