STYLISH RUFFIANS HANKEY BANNISTER COMES TO TOWN, COURTESY OF CONTAGIOUS – Scotch Whisky News
STYLISH RUFFIANS HANKEY BANNISTER COMES TO TOWN, COURTESY OF CONTAGIOUS
Having created a fresh and sophisticated visual brand style for Hankey Bannister blended whisky, Edinburgh agency Contagious brought the new look vividly to life at an exclusive bloggers’ tasting evening at Ruffians, the stylish barber shop and whisky bar in Edinburgh’s West End.
International Beverage, the brand’s owner are looking to move Hankey Bannister up a couple of notches and focus on a more youthful and discerning audience. Teaming up with stimulating venues for promotional events is key to their strategy and Ruffians was the ideal playground to reflect the brand’s positioning, SUBSTANCE WITH STYLE. Contagious created an overarching theme of vintage chic and sartorial elegance, inspired by London’s St James area, home of Savile Row and Hankey Bannister & Co’s offices from 1757 to the early 20th century.
Playing on the duality of the spirit’s founders – Hankey, a flamboyant marketer and Bannister, a restrained business man – is key to the creative strategy as Designer Director, Kay Koyama-Gore comments: “Hankey Bannister is packed with personality and idiosyncratic style so, as well as borrowing cues from the tailors of Savile Row, we took great delight in bringing to life the contrasting personalities of the founders, including designing and producing fabrics in branded patterns – flamboyant damask for Hankey and retrained herringbone for Bannister – which we used as backdrops, as swatches in a tailoring tools display and in bespoke waistcoats adorning authentic tailors’ dummies. We topped off the dummies with a bowler hat for Bannister, top hat for Hankey and some rather splendid moustaches!”
From brass handled canes, wooden dummies and original tools from picking blades and point turners to cotton reels and tailors’ chalk, Contagious sourced and commissioned an exciting range of props to style a highly tactile and inviting space in which the visiting bloggers – travelling from as far afield as Philadelphia, USA – could immerse themselves in the brand while sampling the smooth spirit.
Additional information:
Hankey Bannister is an exceptional blended Scotch that includes single malts from all five International Beverage whisky distilleries – hand selected and carefully blended to create a smooth, light and perfectly balanced blend. Hankey annister & Co was established in 1757, and their illustrious clientele included Prince Regent William IV, George V and Winston Churchill.
Today Hankey Bannister aims to bring an intriguing sense of style and sophistication to the crowded blended Scotch category.
Contagious is a creative brand agency working with clients around the world who have amazing brands. Our team of hugely talented, extraordinarily diverse, multi-disciplinary people specialise in brand communication, digital, environments and experiential design.
