[5] brand bottles: Jack Daniels

Jack Daniels, some say it will put a little hair on your chest. What they might not know is that Jack Daniels has grown a little hair of their own. The worldwide leader in whiskey sales hasn't changed a whole lot over the last 136 years. It's still the same sour mash Tennessee whiskey inside a square bottle wrapped with a black label. But something is different about that bottle and label.

The bottle grew up, it added to it's physique by chiseling the shoulders and beveling the corners. Who was the personal trainer who beefed up this bottle? Cue Design was charged with the task of taking an already masculine brand and making it a little tougher, much like those who consume the product.

From Male to Alpha Male.

Cue also had a difficult task in altering the label just enough to clean it up and reinforce the quality of every batch while also maintaining the iconic and recognizable brand. Mellowed. Matured. Tasted. Awarded. All of these characteristics are now neatly displayed amongst a black background mixed with a new solid gray patterning and the classic white filigree.

Cue Design's Re-Invented Label

The other side of the label pays tribute to Jasper Newton and the ideals of independence he bestowed upon the company in 1875. It concludes with a quote from Jasper himself that reassures each customer they are getting the best batch of whiskey made possible by the company, "Every Day We Make It, We'll Make It The Best We Can".

Cue did not overhaul the brand nor come anywhere close to doing so. They made slight improvements here and there in order to maintain the brand but reassure the overall mission and qualities of it. They emasculated an already manly bottle to reaffirm their position as alpha male of the whiskeys in the world. After showcasing the Absolut bottle as a brand in an earlier post Absolut-ly Incredible, I felt it only necessary to highlight another company using tangible products [bottle] to represent a brand.

To find out more about the process, results and other branding techniques used by Cue Design for the Jack Daniel's account, check out the Jack Daniel's Case Study.