Juggernaut Hillside Cabernet

Design: Auston Design Group
Project Type: Produced, Commercial Work
Client: Juggernaut Wines
Printer: CCL Label
Photography: Paul Kirchner Studios
Location: Emeryville, CA
Packaging Contents: Wine, Cabernet, Cabernet Sauvignon, California
Packaging Substrate / Materials: Glass Bottle, Paper
Printing Process: Digital Printing

Disrupt and violate — wine marketing buzz words of the day, and for good reason, considering the critical need to command attention on shelf and across social media platforms in today’s highly competitive and overly saturated wine market segment.

Disrupt and violate...these words were the charge behind our approach when developing the branding and package design for JUGGERNAUT, a new California hillside cabernet sauvignon brand. The name alone connotes a powerful, unstoppable force — which is congruent with the wine’s big, velvety, fruit forward flavor profile.

Targeted to appeal to the millennial and Gen-X consumer, everything about this brand positioning is intended to be intense and extreme. The powerful graphic novel style illustration of The Beast commands attention, while its warm, muted color palette evokes the autumnal hues of a vineyard during harvest season. The unexpected addition of a shock of electric teal takes it to the next level of edgy.

The maverick approach of having nothing on the face label but the illustration and brand name would be considered risky and ill-conceived by many, but our belief is that this renegade approach will command attention, entice curiosity, and encourage consumers to take the bottle in hand to find out just what this unusual wine package is about. Once they do, we are that much closer to having them drop it into their shopping basket.

The use of a hefty, masculine bottle reinforces the theme. The thinking behind the departure from the expected course of using a traditional wine capsule was that it would further substantiate the non-conformist positioning of the brand, reduce packaging costs, and help reduce some of the environmental impact inherent with wine packaging.

JUGGERNAUT launched in April 2018. Its official debut to the trade was on May 1st at the annual ‘Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America’ (WSWA) convention in Las Vegas, where it garnered much praise and attention. We are confident this brand is going to be an Unstoppable Force for years to come.