Watching and listening to MEPs sing Auld Lang Syne in Brussels on January 29th reminded me of a project I worked on almost 20 years ago with Creative Director Iain Lauder and a young designer by the name of Jason Little (co-founder of For The People).
The brief: packaging for a now legendary bottling of Bunnahabhain Single Malt distilled on Hogmanay 1968. Unusually, we were also given the task of naming this exceptional dram.
Cue a million and one suggestions, exploring every conceivable angle, all painstakingly checked for trademark and domain name availability. Then the realisation that yes, the pick of the bunch was actually, amazingly free.
Auld Acquaintance won Best Use of Packaging at the Cream Awards and was a Finalist at the London International Advertising Awards. Didn’t do too badly on the commercial front either. Retailing at £100 per bottle at launch in 2002, Bunnahabhain Auld Acquaintance 1968 now exchanges hands for up to £3,000. Sláinte to that!
The moral of the story? Persevere when searching for the perfect brand or company name because contrary to popular belief, not all the best ideas are taken. (Oh… and try to get a sample of any packaging projects you work on.)
Happy memories. That’s one good thing to come out of Brexit.
For more original thinking from the last 20 years and more, press play
John Ormston Copywriting 