MILLHILL’S GIN

Reimagining A Brand World to Play in a Global Market

The gin market is one of the most competitive categories within the global drinks industry, worth over USD 15.2 billion in 2022. With so many brands on the market, it’s never been more important to stand out in the crowd – especially when your aim is worldwide appeal. As a creative agency specialising in the drinks industry, we understand the importance of crafting a memorable brand world that speaks to your customers and communicates what makes you different from the competition.

Brand Positioning | Brand World Development | Digital | On-trade | Off-trade
GTR | Activation Design | Brand Marketing

The Challenge

Millhill’s Gin had already enjoyed significant success in Eastern and Western Europe but was ready to move to the next level and target brand expansion in more territories. Wonderworks was engaged to create a new brand world, visual identity and channel assets to support the team with entering into the global market. Our creative strategy and design team were asked to consider what unique, appealing and perhaps unexpected creative territory Millhill’s could adopt to compete with internationally recognised, well-established gin brands such as Beefeater and Gordon’s.

Establish the Brand Foundations

To carve a path forward, we started by looking back at Millhill’s existing credentials. The Wonderworks team took a deep dive into the brand, picking up on Millhill’s three secret botanicals and its elaborate bottle design that hints at a mystical world within. To these distinctive features we suggested adding the Observatory in London’s Mill Hill. These elements became the foundation of our strategic approach to evolving the brand.

Unsurprisingly, market research and consumer insights confirmed that referencing ‘nature’ is a well-trodden path in the gin category – but the majority of brands play it safe and keep it familiar. Millhill’s had to be bolder than other players in the market, so we used the mystery of its secret botanicals to develop an enchanting world where consumers were invited to discover more.

DEVELOP THE BRAND WORLD

Once we had mapped out the creative territory, it was time to define the brand messaging to draw in consumers. The brand platform – Look Beyond, Discover Nature’s Hidden Bliss – invited them to feed their curiosity just like the users of the famous Observatory in Mill Hill, a place to expand horizons and appreciate the world.

The observatory became our ‘gateway’ for consumers to step into Millhill’s mysterious and magical natural world, enabling them to escape the mundane and seek new experiences, flavours and pleasures.

The encouragement to Look Beyond was both an invitation to enter Millhill’s world and a call to action to “Discover our deliciously mysterious gin.” It was a playful way of communicating the three secret botanicals that make the flavour profiles of Millhill’s three expressions stand tall above the rest.

CREATE THE ASSETS

Wonderworks defined and conceived the creative approach and vision for Millhill’s visual identity and Key Visual, ensuring they communicated mystery, flavour and the lively, contemporary spirit of London through the use of punchy and flavourful colours, bold type and intricate illustrations created by Maggie Enterrios. Each aspect was detailed in a comprehensive toolkit to give the Millhill’s team everything it needed to execute future campaigns and activations and use the new brand world with true confidence.