THE ART OF DRINKING

Mixology may be an art, but there are no starving artists in the spirits world—only advertisers.

While history has seen tremendous changes in the way we consume alcohol—merlot and Moscow mules are now sold in cans—the connection we have with a spirit still likely begins with the bottle. Case in point: Moët & Chandon has barely updated the Dom Pérignon label since it became part of the company’s portfolio, perhaps because many people believe that French monk Pierre Pérignon designed the label himself for his namesake cuvée in the 17th-century and that it constitutes the first known handwritten wine label. As false as that claim may be, a 1930s ad for the champagne’s 1929 vintage showcases a label nearly identical to the 2009 vintage’s. That’s because many casual drinkers still make their booze purchases based on the aesthetics—whether familiar, rare or peculiar—of the bottles. That’s all the more true during the season of giving, when the realization that you’re heading to a holiday party giftless lands you in the fluorescent maze of your local beverage depot.

Today in the United States, drinkers are consuming more alcohol than ever before, and the industry will pull in almost $160 billion in revenue by New Year’s Eve, according to Statista. While it’s impossible to nail down the exact number of distilleries, wineries and spirits producers operating around the world, the largest distributor, Diageo, estimates shipping more than 200 million units this year. In other words, myriad options line your corner store, and spirits companies know must work diligently to impress you from a crowded shelf.

Enter the artists, designers and marketers, such as Julia Childress, who are responsible for turning your passing glance into a longterm relationship that results in cash sales. Childress is the chief marketing officer and a graphic designer for Schilling Cider, and she has the unique advantage of seeing how her designs directly impact the company’s sales. “Our branding is close to 50 percent of our overall marketing strategy,” she says. “The reason we have loyal customers is because of the liquid inside, but our ‘look’ is our biggest selling point.”

Citing Nielsen market research, Forbes reported in-store hard-cider sales grew by seven percent in 2018’s first quarter. But as Childress notes, when craft cider first hit shelves at mainstream retailers en masse around 2012, brands played it safe with clean, literal designs, riding the coattails of the leading craft beers. Apples, trees and other natural imagery—think Angry Orchard’s and Stella Artois Cidre’s packaging—were common themes. By contrast, Schilling Hard Cider cans feature a pink flamingo and a bearded lumberjack smoking a pipe, among other kitschy graphics. Designs are also nostalgic; Childress’s fondness for the Toys “R” Us mascot, Geoffrey the Giraffe, for example, inspired the use of a giraffe in outer space on the Schilling Hard Cider Excelsior can. “A good design is a combination of art and psychology,” says Childress. “It should be aesthetically pleasing while also evoking the emotions and thoughts intended by its creator.”

While Childress notes it would be easier to incorporate controversial images, it wouldn’t align with the brand’s story, and having a story behind the visual is what keeps consumers coming back for more. “The design always comes from the story of the product,”says Azar Kazimir, creative director of Berlin-based Michelberger Booze, whose psychedelic paintings are inspired by the flavor notes of the herbal liqueur bottles they adorn. “When we look at Michelberger Forest and Mountain, the nature of the drinks is reflected in the bottle design. They live in the world of old German fairy tales, so one bottle is set in a forest and the other in the mountains.”

Landing on an image that is both eyecatching and heartfelt is no easy feat. “We pay close attention to trends,” Childress explains. “When we’re creating a new label, I make three to five mock-ups that we argue about in the officeand infocus groups.We fine-tune those, then publish the variations via social media and ask for feedback.”

But brands that closely track trends can easily stumble into gimmicks. In 2011, for example, at the height of the 3-D film craze, the Kraken, a black spiced rum, released a limited-edition label that was, yes, 3-D.

The Kraken’s current label is the work of London-based Stranger & Stranger, one of many full-service agencies that grow their businesses not just on their ability to deliver clients new labels but on providing research that proves the labels will attract new customers. Stranger & Stranger — whose clients include Martini & Rossi bitters, Hangar 1 vodka, Woolf/Sung whiskeys and even Bertolli olive oil —offers services that range from organizing focus groups to building business plans. And the outfit is small, with fewer than 50 employees. “The Kraken was a great client because they had insight into a tired old brand and gave us a one-line brief: ‘Take a bite out of Captain Morgan,’ ” founder Kevin Shaw recalls. Indeed, the image of a wide-eyed mythical sea monster extending its tentacles around a Victorian-era glass jug is the antithesis of a gloating cartoon pirate.

Perhaps no beverage brand’s label has personified a lifestyle better than Sailor Jerry’s, created by the world-famous tattoo artist Norman “Sailor Jerry” Collins. Although he passed away in 1973, his legacy is preserved through the bottles of spiced rum that bear his moniker and designs. The iconic brand, though recently updated, has always focused on Collins’s home base of Oahu, with a hula girl strumming a ukulele and Sailor Jerry’s own signature perfectly printed across the label. With palm trees, the ocean and a Hawaiian island in the background, the label illustrates how alcohol can transport you far away from your current state of mind.

Steven Grasse, founder and chief executive officer of Philadelphia-based Quaker City Mercantile, is the man chiefly responsible for updating the decades-old rum into a modern lifestyle brand. “Our design philosophy is simple: We want our brands to look as though they’ve been around for years. With the designs, we’re careful not to modify Norman Collins’s artwork, because that’s what makes the brand authentic. We might design elements around it—for example, in April we placed the signature in a black medallion—but the hula girl artwork is exactly as Norman drew it.” Grasse also notes that thanks to his 20-year relationship with the Sailor Jerry brand, he’s so familiar with the designs that he and his team are able to call them from memory. “Sometimes we know exactly what we’re looking for,” he says, “and sometimes we go through the archives and find inspiration there.”

Sailor Jerry’s legacy proves that no matter the visual tactics employed, heartfelt design is just one step in a brand’s strategy of ingratiating itself with consumers. “I do think customers will buy based on label design alone,” Kazimir admits. “But if there’s nothing behind the design, no great product or authentic story, they’ll buy once and forget you. Design just gets your foot in the door. If you want your customers to keep coming back, you’d better have a great drink.”

Written by Billy Lyons in "Playboy", USA, November/December 2018,vol. 65 no. 6, excerpts pp.22-23. Digitized, adapted and illustrated to be posted by Leopoldo Costa.