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New look for McDowell's No. 1 series

Boby Kurian

BANGALORE, Sept. 6

THE key brands in McDowell's No. 1 series will soon arrive in a new design and pack as the UB Group Chairman, Mr. Vijay Mallya, kickstarts a fresh mission to impart a facelift for his liquor brands.

Mr. Mallya has roped in Claessens, the London-based design consultants, to revamp the bottle design and packaging of the entire McDowell & Co brand portfolio. The process is set to begin with No. 1 McDowell's Celeberation Rum and No. 1 McDowell's Premium Whisky, when top McDowell officials meet with Claessens in London next week.

Mr. Mallya convened a meeting of the company's top brass in London almost a month ago, where it was decided to hire new design consultants and terminate McDowell& Co's existing arrangement with Paul Simmons & Associates. The move is part of the strategy to impart ``a more premium international look for McDowell brands and help them face competition in the post-WTO phase''.

A top McDowell & Co official told Business Line that Mr. Mallya was personally involved in the selection of Claessens after the London conclave considered other prestigious design studios, including Pearl Fish and Landor.

Claessens has the legacy of being involved with the design and packaging of iconic brands like Johnnie Walker, Smirnoff and Bacardi.

The No. 1 series, with its presence in the whisky, rum and brandy segments, is easily the flagship business of McDowell & Co.

In fact, No. 1 McDowell's Whisky, which sells over four million cases annually, is the second largest selling liquor brand behind Bagpiper. No.1 Celebration Rum is expected to close this fiscal at around 2.3 million cases.

McDowell & Co, during last two years, has spent considerable resources to refurbish the design and packaging of its strategic brands. The exercise saw most of the company's important brands such as Signature whisky, Vintage whisky, Diplomat whisky, Blue Riband Gin and Gold Riband Whisky being re-launched in a new design and pack created by Paul Simmons.

Speaking to this newspaper at a separate meeting recently, Mr. Ashwin Malik, Vice-President (Marketing), said: ``The style and design of liquor bottle is crucial in communication with the consumer, especially as the liquor industry lacks a fixed set of f unctional benefits. The shape and design of a bottle can become an emotional link between the consumer and the brand.''

The design and style of liquor brands have assumed importance in the domestic market as these factors now command significant value addition in the marketing strategy. The Manu Chhabria-controlled Shaw Wallace & Co (SWC), McDowell's principal rival, has employed UK-based Design Bridge to package its brands.

It recently announced the arrival of a re-packaged Royal Challenge Premium Whisky, which is SWC's most prestigious brand in the market.