Bacardi. The original rum and coke. The original cuba libre. The “Ron del Merceliago”, or in English, The Rum of the Bat.For too long now it’s slumbered, and for too long now so has Bacardi’s rich heritage. As a young male myself, and may I add also a rum drinker, I had no idea of how ‘cool’ Barcardi is, it took this brief and 10 minutes research to realise that. I say 10 minutes because it only takes a short stint on the Bacardi website to be greeted with this information. Captain Morgan may have it’s pirate, and Kraken may have it’s octopus, but Bacardi has the Bat. Something I would believe, especially with the recent success of the Batman trilogy, a particularly masculine creature. It’s time for it’s revival. It’s time for the Bat to fly again_

TA:

To appeal to this lucrative drinking market of young males is can obviously be a tricky thing due to the nature of the male ego. The large majority doesn’t want to be seen drinking something his fellows might consider to be feminine. In order for them to see a drink (spirit) as acceptable it must have one or some of the following qualities.

1. Taste good_2. Look good_3. Purvey sophistication or quality_ 4. Have a USP_5. Make them feel ‘cool’, confident or masculine_

To look at that in terms of Bacardi...

1. Tastes good_2. Looks dated_3. Has quality and heritage, doesn’t necerssarily purvey it_4. Has a USP which it doesn’t utilise, the bat_5. Apart from perhaps feminine and dated, it doesn’t make them feel anything (lack of ‘edge’ or passion)_

To make Bacardi appealing to young males it crucially needed a bottle re-design. Something which emits confidence in itself, understated and clean. It reflects the smooth rum that it contains and moves away from the cumbersome design currently in use and incorporates the old Bacardi logo to emphasise the Bat and it’s heritage. This is combined with a sans serif rounded type to show that as well as having a rich heritage, it is still moving forward with the times.

Bacardi Logo would be debossed and molded from a glass of ceramic to create a 3-dimensional bat. The cylindrical case encloses around this with a cut out so when closed all that can be seen or felt is the bat, the heart of Bacardi. Combined with the viral ad it will cement the bat into the psyche of young males, only showing the Bat when on the shelf would be the answer to the question posed by the viral. Maintains a sense of mystery and confidence.

Note: All images will be replaced with photographed images of finshed and constructed products when made.