Package Design - January/February 2015 - 60

field

NOTES

the verdict

the packaging

Premium for Plastic
Was the choice to use
plastic packaging for a
premium vodka brand a
good call?
Sazerac Company's Platinum 7X Vodka
is an award-winning, ultra-smooth
American-made vodka distilled seven
times from high-quality Midwest grain,
bottled in plastic. "The uncrashable
Platinum 7X packaging is ideal for
making the most of a favorite sporting
event," says Tracey Clapp, marketing
director, vodka. "The smooth taste and
convenient packaging combine for a
memorable experience every time."
The brand contends that plastic
packaging is a good fit because it's
more breakage resistant than the glass
bottles typically seen for this spirits segment. While the brand uses category

 Platinum 7X Vodka is an amazing awardwinning liquid with a very unique story, it
should shake off its worries and become
the leader that it deserves to be. Employing
some of the standard vodka category
codes and borrowing language from a
premium beer brand only gives the
impression of a brand with a lack of
confidence. Perhaps this behavior is due to
a nervousness about its PET bottle format
and the leaning on the familiar is a way of
disguising it?
Natalie Alexander

co-founder at ButterflyCannon

 When launching a new product such as
vodka, you should use glass bottles first.
Only once the product has been accepted

language, such as a cobalt blue bottle,
that signals a premium alcoholic beverage experience, Sazerac is taking a risk
in choosing plastic for an award-winning 80-proof vodka. (Platinum 7X
received two consecutive gold medals

in the San Francisco World Spirits Competition in the vodka category.)
Will this risky move pay off or does it
deliver too strong of a hit to Platinum
7X's brand equity? Package Design
readers weigh in.

by the consumers and has strong equity
amongst its competitors should plastic be
considered. That said, I can see how a
product launch in plastic timed to debut
during a major sporting event could
generate buzz.

resins are food safe and reduce solid waste,
and they can be injection molded for large
volume.

James Anderson

 While elegant, fussy and intricate, glass
bottles will probably always be the
standard for high-end and small-batch
vodkas. I do think, though, there's plenty of
room for previously "low-rent" approaches
deployed in innovative ways-following in
the long line of screw-top closures, boxes,
pouches, etc. This design is striking and
clean, but probably too masculine to be
taken seriously by all vodka vanguards.

owner and creative director at Anderson Creative

 Moving to plastic is in the right direction
in terms of breakage resistance, and the
blue color is attractive and energizing. As
an eco-conscious brandowner, I hope and
encourage Sazerac Company to use an
eco-friendly polymer, such as polylactic
acid, which is corn-based and decomposes
rapidly, or highly recyclable PET for
Platinum 7X Vodka's packaging. These

Anita Redd

president of Anita's Balm

Tim Lapetino

vice president and creative director at Pivot Design

WANT TO HAVE YOUR PACKAGE DESIGN HIGHLIGHTED in this column or comment on future, spotlighted package designs?
Contact Linda Casey at linda.casey@stmediagroup.com and type "Field Notes" in the email subject line.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015

Package Design - January/February 2015

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Package Design - January/February 2015