Since 1860 the Alberti family has guarded the secret of an ancient recipe, handed down from father to son. It is here in Benevento that the oldest Italian liqueur, well known all over the world is produced: Liquore Strega. They also produce a more premium variant: Strega Riserva. This is a particularly valuable product, purposely aged for many years in oak vats.
Strega Alberti asked Claessens|Cartils to develop a luxury box for their Strega Riserva, which is often purchased as a gift given its high quality level and notoriety. This resulted in an elegant and valuable gift box, made of unique material with the look and feel of expensive reptile leather and an elegant scratch-resistant gloss finish and fashionable colour, finished with a golden hot-stamp. The result is a gift box with strong shelf impact and high instant appeal.
In a beautiful attempt to make the world a better place, Absolut recently launched a naked bottle. The small label containing the underlying message that it’s the inside that really matters is meant to be removed after being read.
Having invested for many years in its bottle as the true icon of its brand, Absolut is probably one of the few brands in the world being able to launch this kind of special edition: a bottle without any graphical cue to support the brand message.
However, it seems that even the Absolut bottle is not iconic enough to be truly without graphical cues, as the country-of-Sweden guarantee seal has still been preserved on the bottle’s chest.
This makes me question the power of structural design when it comes to iconisation. Taking Bacardi as an example, its graphical bat-icon has become a recognisable symbol. It expressed its power in many occasions, varying from advertising to the endorsement of line-extensions. Of course, the Absolut bottle is the absolute star in many advertising campaigns. But when it comes to other icon-qualities, the bottle is not strong enough. One can wonder how many consumers recognise the small bottle-icon on the Level presentation? In this particular case, the bottle is not supported by the graphical guarantee seal, nor by any specific 3D cue, and then what remains of the Absolut icon?
A closer look to the naked bottle in comparison with the dressed version sheds light on this matter. The absence of the Absolut logo and body text has quite some influence on the expression of the bottle. The transparency of the glass and the thin-thick structure are less/ not visible and therewith a unique structural characteristic has disappeared.
Concerning the impact of the branding, the strength of the well-known type face becomes scary obvious when it is not there. Using this font on the small front label supports brand recognition, but after removing this label, the bottle seems to become an Absolut Nobody.
Compared to structural design, a graphical brand icon is a flexible attribute well executed to do its job: creating instant brand recognition. A unique structural design supports brand identification, but even a well communicated bottle shape like Absolut’s is not powerful enough to sufficiently communicate the brand on its own.
So, looking at the naked bottle, I’m glad that this is only a temporary attempt to make the world a better place, and that Absolut has not lost sight on the necessity of utilising its holistic creative power yet!
This column by Lianne van den Berg-Weitzel was published on Popsop on November 19th 2009
English version: http://popsop.com/category/articles/lianne-van-den-berg-weitzel-claessenscartils
Russian version: http://popsop.ru/category/articles/lianne-van-den-berg-weitzel-claessenscartils
From November 11 to November 13, Bangkok will stage the TABINFO ASIA 2009 CONGRESS entitled TOBACCO: THE NEW LANDSCAPE.
Sylvia van Duyvenboode, brand consultant at Claessens Cartils Amsterdam, will contribute to this congress by giving a presentation entitled “Brand Design in a Restrictive Environment”, followed by a discussion among international renowned panelists and delegates on November 11. Furthermore, she will lead a workshop on Friday November 13 on maintaining brand identity in a restrictive environment. Delegates will be provided with insights on the backgrounds of branding and a frame of reference to reinforce brand presentations. Furthermore, tools will be demonstrated for the creation of a brand presentation that underscores a brand’s personality while complying with regulations.
For more information visit www.tabinfoasia09.com
De Kuyper launches the very first XO Cherry Brandy, making it the finest Cherry Brandy in the world. Claessens|Cartils’ design was inspired by the original art deco style of De Kuyper’s Cherry Brandy bottle produced in the 1920’s.
Only a small batch of this very rare Cherry Brandy has been produced and is available at duty free and at Harvey Nichols in London, the famous international luxury lifestyle store.The bottle is presented in a two piece gift box, also developed by the agency.
On October 1st SAB Miller festively introduced the new look of Castle Lite. This brand holds a No.1 position in the South African premium beer segment.
Claessens Cartils developed an evolutionary redesign with the main challenge to increase the premium feel and to position Castle Lite more independently from its mother brand Castle Lager.
