Written by As someone who was in middle school in the mid-1990s, Dre and Snoop were as cool as you could get. Granted, I knew the radio-edited versions of their hits more than the actual albums… It’s with this context that we present this month’s shelf standout: Gin & Juice by Dre and Snoop.
Seen
The strong visibility of this design is due less to a strong combination of novel structure and contrasting colors, but rather the power of surprise and delight through the use of key visuals. The package works pretty well with a clean white background paired with the contrasting colors of the low-riders at the bottom of the can. But what drew me in was the Parental Advisory label. This single image brought me back to being a middle-schooler scanning CD shelves at Best Buy or a friend’s collection, posturing as a rebellious teen and listening to songs that would have horrified my parents. There was power in that label, and its deeper meanings aligned perfectly with the West Coast hip-hop icons who wrote and recorded songs like Gin & Juice.
Understood
I found this product at a convenience store in the ready-to-drink (RTD) cocktail section, which gave me a strong expectation that Gin & Juice was an RTD cocktail. The primary driver of understanding was seeing the nostalgic Parental Advisory label along with the low-rider. Following these visuals, I then saw the words Gin & Juice, and everything made perfect sense. If there’s opportunity for improvement, it’s around flavor communication. Connecting the juice/flavor type with the color of the car by placing them closer together could drive more immediate understanding of the flavor varieties.
Wanted
For being a new alcohol brand, Gin & Juice couldn’t have brought stronger emotional equities to the forefront. The product feels targeted toward people in their 40s who grew up with West Coast hip-hop and want to relive the magic. The single-serve category in the convenience-store channel makes it a low-risk trial and makes it easy to try more than one flavor. I’m not sure what to expect when it comes to the actual taste, but that isn’t why I would buy it. The novelty and nostalgic benefit would drive trial with fairly low expectations. However, a great-tasting product could get this included in the repertoire for future trips.
Gin & Juice is seen on shelf thanks to clean color pairings and nostalgic key visuals. It’s understood through category placement and easy-to-follow front-of-pack design. Ultimately, it is wanted by providing a novel and nostalgic product geared toward shoppers hoping to relive the magic of the 1990s.