CLIENT

Campari America is one of the world’s leading spirits producers with a portfolio of more than 20 of the world’s best known brands, including Skyy Vodka, Wild Turkey Bourbon, and Espolón Tequila. The Whiskey Barons Collection was created using liquid from Wild Turkey distillery, although the brands themselves are not related.

CHALLENGE

In 2015, as the United States was rediscovering its love of American whiskey, Campari America approached Moxie Sozo for help resurrecting bourbon history’s most beloved brands. Among them was Bond & Lillard, a brand of pre-prohibition bourbon whiskey dating back to 1820.

The resurrected Bond & Lillard brand and packaging would need to tell a simple yet rich story while also differentiating itself on-shelf alongside a rapidly growing array selection of heritage-inspired whiskey brands.

SOLUTION

Bond & Lillard was one of two releases that launched the Whiskey Barons Collection, which features revived brands and stories from across bourbon’s history.

Bond & Lillard was packaged in 375ml bottles, an ode to the early days of bourbon when the industry’s lack of regulation allowed for a wide variety of unconventional bottles sizes. The new packaging tells the story of W.F. Bond and C.C. Lillard, whose “mutual confidence in each other’s judgment & integrity linked the hearts of these two sturdy men.” The label itself leveraged the signature red band of the original bottle, reimagined to tie past with present. Other elements, such as the Grand Prize awarded at the St. Louis World’s Fair in 1904 and accompanying romance copy pulled from that announcement, invited consumers to explore the brand’s authentic past.