Royal Challenge is well-known in the whisky market, but a lack of standout design wasn’t appealing to a new generation of drinkers who saw the branding as dated. As India’s first premium whisky, its heritage is strong, but this wasn’t coming through in the packaging and the brand faced fierce competition.
Royal Challenge needed to engage younger consumers, but still retain its loyal customer base with a design that was both authentic and relevant. Sold in India’s dark market where advertising is next to banned, any cut-through needed to come from the packaging alone.
Eschewing traditional whisky language, all aspects of the design and structure were reinvigorated, to create a bold new aesthetic – one which was modern, masculine and confident and which celebrated the new spirit of India.
In the two years after rebrand and with no change in marketing or promotion budgets, Royal Challenge saw a 25.6% jump in growth – that’s compared to category growth of just 6%.
