Great New Packaging and Bottle Design for Baileys® Created by Landor Associates

Diageo has unveiled a stylish and contemporary new look for its fastest growing global priority brand, Baileys®. Landor Associates, the world’s leading branding and design consultancy, has created an eye-catching and dynamic new bottle, package and brand identity design, with a modern yet classic twist, to reflect the increasingly informal lifestyle trend of today’s Baileys® consumers, who are enjoying its great taste in more ways and more often than ever before. Already one of the few premium spirits brands in the world to be still growing in double digit figures, the new packaging is expected to be the cornerstone of what is proving to be a huge year for the brand with the launch of new global advertising in March. Sales that currently stand at over 74 million bottles are expected to soar towards 120 million bottles by 2007. The new bottles will start to appear in pubs, clubs and off license shelves here from July 2004 and its introduction is being reinforced by an extensive, high profile consumer and trade communication programme to support global roll-out around the world. Commenting on its launch, Donogh Lane, the Dublin-based Baileys® Marketing Director in charge of the project globally said: "Baileys® has come a long way from its origins as an ‘after-dinner’ drink. With the phenomenal success of our global advertising and over-ice campaigns, more and more people are enjoying Baileys® as part of their modern, everyday lives, not just on special occasions or traditional get-togethers. As the brand becomes more popular and accessible outside those traditional settings, helped by new formats such as Baileys Minis® and more recently Baileys Glide® in Great Britain, we wanted new packaging to reflect that appeal. With three consecutive years of double-digit growth behind us it will put fresh momentum behind the next phase of growth." Baileys® sought the help of many consumers from different parts of the world to create the new look by conducting a comprehensive research programme at every stage of the project. The result is a more fluid design that they say has a modern, stylish feel yet still retains all the classic authenticity of Baileys® stature and heritage. They think it stands out more on the shelf and they say that the look makes them even more interested in consuming the brand on more occasions. Landor Associates, also responsible for the new Smirnoff packaging and bottle design, was chosen to help develop the new look. Their transatlantic network of offices, particularly in London and New York, collaborated to capture a truly global image. Christian Schroeder, Client Director for Landor, said: "Iconic and successful brands such as Baileys® manage to stay relevant to changing lifestyles by continually investing in the development of the brand; yet at the same time, remaining true to their core values. A relatively young brand, its rise up the ranks to sit amongst global premium drinks giants such as Smirnoff and Johnnie Walker has been nothing short of breathtaking." The new Baileys® packaging incorporates some of the strongest equities of the former design, interpreted in a more dynamic and modern way: A more curvaceous bottle design is topped by a new cap design with the familiar R&A Bailey signature of authenticity. A more contemporary expression of the embossed bottle seal draws its inspiration from two sources. Firstly from the ancient art of Irish craftsmen, scribes and jewellery-makers and secondly from the mingling of ice and liquid that takes place in the glass to form a swirl pattern. The eye-catching logo has been given more prominence whilst its Celtic weave background pays homage to the brand’s Irish roots. The introduction of a flowing "silks" motif replaces the traditional landscape scene offering a more contemporary expression of the brand’s heritage and captures the warm amd sensuous fluidity of the Baileys® liquid inside. They represent the Irish cream and whiskey coming together in a unique combination. With the launch of an exciting new global advertising campaign in March, the new packaging can only add to the world’s growing attraction for a brand that’s in great shape and never looked so good.