Chinese New Year and Valentine’s Day occurred one day apart this year. Diageo’s Johnnie Walker Blue Label and Tussock Jumper Wines dressed up for one of the occasions each. Johnnie Walker Blue Label donned traditional finery for Chinese New Year. Tussock Jumper Wines wore the latest creative technology for Valentine’s Day.
Diageo’s Johnnie Walker isn’t nearly as old as Chinese New Year, but both are woven with strong threads of heritage and tradition. Diageo usually creates a special edition Johnnie Walker for Chinese New Year. This year’s packaging is especially clever. To get the full effect, you need to buy four bottles.
Johnnie Walker Blue Label Year of the Ram makes use of the fact that Mandarin has a pictorial alphabet and each character has a story with cultural significance behind it.
The character for Ram is the root of the characters, Auspicious and Beautiful. So it is associated with good fortune. Decorations in the shape of rams or sheep are also emblems of beauty and the animal represents unswerving determination and the ability to conquer ever higher peaks.
So the Johnnie Walker Blue Label Year of the Ram limited edition packaging features traditional Chinese ink painting techniques that merge visual art and calligraphy. The bottle carries the written character for the Ram in the Walking Style script and an illustration of the ram standing in a distinguished position, a traditional reference to the Book of Changes signifying a New Year of great fortune.
According to Diageo, the design marries traditional Chinese ceramic artistry with the House of Walker’s meticulous art of blending.
Prominently displayed on the bottle is Johnnie Walker's Royal Warrant, bestowed by British King George V, and its iconic slanted 24 degree label. If four bottles are placed side by side, they unfold in to a single image, like a Chinese scroll painting. This limited edition is therefore of particular value to collectors.
Despite the urban myth, Valentine’s Day was not created by Hallmark in 1913. Even before the Trojan War, a fertility festival called Lupercalia was observed from February 13 to 15. But Hallmark’s story of the origin of Valentine’s Day is at least romantic: “During the third century, theologian and teacher, Valentinus, was imprisoned for his Christian beliefs and sentenced to death. While jailed, Valentinus restored the sight of his jailer’s blind daughter. The night before he died, Valentinus wrote a farewell note to the girl, which he signed, “From Your Valentine.” His sentence was carried out the next day, Feb. 14, 269 A.D.”
Hallmark denies that it turned Valentine’s Day into the longest marketing campaign in the world - 102 years old with tens of thousands of other brands jumping on board. Tussock Jumper Wines got on board this year with a new-gen approach.
It combined a mobile app with on-pack QR coding, so that gift givers can add a digital message to specially marked bottles. The object of their love then uses the app to receive the message.
Sadly, the app was only available to Tussock Jumper wine purchasers in New York city, but the concept is being exhibited at trade fairs throughout the world this year.
The packaging designers added a neck tag to selected bottles with a large QR code and the written invitation, “Scan your message with a bottle.”
To tag the QR code with something personal, consumers start by scanning the code with their smartphone. This sends them to the app store, where they can download the free Tussock Jumper Celebration app for either iPhone or Android.
Next they open the app, tap “tag” to scan the QR code again and are prompted to add their message, which the app uploads automatically. Messages can incorporate new or existing video or voice clips, music, photos, text, an email address or a phone number.
To retrieve a message, the recipient opens the app, taps “scan” and uses any QR reader to scan the code. The app automatically loads the message.
Consumers also can use the app to learn about the Tussock Jumper brand, find nearby stores that carry it and read tasting notes about its products.
Tussock Jumper’s QR-coded bottles will be available throughout February in select stores in New York City. The brand owner also plans to exhibit the concept at professional wine fairs in Russia and Germany this year.
