What do you do when your greatest asset is hiding under a glacier? That’s what the management team at Anchorage Distillery wanted to know, so they called Affinity Creative Group to reveal and revitalize their brand.
Johnny McCormick, CEO, Anchorage Distillery, commented, “The Affinity team has a winning approach to the creative process. Rather than dive straight into label concepts and bottle shapes, we started with the essential questions: What makes our Alaskan spirits unique? What elements of our distillery’s Alaskan identity do we want to convey?”
Affinity, a creative agency for wine, spirits, and other luxury products, based on Mare Island, CA, was retained to completely re-imagine the Anchorage Distillery offering—beginning with re-establishing its brand essence. The teams first assembled to identify the desired brand attributes, personality, and market positioning. With the brand profile in place, Affinity went to work in transforming the dated look of the existing product line.
The goal was to create packaging with a hand-made, customized, and specialty-crafted look and feel that conveys Alaska’s authentic and adventurous spirit.
“We were impressed with the way Affinity’s designers translated our answers into a diverse set of initial label concepts. From there, we chose the creative direction we wanted to pursue and partnered closely with the Affinity team as they refined the chosen concept into a beautiful final product.” CEO McCormick remarked.
The new Anchorage Distillery logo projects authenticity and achieves strong brand registration on a crisp, white, textured label stock. The additional unique engraving of an Alaskan Moose emphasizes a rugged and robust brand spirit. Every detail imaginable was addressed. From the finely detailed ‘tax-stamp’ look of the neckbands to the rippled, die-cut labels, suggestive of the Alaskan water’s edge.
Affinity’s design solution is a mix of various elements—artisan, organic in feel, and distinctive. The creative agency also recommended new glass bottle structures more aligned with the brand’s personality. For instance, The Aurora Gin translucent-colored glass effect is unique. Inspired by the aurora borealis and Alaska’s dramatic, undulating-blue waters, the new bottle structure now underscores the brand’s origin. Additionally, the switch from transparent closures to wood stoppers delivers a sophisticated, yet down to earth, craft vibe for the entire product line.
In addition to Aurora Gin, a range of Vodkas, Roadhouse Rye (a clear un-aged whiskey), and a new, Single Barrel Release, Straight Rye Whiskey, round out the re-launched brand family.
This revolutionary redesign for Anchorage Distillery truly captures the spirit of Alaska. Authentic, all-natural, and handcrafted — right on the bottle.
About Anchorage Distillery: From grain to glass, Anchorage Distillery spirits are frontier crafted from local Alaskan grown grain. The far north’s midnight sun and rich soil nourish these grains, giving them their characteristic Alaskan flavor. They are finished with freshwater that flows from the nearby Eklutna Glacier. For more information about Anchorage Distillery, please visit Anchorage Distillery
About Affinity Creative Group: From our unique creative campus, (two mansions and a bungalow), along historic officer’s row on Mare Island, California, Affinity Creative Group provides brand design, digital media and retail activation marketing services, particularly for wine, spirits and other luxury categories. The most experienced team in the business, staffed with knowledgeable industry professionals, provide strategic, creative and effective solutions that attract attention, spark interest and win customer loyalty in tasting rooms, on premise and at retail venues across the country and around the globe. Affinity helps clients of all sizes connect with consumers at the early, essential moments of contact, or points of ‘brand touch’ through the intelligent use of creativity, captivating storytelling, and flawless implementation.
For more information about Affinity Creative Group, please visit: AffinityCreative.com or call 707.562.2787.