The new packaging underlines the new brand positioning of COLD REFRESHMENT, especially by means of a snow-castle symbol which changes colour when the perfect drinking temperature is reached.
To underline the new look and feel, Claessens Cartils also created the LITE brand device which is now being used as the main communication tool during introduction.
On behalf of Cartils London, Christiaan Huynen joined editor of magazine The Spirits Business Patience Gould, International Beverages Regional sales director Rajiv Bhatia, and master distiller and managing director of Zuidam Distillers Patrick Van Zuidam, to judge the 2009 Travel Retail Masters Awards.
All entries, consisting of Rums, Cognacs, Scotch Whiskys, Armagnacs, Liqueurs, and Vodkas were judged in two separate categories. The spirits could win Master awards not only for the detail and precision put in their packaging design but also for their quality and smoothness in taste.
The reward of seven Master, sixteen Gold and no Silver awards in the taste category underlines the excellence in quality the entries had to offer this year. The Macallan 1824 Collection was at the for-front by receiving a Master and two Golds.
However, the big winner of the day was the cognac Dupuy XO Tentation that prevailed in the Design & Packaging category by winning the only Master award. The judges praised in particular the meticulous attention to detail that was used, such as the cap which fitted with exact precision – only one twist was needed. The Macallan 1824 Collection was also praised for its outstanding designs and was awarded a Gold and two Silvers.
Download the PDF for the article as published in The Spirits Business.
Viceroy is a leading international brand within the 
British American Tobacco portfolio, selling in over 40 countries with Poland as one of its key markets.
As Poland has a large market for Super Slim cigarettes, British American Tobacco sees opportunities to successfully extend the Viceroy range with a new Super Slim variant. ClaessensCartils was challenged to develop a brand presentation which was in line with Viceroy King Size, yet noticeably underlining the product intrinsic differences. As a result, the new Viceroy Super Slim brand presentation has become a modern, strong, dynamic design, showing a unique face while safeguarding family resemblance.
New York, formerly known as New Amsterdam, celebrates 400 years-anniversaries
Different activities are planned to celebrate that 400 years ago explorer Henry Hudson established a settlement in Manhatta (Manhattan). His ship, the Halve Maen (the Half Moon), left the harbour of Amsterdam a couple of months earlier to find a short-cut to South-East Asia.
On Friday September 4th, the New Amsterdam Village was opened in central New York. Until September 14th, this is the place where tradition and innovation in agrarian production and trade play key roles. The Dutch village consists of a windmill and twelve traditional canal side houses with shops that offer typical Dutch products. From production of wooden shoes and glassblowing, to ‘poffertjes’ (tiny pancakes), flowers, bulbs, and of course cheese! Obviously, Old Amsterdam (see New Old Amsterdam, posted January 6th, 1996) was present.
On September 4th, the Dutch ambassador in the United States, Renee Jones-Bos, and Commissoner Adrian Benepe cut the first Old Amsterdam / New Amsterdam cheese and therewith opened the New Amsterdam Village.
http://oldamsterdam.nl/nieuws_detail/opening_new_amsterdam_village/
New striking bottle and label design for Tyan Shan
Leading brewery Efes Kazakhstan launches the revolutionary redesign of Tyan Shan lager. This remarkable brand presentation by Claessens|Cartils underlines the new invigorating positioning.
The new design centralises the Tyan Shan mountain scenery. Both the strong glass embossment and the label die cut emphasise this theme. The bottle in itself shows pride by its clearly present shoulders, and refreshment through its transparent green colour. The amount of white in the label, combined with the brand colour blue, supports the latter even more. The brand impact is strongly increased by adapting the logo shape and contrast.
Zlatopramen is a non-traditional Czech beer with perfect quality and taste. It is the most important brand in de Drinks Union (Heineken Czech Republic) portfolio and a well-known brand in the Czech Republic as well as in international markets.
In 2007 Claessens|Cartils developed new labels for the Zlatopramen range. Focus in this process was on making the presentation more modern, while preserving the expression of traditional roots, and on reinforcing the impact of the logo. This redesign was enthusiastically received by consumers and is doing very well. Following the success of the new brand presentation, in 2009 Drinks Union decided to additionally introduce a 1,5L PET bottle. Claessens|Cartils from Amsterdam developed the label for this new SKU in line with the existing Zlatopramen range. The new 1,5L PET bottle was recently introduced on the Czech market.
