Rambler Brand Extension & Advertising Campaign

Rambler is known for their Sparkling Water and Yaupon Energy Drinks that capture the hearts of Texas locals. What if this Austin-based brand created a beverage with an alcoholic twist? Introducing Rambler Spiked Seltzer. Let the real Ramblin’ begin.

The Creative Process

Challenge

Tyler Kitchens, Creative Director at TracyLocke, challenged me to develop an alcoholic beverage for Rambler. Rambler currently sells Sparkling Water and Yaupon Energy beverages, but doesn’t sell any alcoholic beverages. The brand partners with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Association and American Rivers. They have a clear mission to conserve the nature of Texas. Rambler targets Austinites and Texans who enjoy the great outdoors and spend time in the nature Rambler works to conserve. This presented the challenge of reflecting Rambler’s values and strong brand through new packaging and advertising that would reach the brand’s specific audience.

Process

The process of developing a new product for Rambler began with research and deciding on the product’s positioning. Research was conducted into Rambler’s existing brand, and other hard seltzer packaging & advertising. Rambler currently focuses on daytime consumption of Yaupon Energy and Sparkling Water drinks to give the consumer energy in the morning and hydration throughout the day. This revealed an opportunity to position the alcoholic beverage as a nighttime drink that would round out the time of day consumers could drink a Rambler beverage. From this positioning, package design and subsequent advertising were developed.

Solution

The solution is Rambler Spiked Seltzer. A product that can be enjoyed after a long day of Ramblin’. A product that conveys the distinct personality of Rambler’s Sparkling Water and Yaupon Energy drinks with a nighttime twist. The packaging maintains consistency with the Sparkling Water packaging by repeating the nature scenery and the organization of typography. However, the Spiked Seltzer package introduces a nighttime setting with people sitting by a campfire to reference the idea of taking a load off at the end of the day. Subsequent advertising was developed to further the idea of the experience associated with consuming Rambler Spiked Seltzer.