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after
Beefeater Crown Jewel
DESIGN
Fitch, London, United Kingdom
MARKET
Worldwide
before
The old bottle for Crown Jewel,
Beefeater’s premium gin, created a
cool, precious image for the brand,
but the colorless bottle and its
offbeat shape put Crown Jewel at
a disadvantage in the crowded,
cost-conscious, duty-free space.
In the gin category, other brands have
“
owned” colors (including Bombay
Sapphire
’s blue and Tanqueray’s green).
In this tradition, and to make the bot-
tle memorable, Fitch selected a rich
purple glass for the bottle. The color is
regal and jewellike, combined with a
bottle cut asdistinctively as a gemstone.
Topped with a gold-colored cap,
the overall effect lives up to the
product’s name.
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Beefeater, a stalwart brand of gin for nearly two centuries, prides itself on
its heritage and quality—it’s the only producer that distills its gin in England, where gin
originated in the seventeenth century. Beefeater’s staple brand, London Dry, is consis-
tently rated at the top of its class.
But for true gin lovers, Beefeater offers its premium version, Crown Jewel, a berry-and-
citrus-infused gin with a smoother finish. Backed by the heralded Beefeater brand, the
premium gin was beginning to make its entrance into duty-free markets in the United
Kingdom and around the world.
Reason for Redesign
As Beefeater geared up to promote Crown Jewel, the com-
pany realized the bottle’s look didn’t support its desired
top-of-the-line image—or the price that went with it. The
bottle looked nothing like London Dry, the parent brand,
nor did it at all resemble other gins on the shelf, shrinking
in its squat bottle beside its tall, thick competitors. The
colorless bottle, while giving the bottle a pure, platinum
look, rendered the gin practically invisible next to more
colorful brands.
Redesign Objectives
• Promote Crown Jewel as an ultrapremium brand in
the Beefeater family
• Appeal to the primarily male audience and support
the brand’s bold, adventurous image
• Increase sales and distribution of Crown Jewel in
the duty-free market worldwide
The Results
At press time, the launch was too recent to gather real
financial results. However, at Crown Jewel’s relaunch
during the October 2003 Cannes Duty-Free Fair, the
trade positively received the new bottle and the product
within it.
Beefeater Crown Jewel
Design Process
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2
1
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3
5
6
7
4
1
At the beginning of the project, creative
firm Fitch:London looked at every possible
direction for the bottle design. The designers
looked into all aspects of Crown Jewel
and Beefeater’s heritage and brand name.
Beefeater, named for the guards who watch
over the Tower of London and the royal
crown jewels housed safely inside the
tower, provided initial inspiration for sketches
and design directions.
2–4
After more in-depth research, the designers
considered a number of different ideas.
From the history of the Tower of London
emerged the tradition of the ravens, pitch-
black birds who guard the British crown
jewels. One design concept involved
representing the raven theme—symbolizing
masculinity, self-assuredness, and intelli-
gence—on the Crown Jewel bottle.
5
Other concepts focused on the heritage of
the gin, calling on images of the St. George’s
Cross (an old English emblem) as a reminder
of its British origins and on crests and
Old English type to suggest the product’s
long history.
6, 7
The raven concept won the contest. The
designers and the client also identified a
number of other elements that had to be
represented: the orb (part of the collection
of Crown Jewels); the Beefeater guards, also
known as Yeoman Warders, who guard the
ravens and the jewels; and the prestigious
International Wine and Spirits Competition
awards the gin has won. The designers
found ways to combine these elements
smoothly into the design, including making
the orb the O in the logo, with the raven
swooping down to protect it.
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