Blenders Pride: Preservation & Rejuvenation

Established & Significant

Blenders Pride is a blend of Scotch malts and Indian grain spirits. Originally launched in 1995 by Seagram, the brand became part of Pernod Ricard India’s (PRI) portfolio when Seagram’s Indian operation was sold to Pernod Ricard in 2001. The brand appeared at number six in The Spirits Business’s list of the top ten best-selling Indian whiskies in 2022, with the brand adding 1.5 million case sales in 2022, up 18.7% on 2021.

Twin Objectives

The project had two core objectives. First to attract new consumers while retaining existing ones. Secondly, to address negative perceptions of the brand; in particular its insufficient modernity and lack of relevance to younger consumers’ lifestyles and aspirations.

Previous Packaging

Brief & Scope

Our brief had several different aspects. The Brand Team wanted to reassert Blenders Pride’s market leadership through superior packaging rich in overt premium cues and design detailing. In addition, it was keen to dial up the packaging’s modernity and youth appeal, through an exploration of colours, patterns, graphic devices, motifs and finishes (e.g. embossing). As part of the re-design, we needed to create packaging which is distinctive, and has strong on-shelf stand-out. The new packaging needed to have a high-perceived value, so that Blenders Pride’s pricing is justified in consumers’ minds. It also needed to be reflective of the brand’s essence, personality and values.

Our scope of work covered cap graphics, bottle labels and mono-carton. Cap format, bottle shape and embossing stayed the same as the existing pack, although the bottle shape underwent some refinements during the course of the project. The latter was undertaken by PRI’s Technical Team.

Key Considerations

Given the value of the brand, a key consideration of the redesign was contemporising the packaging’s look while maintaining a continuity with Blenders Pride’s core visual assets. The Brand Team was keen to signal a noticeable change but not at the expense of accrued visual equity. In other words, they were keen not to “throw the baby out with the bathwater”.

Another important design consideration was PRI’s decision in 2022 to phase out permanent mono-cartons across its portfolio of brands. The initiative, aligned to its Sustainability & Responsibility roadmap, aimed to remove 500 million pieces of mono-carton annually. This meant that for the first few months of the relaunch the brand would benefit from an enhanced mono-carton with developed reasons to buy but thereafter, when the mono-carton was dropped, the bottle, labels and cap would have to do the ‘heavy lifting’.

Existing & Refined

Our new design preserves three core features of the previous packaging to signal to existing consumers ‘this is the brand you know and enjoy’: the Seagram’s crest (a badge of quality in India), the bell-shaped gold highlight and label shape, and the overall black colour.

The Blenders Pride wordmarque was developed to give it more modernity and distinctiveness. Cuts to the ‘B’, ‘D’ and ‘P’ signify the selection of the best cuts by the master blender Keven Balmforth. The wordmarque’s gold underlining has been thinned and shaped to make it more premium and refined.

Asset Creation

Two new assets were developed to not only address the two primary objectives but give the Brand Team more to work with off pack in promotional materials (such as the campaign films on the brand’s website: https://blenderspride.com/home/).

First, two rivers have been introduced, which are reproduced in gold and blue, and as a gloss varnish on the satin-finished mono-carton. The rivers signify the confluence of two cultures and two whisky making traditions that comprise the blend. The blue river represents Scotland and the gold India. The tones of the gold and blue were given particular attention to ensure they contributed to the pack’s on-shelf impact.

Secondly, a glass-shaped signifier was created. Each glass of Blenders Pride is an encapsulation of the skills and craftsmanship of the master blender, and each represents the artful blend of Scotch malt whiskies and Indian grain spirits - the intertwining of two types of liquid. This encapsulation in represented by a typical whisky shaped glass with its narrow aperture (which lets the spirit’s aromas come forward), wide base and short and solid stem. The signifier represents the blending process by making a ‘B’ and ‘P’ out of a number of swirls - each representing liquids blending together. The signifier appears on both the mono-carton and front foot label and embedded in a QR code.

Messaging Layout

To convey modernity, we gave core pack information, such as Kevin Balmforth’s signature, blend description and 150 years of heritage, an asymmetrical layout, with text left and right aligned.

Together the combination of existing elements, refined aspects and new ones has resulted in packaging both premium and modern in design.

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