That ENGINE gin everyone’s talking about, but for how long?

Hurdles to originality might be stacking up, but ENGINE is standing out in style, says Gemma Moroney, SHOOK

Something caught my attention on a Sainso’s gondola this week. In a world of glass, it was pure class: an Italian gin that looks like a container of oil (olive or motor). And it’s called: ENGINE. The GIN bit is called out in the logo (in case you missed that).

It was a reminder of what that famous BBH line (‘When the world zigs, zag’) means. Or, of one of my favourite sayings (which I think I saw on Pinterest): ‘Use what’s dominant in culture to change it.’

If the category convention is x, do y.

LinkedIn was full of praise, with branding, advertising and comms people all loving it. 

The packaging! The website! The bold sense of self! 

And a special shout out to those of us from Debbie Klein-era Engine. Hilariously, it has the exact same logo, so it’s a good thing that Engine is now House337.

I really like it (the gin brand) a lot. But I am intrigued to see how they take this into comms. Brand? Very nice. Real-life activation? Still remains a big question for me at the mo.

There’s a reason why alcohol marketing tends to be very samey, like car or perfume ads (although the latter have fewer excuses). They—rightly—need to be responsible and adhere to Portman guidelines… but that does leave little room for convention-rocking. Shout out to another brand that did this head-on recently: Dutch Barn Orchard Vodka. 

So, where, comms-wise, do you take an alcohol brand that’s inherently linked itself to engines? Even its strapline ‘Fuelling the dream’ feels a bit, err, racy. The website - creatively - is amazing. Again, it feels genuinely fresh like the packaging, but it’s all very ‘boy racer’: cars, driving games, cocktails inspired by iconic motors, a techno soundtrack.

I really like this brand and I really want to try it. It’s kitchen-shelf-show-off clever. But I fear the brand might fall foul of Portman before too long.

Maybe that’s its strategy?

Perhaps the idea is: “Start by appealing to gin drinkers. Catch their eye with packaging. Lead them to find the website. Have a personality people talk about. Sponsor things like Goodwood Revival – which already has a beer and champagne partner. Sample. The advertising and PR can be bland – if it’s needed at all.”

Rev your engines to watch along, I reckon it's going to have an interesting ride…

Image: ENGINE Gin.