It's all down hill Dept: Next? Bourbon...

[Capn Jimbo]

Bourbon is now well engaged on the slippery slope...


...yet another example:

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Don't panic (yet)! This was a student art/design assignment to update the bottle to appeal first to a new and younger buyer, and next to a more premium look to include "a gift box or vessel". The latter attempt (the "modern" design) drew the most attention, and was posted here:
http://www.packagingoftheworld.com/2013 ... udent.html

I simply couldn't resist commenting, particularly as the STR8-boyz were initially quite positive about this, surprisingly including Chuck Cowdery (who also defended the mislabeling and trend toward corporate sherryization of their once pure product):

Moi:
"Terrible and cheesy. It represents the takeover of spirits by a handful of mega-corporations at a time when the average bourbon drinker is facing the current economic chaos and redistribution of wealth to the 1%. In this the dollar bill ripoff is entirely appropriate. This design screams "premiumization", which has more and more meant unjustified price increases. OGD is the people's rum, but this design runs away from them to the upper classes. Same juice, but with this presentation triple the price. Flat, hard to pour, less robust bottle. Requires excessive shelf and bar space. Tosses away the value of long tradition and history. Many OGD regulars will resent this near total abandonment of the brand's hard earned image.

Typical. You'll do well. But you'll have to find a job and be saddled with student debt first."

Compare to Chuck Cowdery: "Good design, bad copywriting."! Fortunately at least a few independent actual thinkers noted the abandonment and above issues, adding that the the well known ORANGE color was gone, and that the bottle now more looked like a top shelf gin or absinthe. Right on. But I'd say the majority just fell into line and praised this pussified presentation. Appeal to "new and younger buyers"? Not at all.


What does this mean for bourbon?

The same disaster rum has already experienced. The mega-trends are now in full gear, and things will only accelerate down that same slippery slope, more now like Mount Everest. I'm serious. What proof can I offer? When a once crotchety Cowdery mellows and ignores the mislabelling pointed out by Murray, and finds no fault with the sherryization and used barrel "finishing" of their once completely pure product, well, there's trouble in River City. Compare to Rick Perry who for most of his career was seen in Western shirts and cowboy boots, but has now gotten a city haircut, European (and unneeded) rectangular black frame glasses, and tailored suits. Cowdery's left the barn and is heading east with Rick. It's no surprise he praises this "updated" made-up, modern bottle.

I am shattered. Bourbon was very, very different from rum and a truly "noble" product. No additives, no coloring, no flavoring whatever, and defined by pure aging in only charred new oak barrels. Jim Murray knows that. But bourbon's great advantage and consistent and reliable history are also its greatest vulnerability. Bourbon drinkers - unsurprisingly - have enjoyed that purity and reliability for so long (over a hundred years) that they have taken it for granted. They simply can't seem to accept that the camel's nose is now head and shoulders into their tent, that the labeling and spirit both are now being altered, and what?

They applaud their own demise!? Fooles and in Cowdery's case a crotchety old one. What a shame! I pray they will catch on, but if that happens it won't be at the STR8-boyz joint. Bourbon Enthusiasts has a better chance. My guess: fugedaboudit...




*******
Read it and weep...
"Really cool Old Grand-Dad designer label"
http://www.straightbourbon.com/forums/s ... 5595aa0633


A few more observations...


This "presentation" literally rips the people's bourbon away from them. Old Grandad is now the property of the privileged. The dollar bill rip, actually now a $114 dollar bill, tells the story. It's not your bourbon anymore, dipshit. The bottle - if you want to call it that - is now clearly ensconced and protected from the peons in it's coppery metal and fine wooden case. I'm surprised there isn't a locking device for the desperate OGD lovers who manage somehow to get past security, lol...

I'm both laughing and crying.

Don't forget what happened to Mount Gay Extra Old - THE alleged original rum, produced from 1703. Over the many years the bottle and labels evolved but always respected and promoted its 300-year history and tradition. The change to the "modern" marketeers bottle actually signalled desperation and demise.

Peter's always fabulous label and history site shows the whole history:
http://www.rum.cz/galery/cam/bb/mountgay/index.htm

[Capn Jimbo]

How many of you noticed? And what was that...


...that the first (top) picture was actually not the current iconic OGD bottle? I didn't, at least not until later. The above version was supposed to be of "evolutionary" design (rather than the ultra modern "revolutionary" version that got most of the sadly positive attention).

