Brandy drinkers in India were found to be switching to whisky after a few years, since there were no premium brandy options available for upgrading customers. Since India doesn't have any specialists in bottle design, we were asked to create ideas for a bottle, and the packaging, for the launch of India's most premium brandy - Morpheus.

Since liquor cannot be openly advertised in India, the bottle had to be distinctive, attract attention and generate word-of-mouth publicity with its shape and design. We were also limited by the necessity to have a pilfer-proof 'guala' cap that requires a minimum thickness for the bottle's neck, which prevented us from making the stem of the inverted-brandy-goblet thinner.

In spite of being a new brand at a substantially higher price point than others, Morpheus has been very well-received by consumers and retailers. In just a few months after its launch, with almost no mass media advertising support, it has found placement in more than 75% of its relevant universe of A-class retail outlets. Of those, over 90% have generated repeat orders for Morpheus. There has been a great response from consumers too, and it looks like Morpheus may have created a new segment in the market as new brands are now being launched at comparable prices.

It was a brutally simple idea. Brandy is one of the few spirits that has a distinct goblet associated with its consumption. Turning it upside down gave us not only a unique bottle shape (with the help of a wide-brimmed cap), but also a marketing tool to generate word-of-mouth about the new brandy.