Founded in 1944 and named after Welsh pirate, Sir Henry Morgan, Captain Morgan is the world’s leading rum brand. Since 2001 owned by Diageo, British drinks manufacturer. Diageo also owns such brands as Smirnoff, Baileys, Guinness and Johnny Walker.
One of the most famous brands of Rum Captain Morgan, was purchased by the Canadian company “Seagram” from the creator of the recipe, distillery owner Samuel Bronfman in 1944. It was Bronfman who came up with the composition of the famous rum, experimenting with blends in Jamaica. The brand remained under the wing of Seagram until 2001 when it was bought out by Diageo, a British multinational group of companies. Today Diageo produces about 80 million bottles a year.
The rum brand is named after Henry Morgan, a pirate from Wales, who later became governor of Jamaica. It was the pirate image that was skillfully used by marketers to actively and rapidly promote the brand. Visual identity and the right name were not the last factors that contributed to the fact that today Captain Morgan ranks 2nd among all rum labels by sales volume (after Bacardi), and 7th in the world among all alcoholic brands.
Today under the Captain Morgan brand several dozen types of rum and drinks based on it are produced. It is important to note that nowadays most of the production of Captain Morgan rum is still carried out in Jamaica, where the highest quality distillate is obtained from selected Jamaican cane and delivered to England, where the rum is aged in oak barrels.
The Captain Morgan Rum logo is a vivid example of a mascot logotype.
The iconic Captain Morgan character was created in early 1980’s by Don Maitz, American commercial artist, and remains the heart of the brand until now.
In 2017 Captain Morgan package was redesigned and became more modern, but the main details left almost untouched. There is still a pirate, proudly standing on the barrel, but the barrel is now branded.
The wordmark Captain Morgan is written in bold Thaleia font. There are three main colors – black, burgundy and gold. However, the official website color scheme uses mostly red and white.
One of the most well-known beverage logos of all times, Captain Morgan’s emblem, has its wordmark executed in a custom elegant typeface with a slight gothic feeling. The wishbone lines of come letters are complemented by sleek diagonal cuts of others and pointed tails. The iconic logotype is based on Hophus Roghus Regular, which is a smooth and sophisticated font with narrowed and tall letters.
The brown and red color palette, which is complemented with blue and yellow of the captain’s outfit, stands for the natural color of rum, its warmth, and intense taste. The color scheme of the Captain Morgan visual identity evokes a sense of high quality, royalty, and exclusiveness, pointing to the professional and fundamental approach of the brand to everything, including production, design, and packaging.