Here's the actual OGD bottle:

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Compared to:

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Here the designer's objective was to make a modest (evolutionary) change with an eye toward attracting new and younger drinkers of bourbon. My view, confirmed by more than one poster over at SB was that this effort was not successful for a few reasons. First, that it is doubtful that the younger drinker would even notice the "younger" grandfather (the designer's theory), much less be attracted to it. Actually the "young" grandfather is almost funny, in the sense of Halloween dress-up with a fake stache, lol.

Hint: It's "Old" Grand Dad, eh? Eh?

Second, that OGD's iconic bold orange was almost completely abandoned, which is hardly an evolutionary change. Losing the bold orange is a dramatic change that not only breaks with many years of tradition, but also makes the brand much less visible on the shelves. The "revolutionary" 1% version has not a scintilla of Old Grand-Dad's iconic orange. To me a serious marketing error, particularly for a very long established brand. OGD buyers have been trained to "look for the orange".

Further, the main event, OGD's high rye mash bill, is hidden on the back label (all the current 80 proof bottle's highlight "HIGH RYE MASH BILL" in bold caps as a front label subhead to "OLD Grand DaD".

[Winston]

I'm not sure I understand the complaint here. Honestly, that's some pretty cool packaging. Undoubtedly, if it did change that drastically, it would offend a lot of the old-school guys. But this is just a student's project, so I can't figure out what the gripe is really.

[Capn Jimbo]

FWIW there are no gripes...


...merely observations from a marketing viewpoint (my occupation for many years). What's really is at issue is not the design(s) per se - which are merely symptomatic - but the cause: the mega's (mega-corporate) near complete takeover of the market and most key brands, the blurring of both the taste and definition of the category, and the trend it represents.

Rum long ago transitioned this devolution, and bourbon is now on the same very slippery slope. Your assignment - should you choose to accept it - is to find and read Jim Murray's Whisky Bible 2014, "Bible Thumping", beginning on page 11, but specifically from the 3rd paragraph on page 13. That should help you out a bit.

Murray - nobody's fool or lapdog - also cites and critiques this destructive trend. He's got big bells and when he rings them, the world listens. I couldn't agree more with him.

[Capn Jimbo]

This is actually off-topic...


But about marketing to younger drinkers.

I can tell you that not only have spirits changed, but so has the marketing of them. It used to be that the marketing emanated from (hopefully) a good spirit or product. The task was to honestly find what made that spirit or product unique, special or worthwhile and to effectively tell that story.

Now it's just the reverse. The spirit doesn't matter. Take sherry finishing. While there is surely some quality longer aging or dual aging done with ex-sherry barrels, the latest trend is to quickly "finish" an otherwise unremarkable, already made spirit, give it a quick dunk in an ex-sherry barrel, fuzz it up, maybe even add a little actual sherry and call it "Sherry Signature". Now the product follows the clever marketing scheme.

Thus - and for minimal cost - a $35 misleadingly labelled "10 year old straight bourbon" quickly and easily is altered and repackaged as $150, super-duper premium release. What a rip! But that's what the mega's do: reduce costs while increasing profits with unending series of "exciting new products".

Spare me.

The modern design above perfectly reflects this trend. Back to younger drinkers. Some of the brands particularly popular with younger drinkers include Budweiser, Tanqueray, Jose Cuervo, Jack Daniels, Jim Beam, Bacardi, Smirnoff, Absolut and even Grey Goose. And then there's the ubiquitous Captain Morgan...

All except Morgan somehow manage to sell very well indeed using their now iconic labels and presentations that are sold to all buyers, not just the younger crowd. The point: the younger drinker buys the messege not the bottle. In fact, designing a label obviously designed for a "younger drinker" may be counter-productive (do you know why?).


But that's all changing...

Morgan being the exception (except for their "Private Stock" design). All the other bottles and labels remain true to their history and tradition. The best example:

Jack Daniels Old No 7, recognizeable from 30 feet away. Can't miss that old tyme black label. How bout Jim Beam's white label with the red seal? Or in this case Old Grand Dad's well, "old grand dad" image iconic OGD orange label. All represent great history and tradition, yet except for the OGD, are popular with youth.

The real answer here is advertising, public relations, in situ promotion and point-of-sale materials, not the damn bottle. That this was actually a design project shows the mega-monopoly now rules. Even the design students are now being indoctrinated...

[NCyankee]

I actually think that is a rather cool design, but should be used for some sort of higher priced special edition, not to add to the price of the ~$25 OGD 114, which already has a rather nice presentation with a cork stopper.



The student's design reminds me of a rustic version of the valhalla collection by Highland park.