Kromanti Rum Brand Book
“If you’re a rum drinker, you will no doubt be aware that this spirit is made from sugar cane that was most likely produced in tropical climates by enslaved and indentured dark-skinned people. However, the relationship between the sugar trade and forced labour is frequently romanticised by spirits drinks brands and their loyal followers. The silence on this part of the story has been deafening… In most of the diaspora and the continent, rum still represents more than just a drink, it represents a heritage that has been forgotten by the large rum companies. A heritage that realizes the social place that Rum can play in the whole lives of people where the remands are still evident in many of their cultural and religious practices through birth celebrations, rites of passage, and life events such as marriages. Finally, Rum can be the medium to celebrate and remember loved ones who have passed on during periods of mourning or memorial.” Cashain David – Co-Founder of Kromanti Rum.
POCC worked with Kromanti Rum to define a new brand playbook with a verbal and visual identity, brand story and tagline to convey Kromanti’s vision and tamarind-infused rum product in an impactful way for consumers and the category. The brand playbook was built to harness the power of storytelling and its circular nature and reflect Kromanti’s mission: to recentre the rum narrative by creating products that explicitly call back to the true history of the African diaspora’s ancestral homelands.
Final deliverables included a brand audit and development of a new brand playbook with manifesto, tagline, brand story, design identity and templates for social communication, as well as delivery of product headshot imagery of the founders, manifesto cards and trade banners for trade events. All creative and design elements were tested with consumers and bar tenders before refinement to ensure the identity and direction was built authentically with Kromanti’s audience.
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Bless up the ancestors – they deserve it.
And so do you.
We’ve got their spirit inside us.
It speaks to our senses, laughs when we laugh, guides when we’re lost. Why would we ever dilute that?
It’s real luxury – the kind you just can’t buy.
It’s joy – the kind you cannot contain.
So don’t.
Let it ring like cut glass as you raise yours for the real ones.
KROMANTI. THE RUM FOR THE PEOPLE DEM.
