Sipsmith Gin
Introducing the Art of Wordsmithery to a most pleasingly particular distillery
Tone of voice
As seen in TV commercials, Mr. Swan is the self-appointed CEO of Sipsmith Gin. A devilish bon viveur, full of disarming charm and comedic overconfidence, he was auditioning to be the new face of the brand. Could we make him front and centre of the all-new Sipsmith Tone of Voice guidelines?
The art of wordsmithery
Sipsmith single-handedly launched the gin renaissance when in 2009 they distilled the first new London gin in almost two centuries. Since then, there have been a lot of imitators, producing small batch gins in medicinal-looking bottles, but few quite mastered the art like Sipsmith.
To reflect an updated brand positioning, our brief was to develop Mr. Swan’s character, tentatively placing him front and centre as the new voice of Sipsmith. To do this, we crafted zillions of examples of light-hearted brand comms straight from the swan’s mouth.
In parallel, we refined the tone of voice principles for Sipsmith Gin. Anchored by a new approach we called the Art of Wordsmithery, this light-hearted but nuanced approach to copy (more G&T, less GPT), encapsulates the brand’s distinctively British charm and purpose.