Hidden in “Plane” sight
A wife’s guide to marketing her reluctant silent partner, gin Style..
It goes without saying that while most partners, married or otherwise, embark on a new business project, roles will be automatically allocated based on skillsets, experience, know how, whatever get’s the job done! But what happens when a brand is created & evolves into the essence of one partner or team player in particular? Accidentally..
The story unfolds. During the first Covid 19 lockdown, while Colm, a decommissioned commercial airline pilot, donned the wellies and proceeded to paint fences, plant trees and catch up on the myriad of neglected projects that existed in every household at the time, his wife Marie Ann dreamed of creating just one final product, for old times sake. A former employee of an airline concessionaire in Ireland, Retail in Motion, in the early noughties, and a cabin crew member of Aer Lingus in the 90’s, her instinct was drawn to creating, as they say, “what you know”. “I know gin, I know aviation, and I know Colm!” Marie Ann surmised.
Marie Ann saw the brand profile as thoroughly Irish, specifically,Irish Aviation, and paying homage to the original Runway 28 at Dublin Airport, Ireland’s primary gateway and launchpad to the rest of the world for decades. She saw the brand as essentially masculine, with it’s whiskey like appearance, having label shades of black and gold ,and using the iconic DC 3/Dakota on the bottle, an aircraft that served on the military front-line, and laterally as a stalwart of the new aviation cargo industry, that emerged mid-20th century. A tenacious, no nonsense aircraft, that tied in nicely with the down to earth contents of her 700ml bottle, a classic mixture of botanicals, with just a hint of spice!
“They say that every artist, painter, writer, product maker, inventor, is driven by a need to create, but with an underlying thought for necessity, but all creators are reputedly influenced by their surroundings, and their experience” said Marie Ann, “therefore, I believe that brands are created within one’s sub-conscious!”
Either way, a little bottle of what I love, Runway 28 gin (a Guaranteed Irish Product) is now available to buy online at www.listokedistillery.ie .It is stocked at D-Six beers, wines, spirits, located at Harold’s Cross Dublin 6W and at the following bars, both nationwide & abroad : Runway 28 Rooftop Bar & Terrace at the Carlton Hotel Dublin Airport — The Skylon Hotel, Dublin Airport — Peggy Kelly’s Dublin 6W — The Blackrock Bar, Co. Dublin — Moss Lane, Pearse Street, Dublin 2-The Railway Bar, Bundoran Co. Donegal- The Great Northern Hotel, Bundoran Co. Donegal- The Birds Nest, Bundoran Co. Donegal -The Bee’s Knees Gin Bar, San Blas, Tenerife — The Harp & Shamrock, San Blas, Tenerife — Finnegan’s Bar at Can Pastilla, Majorca.
