“The initial thought behind Baileys Irish Cream took about 30 seconds,” writes David Gluckman in the Irish Times. “In another 45 minutes the idea was formed.” His captivating tale has it all, from a crazy gamble on “a lovely May morning” to the initial label designs to the worthless focus groups (seriously, why does anyone do these?) to the billionth bottle sold in 2007.
There’s one part of the story, though, that hits a little too close to home for me:
“Names can be tough and often really easy to reject with a comment like ‘I just don’t like it’. Being words, not graphic designs, they are within everyone’s purview so anyone can reject them.”
Boy howdy, is that ever true.
