You might not know his name, but chances are you’ve come across a drink shaped by Hamish Campbell’s work.
As executive creative director at branding and design agency Denomination, Campbell works on the branding and packaging strategies behind drinks brands including 19 Crimes, Fever-Tree and Penfolds. He has also previously led strategic branding and packaging design for non-alcoholic spirits brand Seedlip.
His work comes at a time when consumers are rethinking their relationship with alcohol. According to Gallup, the proportion of adults who drink in the US fell to a record low of 54% in 2025. In the UK, the average adult consumed 10.2 alcoholic drinks a week last year – the lowest level since IWSR began collecting data in 1990 and down more than a quarter from its peak of 14 drinks two decades ago.
Financial pressures, health concerns and an ageing population are among the factors contributing to lower consumption in Britain, according to IWSR, raising questions about how drinks brands can maintain relevance as consumer habits evolve.
“I don’t necessarily think people aren’t drinking. I think they’re drinking differently,” Campbell says.
For him, the opportunity lies in looking beyond established categories and traditions to understand the occasions consumers actually want to drink for.
Challenging established drinking occasions
The pandemic changed how people socialised, and Campbell believes this is particularly relevant when considering the experiences of newer drinkers.
He points to the shift towards online interaction during Covid-19 as one factor influencing how people experienced socialising.
For drinks brands, this raises a question: how do you connect with consumers when the occasions that traditionally brought people together are changing?
“They’re not going to the pub like we did, they don’t do Friday Happy Hour at work and so forth. They meet socially online on gaming platforms. They’d rather be in a spontaneous moment when they may meet a friend, have a conversation, and then have a drink,” Campbell says.
The answer, he suggests, starts with understanding the social situations in which people want to drink. Rather than focusing solely on the category a product belongs to, brands need to consider the role it can play in a particular moment – whether that is a night out, a casual get-together or a different kind of social occasion.
They’re not going to the pub like we did, they don’t do Friday Happy Hour at work and so forth. They meet socially online on gaming platforms. They’d rather be in a spontaneous moment when they may meet a friend, have a conversation, and then have a drink.
Hamish Campbell
From the pub to the park: Creating new drinking occasions
Rethinking drinking occasions doesn’t necessarily mean inventing an entirely new product. It can also mean finding a different role for an existing one, whether through its serve, positioning or the social setting in which it is consumed.
Whisky, for example, could move beyond traditional serves into lighter, fresher drinks that appeal to different occasions. Campbell sees potential in options such as sparkling lemon drinks made with mid-proof whisky.
Campbell points to Mr Fancy, a concept associated with Sazerac and Liquid Death that reimagines sparkling wine for more casual occasions.
“It has kind of taken a sparkling champagne and put it into this beer/golf/backyard category. So, champagne doesn’t have to be a big expensive celebration or for your 21st birthday, wedding or graduation. You could crack one open on a Thursday afternoon or go and play golf or pickleball,” he says.
The same thinking extends beyond traditional drinking settings. Run clubs are another example, bringing people together for exercise before some head for a beer afterwards. Campbell sees this as evidence of how alcohol can fit into social occasions built around other activities.
He also highlights the emergence of alcoholic drinks featuring electrolytes or other cues associated with hydration products. While these products are not necessarily positioning themselves as sports drinks, Campbell sees them as part of a wider shift towards more casual drinking experiences that can sit alongside consumers’ active lifestyles.
For brands, the challenge is to understand what consumers want from these moments and how a product can fit naturally into them.
Standing out in a crowded market
Once a brand identifies an occasion, it still needs to give consumers a reason to choose it. In a crowded drinks market, that means finding ways to stand out beyond the product itself, whether through distinctive packaging, a playful identity or a story that captures consumers’ attention.
For BuzzBallz, that point of difference lies in its playful personality and distinctive format. Its bright colours, unusual shape and easy-to-open packaging make it instantly recognisable, while its relatively small format lends itself to casual drinking occasions.
Campbell believes the brand has also benefited from playing down the perceived seriousness of alcohol. “I think this idea of almost playing down this sort of seriousness of alcohol is just kind of fun,” he says.
Its appeal extends beyond the packaging, with the brand tapping into social interactions and online trends. Campbell points to TikTok games such as “BuzzBall bombing”, in which someone throws a BuzzBall towards a group of friends for another person to catch.
While BuzzBallz leans into fun and social engagement, other brands take a different approach to standing out. For 19 Crimes, the draw lies in its historical storytelling, which gives consumers a reason to pick up the bottle and find out more.
“You get brought in by the sort of intrigue of the story and that kind of depth,” Campbell says.
“There’s like a belief in the brand because there’s a story behind it and authenticity, which makes me believe that there’s quality about it without having to talk about the wine.”
For Campbell, that storytelling helps establish an expectation of quality before consumers have even tasted the wine. But the branding can only go so far if the product itself fails to deliver.
“You then have to deliver on the product to make you pick up a second bottle,” he says. “The product has to back it up.”
This highlights the balance brands must strike between creating a compelling identity and delivering an experience that encourages consumers to return.
Reinventing without losing brand identity
While a strong identity can help a brand stand out, maintaining that appeal over time means knowing how to evolve without losing sight of what made it successful in the first place.
Traditionally, mixers were often treated as secondary to spirits. Fever-Tree helped change that perception by making the quality of the mixer part of the overall drinking experience.
“They’ve done a brilliant job,” says Campbell. “Your mixer is just as important; a bad tonic can ruin your gin.”
Reinvention doesn’t always mean launching something completely new. It can also mean changing how consumers perceive an existing product and the value they attach to it.
For established brands, the challenge is finding new ways to appeal to consumers while maintaining the heritage and prestige they have built. Australian wine brand Penfolds, for example, has worked with artists including Nigo to connect with younger audiences.
“They’ve done a really good job of how they’ve balanced connection of interest of a younger audience while keeping the status of kind of the brand,” says Campbell.
He adds that Penfolds’ broad portfolio, which spans different price points, gives it greater flexibility to appeal to different consumers without compromising its premium positioning.
How far a brand can stretch
While new collaborations, products and positioning can help brands reach new audiences, any move into a different drinking occasion needs to feel credible.
“I always struggle to believe Baileys could be like a drink you have on the beach,” Campbell says.
The challenge is finding new opportunities that still make sense for the brand. While breaking with tradition can open up new possibilities, moving too far from what consumers associate with a product risks diluting its identity.
As drinking habits continue to evolve, brands face growing pressure to find new ways to stay relevant. Whether it’s creating new drinking occasions, standing out through packaging and storytelling, or appealing to younger consumers, Campbell believes brands need to understand what consumers want while knowing what sets them apart.
And in a crowded market, simply launching another drink is not enough. Brands need to offer something distinctive and give consumers a reason to choose them. As Campbell says: “You have to dig deep and love your point of difference. Why do you exist?”
