Shape is the differentiator on another package in the beverage aisle with Dr. Pepper Snapple Group Beverages' 21-oz angled glass bottles of Rose's Mojito. The brand is a line of non-alcoholic mojito mixers.

Providing sensory perception to increase brand differentiation and add a touch of luxury to traditionally packaged products, Sleever Intl. has launched a line of faux leather-relief shrink labels. These labels join the trend of packages creating distinction through tactile surfaces that enable shoppers to “feel the quality.”

For some homeowners, their bar is becoming a status symbol. They're expressing interest in wine and spirits bottles that not only perform the functional task of holding a beverage, but that double as decorative pieces.

Woodford Reserve Distillery found an innovative way to leverage its sponsorship of the Kentucky Derby through packaging. The uniquely decorated bottles support the distillery’s Woodford Reserve bourbon whiskey as a super-premium brand that, like the beloved annual horse race, stands apart from competitors.

Bacardi gets $50 for 750-mL of tequila with a glass bottle that reflects the modern art of Mexico. “Our goal was to create a super premium tequila and a package that’s in a class of its own. It’s a true premium offering—both product and package,” says Yousef Zaatar, Vice President Global Packaging at Bacardi.

Unlike its namesake duo, complementary glass bottles for two-part Jekyll & Hyde distilled beverages have produced good results in test marketing at retail outlets.

Club stores have boosted interest in multipacks, and that trend is expanding into more retail channels and product categories. One recent example is a new Fridge Pack of single-serve bottles from Korbel Champagne Cellars, Guerinville, CA.

The package contains six 187-mL glass bottles of Korbel California Champagne. They are nested in a six-by-one pattern in a carton of 22-pt wet-strength paperboard from Graphic Packaging.

At 2 1/2² wide, the package lets consumers keep individual bottles cold in the refrigerator.

A key package feature—new to the category—is detailed opening instructions on the back panel. The instructions include icons that say, “refrigerate,” “pull to open,” and “pop off cap.”

Can the impact of dollars invested in a package redesign be measured on the bottom line? United States Beverage believes the answer is yes. The company markets and manages Seagram’s Coolers, a 20-year-old brand owned by Pernod-Ricard USA, Lawrenceburg, IN.

In our April 2005 issue, Shelf Impact! reported that with sales stagnating or declining across Seagram’s family of wine coolers, U.S. Beverage in 2004 had discarded the brand’s iconic appearance and restaged the brand as Seagram’s Cooler Escapes, with more contemporary graphics that accentuate the fun inherent in consuming the fruity, low-alcohol-content beverage.

Packaging plays an especially important role in driving impulse sales of distilled spirits during the holidays, a season in which nearly 25% of the category’s annual sales are tied to gift packaging.

Frangelico hazelnut liqueur from northern Italy demonstrates this seasonal impact with a gift pack created by The Bailey Group. The pack displays warm, rich, deep tone-on-tone red, brown, and orange hues to capture the fun-loving, sophisticated consumer who appreciates and enjoys simple indulgence.

Both the 750-mL holiday carton and the holiday gift pack, which includes a 375-mL bottle of liqueur and two drinking glasses, create a relaxing mood.

Link: The Bailey Group

Piedmont Distillers, Madison, NC, wanted a distinctive bottle design to introduce its Catdaddy Carolina Moonshine regional brand with special appeal for Jägermeister consumers. It opted for a modern interpretation of a ceramic moonshine jug, created by Flowdesign.

The amber glass on the 750-mL bottle’s domed neck flows downward into a ridge to emulate a moonshine jug. Triple Xs are embossed on the glass below the ridge, and the brand logo is embossed in the label area on the glass.

The wraparound label is a ceramic material that’s sprayed and baked onto the glass. Text is screen-printed onto the label in two colors plus a blended color for the cream background.

Link: Flowdesign

New York wine merchant Sherry-Lehmann nearly tripled gift-purchase sales with “DigiSmart” gift cards that give more shopping flexibility while complementing the chic of the upscale Manhattan store.

The cards, from AGI Media Packaging, a division of MeadWestvaco’s Consumer Packaging Group, come in a folded, four-panel board package bearing custom graphics. A square die-cut in the front panel offers a framed view of the gift card, which rests inside a PVC tray.

The graphic design on the gift cards and package is based on paintings of 19th Century bohemian artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.

Link: AGI Media Packaging

El Paso Chile Co., El Paso, TX, already was supplying freezer buckets filled with prepackaged margarita fixings to the liquor department at Target stores. The gourmet- products company also provides a line of drink mixes packaged in glass shaker-style bottles with standard lug closures. Target wanted a cocktail-mix packaging idea that could increase sales. The only stipulation was that the container be made of plastic.

El Paso worked with Berlin Packaging and Berlin’s design division, Studio One Eleven, to create a package design to satisfy Target’s objectives. Studio One Eleven created a three-piece packaging system for El Paso’s new Cocktail Chemistry line of beverage mixes. The consumer simply adds vodka and ice to the container, shakes, and pours the mixed beverage into a glass.

Canandaigua Wine extends its stable of wines in aseptic cartons with four varieties of its Vendange wines in 500-ml cartons with a resealable screw cap. Canandaigua earlier introduced this package, from Tetra Pak, for its Almaden Sangria wine.

The screw cap is light-weight and tamper-evident, making the package desirable for on-the-go consumers. The seven-layer laminated package provides a one-year product shelf life and protects the wine’s sensitive flavor profiles, the winery says.

Suggested retail price is $3.99.

Link: Tetra Pak

Diageo plc’s Baileys Irish Cream has been the most successful spirits entry in 30 years. The brand has enjoyed double-digit growth in the United States over the past three years.

Yet, Diageo decided Baileys’ fifth packaging change was much needed. A number of newer competing products are in packaging that mimics Baileys packaging. Bailey’s had become another “me too” product in the category.

Internal and consumer testing on three continents revealed “significant” design-related issues. Foremost, the brand was perceived as old-fashioned.

Link: Owens-Illinois Inc.
Smurfit-Stone

In the process of refreshing the look for its Seagram’s Cooler Escapes fruit-flavored alcoholic beverages, United States Beverage LLC gains two benefits: new packaging that brings perceptions of a more contemporary brand, as well as operational efficiencies.

The brand’s new packaging shares production line and purchasing efficiencies with a sister brand, Seagram’s Smooth.

The beer-shaped bottle from Owens-Illinois introduces tropical label graphics, printed in six colors, which suggest a refreshing escape. The graphical theme repeats on four-pack carriers printed in gravure by Smurfit-Stone.