Wedge refreshes the identity of 'Canada's Cocktail'

Montreal and LA-based studio Wedge has been behind the brand evolution of Mott's Clamato Caesar, "Canada's Cocktail", since 1969. If you're not a local, think of this drink as the Canadian Bloody Mary - the cocktail you always saw your parents enjoying growing up at every BBQ, holiday party and brunch special.

After its successful modernisation of Canada Dry, the Keurig Dr Pepper team brought Wedge on to refresh Mott's Clamato Caesar, another icon in its portfolio awaiting revival. Appealing to a new generation of cocktail lovers was central to the brief and - with the rollout of new flavours from Pickled Bean to Lime and Extra Spicy - the identity needed to support Mott's ambition to go beyond the classic original cocktail and expand the expression.

Having already achieved great results for the client, Wedge was confident that they would work well with the internal creatives. "A strong relationship is mutually collaborative, never dictatorial, where solutions come with strategic rationales, thinking is shared, and curious questions are asked," says Wedge founder and chief design officer Justin Lortie. "The Mott's team behind this one deserves a round of applause."

In Canada, there are polarizing opinions on the Caesar cocktail; people love it or hate it. When Wedge conducted ethnographic studies across the country, it quickly became clear that flavour was at the heart of why people love drinking Caesars, including the new generation.

In homage to its distinctive taste, the brand platform, 'Bring on the Flavour', informed the strategic narrative and visual world.

Competitor analysis also revealed that there are few similar options out there, aside from more "craft cocktails" and less accessible offerings. Instead, Wedge turned to the food category for inspiration, tapping into a world of flavours to express Clamato's unique portfolio of taste offerings: Spicy, Salty, Savory, Zesty, Peppery, Fiery, Umami, Limey, Tangy, Briny, etc.

"It's a rich universe that allowed us to not only evolve the brand world but add more richness to it, standing out from the category with the permission to own a bold, tasty and personality-filled universe," says Lortie.

Heritage will always have its place in a brand as iconic as Clamato, but its identity has gone unchanged for decades and started to become a little bit dated. To reach the new generation and solidify its reputation as "Canada's Cocktail", it needed a boost in perception, relevancy, and desire, and so Wedge refreshed the brand holistically across the full experience.

According to Lortie, the most important asset the brand has carried over the years is the classic and iconic Caesar cocktail image. He says: "There's a researched effect they call 'the Caesar effect' — when you see one, you want one.

"We embraced the glass but modernised it, knowing it had to play a central role and, beyond this, other key assets were honoured to maintain strong brand recognition, including the navy brand colour, the "Caesar" script, and the Mott's logo."

While the iconic Mott's Clamato Caesar glass is central to the brand's identity, Lortie reveals that it was also the most challenging to solve. The studio had to consider everything from the choice of glass shape and garnishes to the way it looks on the packaging. The solution was a 3D iteration, which allows for a seamless adaptation across all flavours and more flexibility in its integration across packaging.

From a production point of view, printing the glass artwork on aluminium cans with only six spot colours added another layer of complexity. "Achieving the equivalent vibrancy of a full CMYK process required meticulous colour separation," says Lortie.

"Keep in mind most of the spot colours need to be the brand's base colours, so you're truly left with one last colour to pick to bring the mix together."

After multiple rounds of testing, the design team got to the desired result.

Graphic refinements began with a custom-drawn wordmark, designed to feel timeless, bold, and elevated while honouring the namesake's iconic status and carrying the brand into the future. The wordmark lives free of the badge throughout the brand world, standing on its own for greater flexibility. The broader visual system was then simplified, with certain elements being streamlined for a more modern, impactful look.

Lortie says, "To infuse character and personality, we introduced a new brand font, Goudy Bold, with a quirky meets classic persona.

"This choice brings both a bold and fun tone to the system, with all the quirks you can find in the letters that are quite unusual, as seen in the wave in the x or the uppercase A, for example."

Charm and personality are further reinforced through the verbal identity, which always seeks to amplify 'what it tastes like' with strong use of colourful, flavour-focused adjectives. "Think of Mott's Clamato Caesar as the dinner party host, making everyone feel welcome at the table, great food, great drinks (always topped up), lively music, engaging conversation, and laughs," says Lortie.

Wedge's scope of work also encompassed Mott's Clamato Caesar packaging across its diverse portfolio, from its alcoholic RTD and non-alc to its variety of formats and multiple flavours. Lortie notes how the design team ensured that the brand as a whole would be consistent across all applications but expressed a particular fondness for the boxes.

He says, "They play a pivotal role in retail as the main touchpoint, a billboard. We were able to bring strikingly bold brand impact in this setting. When stacked in a store, the repetition creates a brand moment."