Customer Development: Maker of Yamazaki Whiskey visited desi thekas, bars before launching in India

India is the world’s largest consumer of whiskey.

So, when the world’s third largest producer of whiskey was planning an India launch, the CEO and Chief Blender came to India. 6 times a year.
He visited pubs, bars and even thekas to lean how Indians like their whiskey.

In Japan, we have a practice called Gemba, which basically means – the real place. The idea is you go to the source to do your research and understand consumer behaviour. While online research and surveys are fine, we understand that we can truly know what consumers want only if we go on-ground and interact with them,” said Fukuy, CEO of Beam Suntory, the company behind Yamazaki Whiskey.

https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/beam-suntorys-shinji-fukuyo-who-made-japanese-yamakazi-whiskey-visited-thekas-in-india/articleshow/73079066.cms