How American Whisky Brand Jack Daniel’s Put Itself Right at the Centre of Diwali Celebrations

by  EVENTFAQS Bureau Industry Watch | November 18, 2020 | News

Jack Daniel’s Open Strategy and Design

Jack Daniel’s, the popular American whisky brand, revamped its packaging to resonate with Indian celebrations during the recent Diwali. To strengthen the brand’s relationship with India, the company’s aim was to enter people’s homes this Diwali and curate a special festive pack.

Open Strategy and Design, an independent, multi-disciplinary brand consultancy headquartered in Mumbai, carried out the Diwali project for Jack Daniel’s.

Instead of trying to fit in Jack Daniel’s in the world of Diwali celebrations, the company gave insights on what would celebrations look like, if done in Jack’s way. The only thing Jack Daniel loved more than fine whisky, was a good get-together. In a year that made people realize the importance of relationships, it was decided that Jack Daniel’s would bring alive the beauty of togetherness in its own way.

The execution of the Diwali edition of Jack Daniel’s was showcased through designs that had the ability to create new worlds. It could create meaning at many levels including the bold, masculine brand language of Jack with the visual symbolism of Diwali. The idea was to bring Jack to the centre of celebration of this festival. The iconic shape of the bottle made it unmistakeable Jack. The intricate details, revealing the many facets of celebration, brought alive Diwali. The conscious play of celebratory gold on stark black not only retained the world of Jack, it also helped symbolize the idea of good over evil.

There was also the subliminal cuing of the classic Diwali visual - crackers bursting against the night sky. All this was done while retaining the clean, bold look of Jack.

When working on a global brand with strong defined codes, the challenge is always about contextualizing it, without losing out on its original soul. The big question was, how do you make a global brand with strong Americana codes celebrate the quintessential Indian festival? The task was to interpret Jack in a way, that would make it culturally relevant. The brand wanted to become the Diwali gift of choice amongst premium whiskys, and for that, Jack not only had to look striking, but feel naturally festive.

As for its impact on consumers, the company stated that people loved the idea of Diwali, Jack’s way, as displayed by the enormous success of the festive pack. Through this pack, more than 2000 premium outlets in 10 cities across India were covered, reaching an estimated 20,000 friends of Jack, both new and old. A good first measure of the consumer response is the retailer, and the retailers had an overwhelming response to the new pack, often doing multiples of the expected uptakes.