BRAND STRATEGY • NAMING • COPYWRITING
CHARTREUSE INSPIRED SPIRIT
GREEN KEY
The clients wanted to display refined quality and all natural ingridients while challenging the historic secrecy of Chartreuse.
To capture this, we developed an identity focusing on nature and independence, nodding towards the world of secret societies while highlighting natural ingredients, rugged individuality, and meticulous design.
We also leaned into the iconic color of the inspiring liqueur while distinguishing the brand from other green spirits, such absinthe and génépi.
MISSION STATEMENT & BRAND ATTRIBUTES
ENLIGHTENED • PREMIUM • ALL NATURAL
Green Key represents the idea that the only thing locking us out of the world is our limited perspective.
Green Key is a carefully crafted spirit walking the line between wilderness and culture. Dressed in a meticulously designed bottle and made using over fifty herbs, roots, and flowers, Green Key celebrates the natural worlds while saying, “If you want to join a secret society, you’re already a member of ours.”
NAMING
We undertook an in-depth naming process with the clients, searching for something that conveyed their focus on quality natural ingredients and the newfound accessibility the product offered.
“Green” is a stand-in for the natural world, connecting the product to its natural origins and the bright, herbal quality of the taste. Its simplicity also separates it from competitors, many of which channel the same euro-centric pretentiousness as Chartreuse.
“Key” is a signifier of freedom and flexibility. The product is handing the key to the consumer, the opposite of a locked monastery or snobby club.
These words combine to suggest an otherworldly object, conjuring a simple but magic image.
GREEN KEY WORLD BUILDING
The world is filled with doors we can’t see. Founded on this belief, a secret society once vowed to make a key that could open every lock. They succeeded, then quickly saw their mistake.
They hid the key and began bottling the spirit used in their rituals to remind them of the truth they had discovered. The only door is the one in your mind, and everyone is born with the key to their lock.
WORLD BUILDING
To reinforce the name, we built a world consumers could step into. The starting position—that there are things in the world that stand in our way—opens with empathy. In the next step, introducing the secret society, the brand puts its arm around the consumer’s shoulders. Rather than paint the image of a private society with a limited supply of a drink you’re lucky to have, Green Key invites you in, telling the consumer they’re already a member.
This worldbuilding gave texture to the name, helped cement the brand in consumers’ minds, and made the product recognizable but distinct within the market.
UNLOCK POSSIBILITY
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THE WAY IS WAITING
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INVISIBLE DOORS NEED INVISIBLE KEYS
SLOGANS
The product name suggests a singular, mythic object. Driving home the brand world, the slogans further connect the brand to secret societies, while highlighting its egalitarian message. The slogans hint at adventure and possibility, and put agency in the hands of the consumer.
The command to “unlock,” the suggestion that a wider world is waiting, and the implication that the consumer can overcome whatever is standing in their way—these frames all work to draw in potential customers.