Cruzan Rum - Changing The Brand
In the US Virgin Islands a small, family run business made some really great premium rum.
Eight generations of the Nelthropp family have perfected the delicate balancing, blending and aging of the rum. Cruzan is considered to be one of the ?cleanest? rums on the market based on the brand?s distinctive distillation process. Cruzan mixes high quality molasses with tropical rainwater, which, through fermentation, is turned into alcohol. The liquid is then run through a five-column distillation process that removes any unwanted elements before being stored away in handcrafted oak barrels to age. This creates distinctive tasting rum ? smooth, clean and full-bodied.
For a long time “Cruzan” rum dominated the market place. Tourists threw down their Captain Morgan and Bacardi Rum drinks with distaste. Bring on a Cruzan they screamed.
Walk into any bar in the US Virgin Islands and ask for a dark rum and Coke and it’s ASSUMED that you just ordered Cruzan and that’s what is made. That’s some pretty good stuff if you’re the Cruzan company.
A few years ago you couldn’t find Cruzan in the states. You had to come here to get your fix. Making it hard to get increased its intoxication. Hard to get stuff tastes a lot better than some old bottle out of Joe’s Spirits on the corner.
Well Cruzan just sold out to a big company called Fortune Brands. What do they do with one of the most talked about hidden jewels of rums?
Change it, of course. Smart huh?
Gone is the original (very successful) logo and bottle design. In fact the bottles appear to be smaller (less rum) and the dark rum appears to be lighter?
Here is the old logo and bottle design:
Some points of interest: At the neck there is a raised emboss of a “pirate ship” which blends with island heritage. You can also see the number 2, which means this bottle was aged for 2 years. The older the bottle the more expensive it is. It’s like a badge of honor to give someone a bottle that’s been aged for a long time.
Here’s the new logo and bottle design:
Gone is the ship and numbering system. Big mistake! The font looks Asian. Here’s what Fortune Brands had to say:
DEERFIELD, Ill.? (BUSINESS WIRE) ? Beam Global Spirits & Wine, Inc. [Fortune Brands, Inc. (NYSE:FO)], a global leader in premium spirits, is proud to announce the addition of Cruzan? Rum, the fifth-largest and fastest-growing rum brand in the United States, into the Beam Global family. This 250 year-old brand joins the Beam Global portfolio with a fresh logo and sleek bottle shape reflective of the Cruzan craftsmanship, premium quality and rich family tradition.
The brand sold approximately 750,000 cases of premium rum worldwide in 2007 and grew by 23 percent last year in the United States, the brand?s largest market. Cruzan is also sold in the Caribbean, Canada, Spain and the Nordic countries. Cruzan is available in the United States in 50 ml, 200 ml, 375 ml, 750 ml, 1L and 1.75L bottles.
So what do you do with a growing, successful brand? Make changes right? What do you think, did the brand need a change? Or is Fortune messing with tradition? And does anyone think they’ll put the same love and passion into the rum making process?
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January 13th, 2009 at 4:29 pm
No mistakes made in this design. Its good. It’s not great, but its still an improvement. Being a packaging designer myself, I can tell you that the old bottle is a generic flint bottle that is carried by Saver glass. (Its a homogenized mass produced thing). The new bottle is at least a new, more distinct shape that can be owned by the Cruzan brand.
As far as the pirate ship thing… I think having the est. date embossed on the bottle in place of the ship is a more authentic message. The date speaks more to the heritage of Cruzan than a pirate ship. Unless Cruzan was originally made by pirates, then the story of pirate would make sense.
Also regarding typography…The original logo was a simple typeset of Trajan without any modifications. The new logotype has been modified and given some extra elements that, like the bottle, are more ownable by the brand.
January 13th, 2009 at 4:35 pm
As far as change goes…
Brands have to stay relevant to their audience to remain successful. Change is inevitable for every brand.
January 17th, 2009 at 9:21 am
Whoever designed this logo/bottle had no idea of what the Cruzan brand represents. The locals, you know the people that made Cruzan what it is today all hate it. It’s becoming a joke on St. Thomas that they added a knight and shield. What for the love of God does that mean?
Already there is buzz that the rum tastes different. You don’t build a brand on a logo/package. You build it on an overall brand identity/positioning. And Fortune brands has no idea what that was.
It’s a bummer when a big company does this. Cruzan meant a lot to the US Virgin Islands both from a lifestyle perspective and from an employment perspective.
I’ll anxiously await the next local rum company to step in and take over for Cruzan. Now’s the time as Cruzan is just another liquor brand in a big company.
January 22nd, 2009 at 11:56 pm
I mean no offense to you Big Kahuna but the re-design appeals to me more than the original. It looks more like a premium product. I think it was important to them to move away from the “pirate cliche’ of rums and differentiate themselves. The distinctive bottle also achieves this.
While true, it is popular with locals, I am sure the motivation was to inspire a world market. I have no history with the brand so, this new look is the only one I’m familiar with.
