The rebrand of Diageo began in August 2021 at Comprend — Diageo’s digital agency. I was brought in as a branding expert to build a brand team for the project. The old corporate identity was just that, a basic and limited graphic identity with no strategic brand idea at its core. Global Brand and Communications Director Dominic Redfearn and Jeremy Lindley, Global Design Director, formulated a brand vision and creative brief for a comprehensive rebrand. The only untouchable asset was the logo.
As a premium drinks company there was an aspiration to shift to a more luxury feel. At the same time examine and redefine new, more contemporary visual codes. Less of a black, heavy, masculine feel. Showing tradition and craft but in a more progressive way, and adding a sense of optimism and creativity through light and colour. A strategic platform was developed from the brief resulting in Alchemy as the creative idea. Diageo as the perfect blend of people and brands.
The core visual device was called Liquid magic, a blend of glass and liquid. A series of textures were developed in collaboration with Form Films using cloth-based forms and shapes which were then painted with a glass and liquid-like finish using Cinema 4D. Each one was animated with a set of stills captured along a timeline to create high resolution backgrounds. Texture colours were inspired by classic brands, for example; amber for Johnnie Walker, red for Smirnoff and green for Tanqueray.
The combination of two fonts was designed to create a typographic alchemy. The mixing and blending of colours into graduations and an elegant compositional style was designed to create a visual alchemy. Collaboration between people in photography hinted at a human chemistry.
The brand team also worked closely with the in-house digital team at Comprend to help bring the brand to life across diageo.com and social media platforms. The new site was launched in July 2022.
The brand visual identity was documented in a comprehensive guidelines and first used for the Capital Markets Day investor event in the city in November 2021. The implementation across multiple touchpoints is ongoing.
We set out to put candidates at the heart of a new, more authentic employer brand. ‘Celebrating you’ was the mantra and the basis for a narrative and manifesto. By simply being more relaxed and conversational we helped Diageo to feel more approachable, creative and relatable than their peers.
The approach to design and photography aimed to represent a warm and diverse global community and a supportive, progressive culture. Social and marketing strategy was driven by the idea of really lifting the lid on life at Diageo. We supported global teams with detailed guidelines and strategies, along with practical templates, training and creative support.
Diageo VI film
John Anderson (ECD), Nic Renn (CD), Ned Image, Rebecca Wright, Chris Yeo, Sophie Kroner (Senior Creatives)
John Anderson (ECD) Matt Hare, Sophie Kroner, Sidney Mortimer, Marine Thébault (Digital Creatives)
Form Films, Chromatic Brands, Treacle Copywriters