ABOUT

Our category research and retail data showed that although the alcohol-free category was growing year on year – consumers still felt that alcohol-free drinks felt like a substitute, a lesser than version of the ‘real’ thing.

These insights underpinned all of our work in bringing a new brand and proposition to the ‘Low & No’ market.Extensive brand strategy showed us that the people who were really “taking a break from booze”, were usually the life and soul of the party. We set out to a create a bold and ballsy brand in alcohol-free – all character, no compromise.

We played into cult sayings and meme culture, creating the brand name ‘Reformed Characters’ – trademarking in the UK & USA. Our ambition was to create a ‘cult’ brand in alcohol-free, a can which consumers could drink in a bar or a club and not feel out of place with. We designed a series of ‘reformed character’ illustrations, hinting at the very nature of hangovers, blackouts, sunday scaries – and the reasons realistically why we all end up ‘taking a break from booze’.

Our can designs feature bold metallic full spread pattern designs. We launched with 3 unique SKU's each with it's own personality and identity, The 'Herbaceous Character', 'Dark & Decadent Character', and 'Bittersweet Character' – maintaining category ownability as global alcohol group brands continued to enter the space.

Our work spanned:

Brand Naming & Origin – trademarking in UK & US markets.
Brand Strategy & Brand Positioning – finding Reformed Character’s unique place and way to win within the Low & No category.
Verbal Branding – creating own-able brand language including “Bold Botanical Alcohol-Free Drinks for Healthy Hedonists”, “Unapologetically Alcohol-Free”, and “All Character, No Compromise”.
Packaging Design – a range of 3 unique packaging designs.
Product Development – including drinks strategy, formulation and working with manufacturer runs.
Retail Strategy – retail pitch decks, scaling and securing buyer interest.
Shopify Store – full e-commerce subscription site.
Launch Marketing & Social Media – creating an entire brand world and knowledge base.

Upon launch – Reformed Characters received buyer meetings and interest for stocking from major retailers, indies and more including Selfridge’s, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, airlines and more. Including export to the USA, Canada & Europe.

Client: Reformed Characters
Disciplines: Brand Naming & Origin, Brand Strategy, Verbal Branding, Packaging Design, Product Development, Retail Strategy, Website Design, Integrated Marketing