Bulldog Gin

Positioning The Brand

Premium gin brands are a little like Dunkin’ stores. There are more of them than anyone needs. Against this crowded backdrop, Bulldog wanted to stand out. On a limited budget. Of course.

 But what if, in truly reserved British fashion, Bulldog preferred not standing out? Maybe a spirit this refined and sophisticated was never meant for the masses, especially not on this side of the pond. Do Americans even take gin seriously? Posing that question was our a-ha moment.

Insight First

When you imagine the English sipping gin, you might picture well-coiffed people surrounded by family portraits and ancient furniture. Whether it’s accurate or not, that perception exists. Meanwhile, Americans are at a patio bar doing shots and giving our phone number to strangers. The Brits built the sophisticated, sensuous Jaguar XKE and we gave the world the knuckle-dragging Ford F-250. In a nutshell, that’s our insight: Do Americans deserve a gin this refined and meticulously crafted?

 Brand Voice

This brand insight overlapped nicely with England’s long, cultural history of looking down their collective noses at us. I jotted down the phrase, “Reluctantly Exported From England,” and the rest of the lines wrote themselves. (I still take the credit, of course.) To further dimensionalize this point of view, I built the brand persona around Charles Emerson Winchester, III. (Boston accent, close enough.) Pompous, formal, and highly skilled, Charles never missed an opportunity to remind his colleagues about his cultural superiority. Often with hysterical turns of phrase.