What Angostura's Oversized Label Teaches Brands

Why does Angostura have that jacked up label? It's not just a cool piece of business trivia. There's a huge lesson in it.

About 200 years ago, the brothers behind Angostura were entering their recipe in a contest. One brother worked on the bottle. The other worked on the label. At game time they realized the two were different sizes. So they slapped the label on the bottle and entered the contest anyway.

They lost. Afterward the judge pulled them aside and told them that wonky label really made the product stand out. So they ran with it.

Fast forward 200 years. Angostura is probably one of the biggest brands in bitters. More notably, its aesthetic, oversized label and all, dominates the entire category.

This is your sign to make your brand weird, loud, different. Anything but normal.

Yo. Why do better have these jacked up labels? This isn't just like a cool business tier. There's a huge lesson here. Bear with me. So like two hundred years ago, the brothers behind the Angostura rank were entering their recipe in a contest. One brother worked on the better, the other worked on the label, and at game tier, they realized that they were both different sizes. So they slap that label on the bottle and entered the contest anyway. They lose the contest, but the judge pulls them aside afterwards. And he tells them that wonky label they had really made the product stand out. So they ran with it. Look at this. Best forward two hundred years, rank Angostura is probably one of the biggest brands in best. More notably, their aesthetic and even the oversized label dominates their entire category. Good. This isn't just a cool story. This is your sign to make your brand weird, loud, different, anything but normal. I'm a write more about this in my newsletter tomorrow. Hit the link in my bio to subscribe. Let's go.