Fifth State Distillery
A NEW BEGINNING ROOTED IN THE PAST
PROBLEM
After 3 years open to the public and marketing their award winning Gin and Vodkas under the brand Asylum Distillery and Whiskeys under the Fifth State Brand, the feedback from their distributor was that the Asylum name was a bit edgy for retailers. Since their goal is to create and share traditional and unique products with spirit enthusiasts, they decided it was time for a relaunch and rebrand.
INSIGHT
After doing a brand audit, it was quickly determined that they had a brand already in-house – Fifth State Whiskey including CT Maple and Moonshine. This name provided them with a brand story to tell that was unique to them as Connecticut is the fifth state in the union.
SOLUTION
Connecticut became the fifth state in the union in 1788. Using the 5 as the foundation for the direction allowed the brand to have an immediate impact in the very difficult spirits market. A look that both paid homage to Connecticut's past and present was developed. The brand architecture was developed to support the distillery's multiple offerings.
The original brand had two product lines, Asylum which included Corn Whiskey, Gin, Vodka, Ginger Zap and Simply Celery as well as Fifth State which included Moonshine. We built their brand based on the existing Fifth State brand.
Fifth State is a very small craft distillery, which meant that there were limited resources. This required having to use their existing supply of bottles. The upside for the existing bottles was that they had more area for branding and a smaller footprint than their competitors.
RESULTS
As a result, Fifth’s State’s sales team and distributor were thrilled with the
new look and sales for all Fifth State products are up across Connecticut.
The bottle stands out on the shelf and represents the brand’s essence of innovation and excellence, distilled locally in America’s fifth state.
Hops & Branding designed a look that captures Fifth State’s new brand story for this relaunch. Our reimagined brand identity is an amalgam of bold, inventive flavors, rooted in the quality and tradition of distilling in Connecticut, the
Fifth State to join the Union.