Whilst most cognac brands celebrate their French provenance, Courvoisier has a uniquely Parisian heritage. The brand’s heyday was rooted in a distinct period of Parisian history – the ‘golden age’ – when industry, art and innovation were at their peak. Created by two Parisian entrepreneurs in the suburb of Bercy, Courvoisier became the toast of Paris when it was served at the spectacular opening of the Eiffel Tower in 1889. In short, the brand had been hiding a rich story that was as compelling as it was distinctive. Our brief was to tell that story through design.

The architecture and artistry of the Parisian Golden age was our inspiration. The creative idea of ‘strength and beauty’ was our lens through which we tried to capture the inventive, creative spirit of Paris itself – a spirit epitomised by the Eiffel Tower – and evolve it into a distinctive visual brand language.

Courvoisier became the toast of Paris when it was served at the spectacular opening ceremony of the Eiffel Tower in 1889. To celebrate this unique link to the city, the new brand mark directly echoes what people saw when looking up from beneath the Tower on that ceremonial night.

To continue this story, we illustrated each bottle with intricate patterns to evoke the lattice-like girders of Paris’s most famous landmark. By contrasting purple and gold, we were able to deliver something both unexpected and striking within the category.

The new look creates a flexible design language that gives the brand a complex and cohesive feel, allowing expressions such as VS, VSOP and XO to be individual yet part of the whole. It also provided the visual glue that could hold different media together – beyond packaging and through to gifting, printed communication and advertising.

“The brand transformation celebrates Courvoisier’s unique Parisian heritage and

luxury credentials in an innovative, modern way and represents a step-change in our plans to grow Courvoisier’s market share globally. We are already delivering a strong performance across many key markets and expect the new campaign to accelerate this growth.” Francois Bazini, VP International Marketing, Beam Suntory

Following the re-launch, initial results have been promising. Consumer feedback has demonstrated an increase in premiumisation, which in turn has helped the brand reduce its reliance on price promotion to attract attention. The new design has also been shown to drive standout on shelf, which has supported a 10% increase in volume sales in the UK alone. (Data: Beam Suntory)