Who could be a better spokesperson to the barkeepers than our spirit itself? So the world’s first holographic message in a bottle was born: a personification of Bombay Sapphire, that acts as the Spirit within the bottle in a limited edition pack. The Message? Bombay Sapphire is infused with life: a perfect mix of Heritage, Craftsmanship and taste.

The key was to keep the regular packaging dimensions and fullfil the magic within a known format. We used simple materials to build the packaging: coated cardboard for the overall box, with Perspex to close the packaging and keep it see-through for the label and hologram. The whole pack mirrored the premium approach of Bombay Sapphire, with ingredients and how-to-use pictograms on the outside. Within the limited edition pack, the message was brought to life via a mobile phone and one simple design element: a hidden layer of Perspex, reflecting and projecting into the bottle. First prototypes showed it needed certain dimensions to give the perfect illusion. Also, the mobile compartment needed to fit all kinds of smartphones, to work within certain measurements to have the hologram always centred. Plus, it simply needed to catch the eyes of barkeepers and customers.

The limited edition pack made Bombay Sapphire visible on the bar-shelf. It influenced Barkeepers in reconsidering their recommendations when asked by a customer for a gin. The pack proved that Bombay Sapphire is truly a Spirit that has more to offer than just ‘trending’ hipster gins. You can’t replace years of heritage, experience and craftsmanship with a fancy packaging design, but you can underline it with one if you have those assets already. Sales went up and in many bars you can now find the Spirit of Bombay Sapphire playing in an endless loop for the customers.