Crafting a new identity for one of the world’s most innovative alcohol-infused confectionary brands.
The Challenge
Smith & Sinclair, a small UK startup pioneering alcohol-infused confectionery, needed to evolve from an innovative product into a fully realised brand. This required a comprehensive transformation that could support their next stage of growth while maintaining their disruptive spirit.
Our Approach
This was a full brand transformation brief – from business strategy, brand positioning and narrative development through to the creation of distinctive assets, packaging, visual identity, logo and guidelines for creative expression across touchpoints.
We developed an integrated methodology that put the creation of a ‘Sense Signature’ at its heart – a new tool applying sensory semiotics that translates a brand positioning into tangible visual & sensory equity. This approach was built on three key principles:
First, we used semiotics and cultural analysis to identify the brand’s core philosophy: experiencing the everyday from a different perspective. This defined the brand role and became our guiding principle for brand expression and activation.
Second, we directly translated the insight “It’s a cocktail, but as you’ve never had it before” into the visual identity by using microscopic imagery of different alcoholic drinks.
Finally, we worked collaboratively with the client to iterate rapidly across touchpoints – from retail and packaging to digital and experiential – using the Sense Signature to guide the roll out.
The Outcome
The impact was immediate and tangible:
- Successful launch of an experiential retail concession at John Lewis’s Oxford Street flagship store
- Secured next round of VC investment
- Exponential growth after launching in the US
- Sale to Tilray in 2019 for £7.7 million
This project demonstrates how cultural strategy can help startups find their unique role in culture, helping them create a compelling, cohesive and culturally relevant path to growth.