Spirited redesign for Baileys

Diageo’s popular Baileys Irish Cream receives a dramatic new consumer-driven look. It needed to be contemporary, engaging, and stand out on the shelf,” explained Diageo brand director Barry Sheridan, speaking at the Market Research for Package Design conference. Sponsored by the Institute for International Research, the conference was held last fall.

Diageo’s popular Baileys Irish Cream receives a dramatic new consumer-driven look. It needed to be contemporary, engaging, and stand out on the shelf,” explained Diageo brand director Barry Sheridan, speaking at the Market Research for Package Design conference. Sponsored by the Institute for International Research, the conference was held last fall. “However, we needed to maintain the brand’s authenticity, heritage, and quality.” Months of internal and consumer testing conducted on three continents revealed “significant” design-related issues, centering on the fact that the brand was perceived as old-fashioned. Diageo felt that the original bottle shape, which was portly, was viewed as stodgy, and that the label appeared cluttered and “fussy.” Landor Associates was chosen to develop the new design. Key changes in design were the following: • A slender, more curvaceous bottle design topped by a new cap design that carries the familiar R.A. Bailey signature of authenticity. • A more contemporary embossed bottle seal adorns the bottle. • The eye-catching logo has been given more prominence and the Celtic weave background pay’s homage to the brand’s Irish roots. • New “flowing silk” motifs replace the traditional landscape scene to offer a contemporary expression of the brand’s heritage and capture the warm sensuality of the product. Diageo unveiled the stylish, contemporary new look in spring 2004 in the United Kingdom, and rollout continues globally. Bailey’s managers did not consider a test market because of the thoroughness of their prelaunch testing. Some elements remained untouchable, such as the eyebrow logo, the words “original Irish cream,” and the R.A. Bailey signature. Sheridan said that of all the elements that were changed, the toughest to let go of was the landscape imagery. Unfortunately, with the debut of other Irish creams on store shelves, that imagery had become clichéd, he says. “Others came in and made our current design generic to the category,” said Sheridan.