O-I’s Expertise in Square Glass Helps Create New Look for Hankey Bannister

The bottle design has a square profile with angular shoulders, flat front and back panels and large, recessed hand grips on both sides of the bottle.

Oct 8 2010 --- O-I has produced a new glass bottle for Hankey Bannister blended Scotch Whisky, an integral part of a drive to reposition the brand as a more upmarket proposition.

The new pack, designed by Navy Blue Design of Edinburgh, has a more premium finish than its predecessor. Karen Walker, Marketing Director, volume spirits for brand owner Inver House Distillers says, “The newly designed bottle for Hankey Bannister has many more proprietary cues that befit the brands history, heritage and personality.”

The bottle design has a square profile with angular shoulders, flat front and back panels and large, recessed hand grips on both sides of the bottle. The established year of 1757 is embossed in a cartouche like a gorget on the front panel. Labelling for the three variants (Original, 12 Year old Regency and 21 Year old Partner’s Reserve) has also been redesigned to reflect the brand’s new positioning.

Hankey Bannister is a great success in South Africa, where the redesign will help maintain sales in face of growing competition. The brand is the number 2 blended Scotch whisky in Ukraine and its new packaging has also been well received in Russia, which is a key growth market. Inver House has relaunched the brand in the US after using the redesign to help secure new distribution agreements.

O-I designers took the original concepts and created a viable range of four sizes. The 70cl bottle is the biggest seller and is made to a lightweight design using the narrow neck press and blow process. The litre, 75cl and 50cl sizes are made in proportion and to a similar shape using the traditional glassmaking process.

Scott Gibb, O-I Europe’s sales manager in Scotland says, “These are complex containers to manufacture owing to the sharply defined corners, multiple angles and long recessed panels. We undertook several samplings to get right balance of look and functionality. Our expertise was used to the full to create the impact desired by Hankey Bannister’s design and marketing team.”