Captain Morgan already owns the Pirate, and Bacardi - the bat. Cruzan is going to have develop it’s own mystique, and build on it’s icons.
Packaging is huge in branding - look to Apple.
January 24th, 2009 at 7:02 am
The design means nothing if it’s off target. Cruzan is what the people of St. Croix are called, “Cruzians” hence the name of the rum. This company is over 200 years old so they sort of own the whole “pirate” thing.
These people of the US Virgin Islands are the brand ambassadors for Cruzan. They made the brand into the 5th largest rum producer, they own it. And they can take it away. Until you live here you’ll never really understand the power of local word of mouth.
I can tell you one thing, people are talking here and it ain’t good. They laugh at the knight and shield. What does that have to do with? It’s certainly not part of the Cruzian mystique. And by taking the numbering system away they’ve taken the most crucial part of the brand identity away. That number represented the age of the rum which represented the quality.
I’m sure with the backing and distribution Cruzan will do well. But if they lose the very backbone of their audience their success may be short lived.
January 25th, 2009 at 11:28 pm
Where I live, (Windsor, Ontario, Canada) - it is the birth place and home of Canadian Club Whiskey. Cruzan may be 200 years old, but how can you say they own the pirate when Captain Morgan clearly does. Local word of mouth only means so much. If it is a world brand it is in bigger hands. Here Hiram Walkers was bought by someone else and now we are the home of Wiser’s Whiskey. The local’s were pissed but it resonated little with corporate minds. Outside of southwestern Ontario, it simply doesn’t matter where Canadian Club is brewed. The brand is bigger than it’s roots. Sad but true.
We have the historical bragging rights, but that is about all. St. Croix may be heading down this path as well.
January 27th, 2009 at 1:21 pm
Big Kahuna-
You are totally off base here with this one. As a Crucian (and that is the correct spelling by the way when you are referring to the people), born and raise, what made this rum mean so much to the islanders was not the bottle, or the priate ship, and it will not be the knight or the sword. What made Cruzan the rum it is to the Virgin Islands was the name “Cruzan”. The name gave all Crucians and to a certain extent all virgin islanders something that belongs to them. It is very similar to the Crucian Bracelet affect. When you gave someone that from the mainland or when someone bought it to bring it back to the states, their is a sense of pride that we all felt it was a sense of belonging, a sense of ours.
The fact that the name “cruzan” still appears on the bottle means that sense of identity will still remain. And no matter what other rum company comes to St.Croix to start producing rum, none will make a another “cruzan” rum. The locals may laugh at the bottles for bit that will be short live. The bottle is new and different and for most folks change can be uncomfortable. But once they crack open the bottle and smell that familiar and distinctive flavor the packaging of the bottle will be forgotten.
January 28th, 2009 at 1:53 am
The name only plays a small role in the brand. It’s the entire experience which makes up the brand. We’ve already heard rumors that they make the rum in Florida now…
Fortune Brands is all about distribution, we’ll see if they keep up with the same passionate, caring production ways soon enough. My guess is they’ll ruin Cruzan.
January 29th, 2009 at 3:58 pm
You all are way off base. This company has not been “owned” by the family for a long time. Look at the history - Todhunter International bought it a decade or so ago and broadened the line to include the multitude of flavors they now have. That is where all the growth has come from in the past few years. They sold the brands to Absolut 3-4 years ago and now Absolut has sold the Cruzan Brand to Fortune. To say that this was a locally owned brand until it was purchased by Fortune is certainly not the truth
January 29th, 2009 at 4:32 pm
I knew about the Absolute sale but you’re missing the point. The brand did not change. They added line extensions but the brand remained the same. Fortune has completely changed the visual identity system.
I just had lunch on Emerald beach (in St. Thomas). The bartender commented that the bottles were smaller and they looked to pretty. I hear this all over St. Thomas.
February 9th, 2009 at 6:20 am
Crass Stupidity
Branding
business_brandingIn the current economic climate where every sane business leader is striving to keep customers, to keep their brand visible and to attract new business in a declining market; there is one company that has joined Gordon Brown?s ministry of silly decisions?Norwich Union.
Norwich Union, a giant and a brand of 200 years. A great name reassuringly safe that appears to be conservative in this turbulent economic climate where there appears to be little safely in financial institutions. I can only presume that the decision to re-brand Norwich Union to Aviva must have been taken by a banker, accountant or lawyer (sorry to offend my friends in these professions). Maybe Norwich Union are going to diversify and don?t want to be identified with providing good value insurance products. Or perhaps they are going into construction, ship building or furniture retailing (great markets to lose money in right now).
Anyhow they probably spent a million or two in dreaming up the name Aviva and are now spending ?trillions? (fashionable word) on their re-branding and advertising etc. This is money that could have been spent on winning new business and increasing shareholder value.
If you have a minute??how about some ideas to destroy other great brands with a new name.
Royal Mail ? you can?t suggest Consignia as they tried that one Virgin Microsoft Scottish Widows Tesco Marks & Spencer McDonalds