brands Dean & DeLuca   

Challenge
Dean & DeLuca recently brought International Wine Accessories (IWA) into its fold of products that fire the imagination and turn entertaining into a creative exercise. To achieve maximum exposure for its new product line, the purveyor of upscale gourmet foods sought a fresh approach, choosing us to design, art direct and produce a series of fall/holiday wine and accessory catalogs. Making the project even more challenging, Dean & DeLuca planned to market its broad selection of wine under its name, while continuing to offer the wide range of accessories under the legacy IWA brand. Finally, the company planned to issue three separate catalogs – Fall, Halloween and Holidays – for each brand.

Insight
Dean & DeLuca, world-renowned for its exclusive stores and online epicurean delights, needed to demonstrate that its fine wines and new line of accessories measured up to customers’ high expectations. It also wanted to show off the large product line in a sufficiently compelling format to invite busy patrons to spend quality time reviewing the selections and ordering in advance of the holidays.

Solution
Collaborating with Dean & DeLuca, we created two-for-one catalogs, with the Dean & DeLuca product line on one side, and the IWA line on the other. The two catalog halves were inverted, so that both appear as the front cover for their respective lines – browse through one product set, then flip the catalog over to browse the other. We drew up inviting storyboards plotting a succession of product spreads, grouped logically and to provide maximum visual impact. Then we proceeded with photoshoots for the seemingly unending stream of beautiful, practical products and fine wines that began arriving on our doorstep. The shoots included six compelling covers – three for each product line. For Halloween, a witch’s hat and broom offset a beautiful wine cabinet to introduce the IWA line while, on the flip side, a black cat curls seductively around a bottle of cabernet sauvignon. Another favorite: practical wine accessories arranged to evoke a beautiful Christmas ornament. The covers leave no doubt that there’s something special inside, and a flip through does not disappoint. Page after page, you’re drawn in by crisp layouts, fun and inviting photography and interesting, authoritative stories. We’d like one of everything, please.

Result
Dean & DeLuca, delighted with the result, got just what it wanted: a refreshingly new look and approach for its series of holiday catalogs. As with most retail outlets, the company does a disproportionate share of its annual business in the few months leading up to the holidays. The new catalogs helped the company introduce its new wine accessory line with style and kick-start another successful holiday season.