Beer brands from yesteryear - Double Diamond

Ashtray showing the Double Diamond logo

The 1970's and 80's are not always remembered for producing great beers. They tended to be bland, lower in abv and not very challenging to the taste, but love the or loathe them, some beers became big, big brands with notable marketing campaigns. One such beer was Double Diamond.

Double Diamond and its beer style is not one I was personally fond of. A weak fizzy beer that was not always consistent and something that your Dad drank in the 70's. However whatever the beer lacked in terms of flavour, the marketing more than made up for it and I can only admire the brand it became.

Double Diamond (the DD abbreviation I'll use from now on) was first brewed by Ind Coope & Allsopps as a bottled IPA in 1936. The two brewers had merged a few years earlier as the latter suffered financial concerns. It is believed the initial brew was a combination of two IPA brews, one from each brewer. The DD name was first trade marked in 1876 by Ind Coope and came from a symbol of two interlocking diamonds that was used on its IPA barrels. Interestingly they also brewed single and triple Diamond beers.

By the 1950's bottled beer sales were  booming in the UK and DD, then a 4.7% abv IPA was claimed to be the UK's best selling bottled beer. Into the 1960's and Ind Coope merged with Ansells and Tetley to form Allied Breweries which coincided with the emergence of keg bitter, a new beer format that would challenge the traditional bottled and cask beer variants.

In 1962 Double Diamond was launched on keg, although by the 1970's the beer had changed considerably to become a more commercial abv at 3.4%. The bottled IPA version had also reduced to 4.2%. The distinctly low abv's would not be that attractive now but they were common place in the 70's. The DD keg version became a huge success and by 1974 it was selling 50 million pints per annum, backed by some admirable marketing campaigns and budgets that arguably outperformed the taste of the beer.

The most famous catch line is probably Double Diamond works wonders so drink some today. This originated in the 1950's but was replaced in the 60's by Double Diamond, the beer that men drink and Join the Double Diamond Club. Very few women were drinking beer at this time so it was an appropriate angle though not acceptable by today's marketing standards. By the 1970's the works wonders strap line had returned along with I'm only here for the beer, its Double Diamond. The two following links are examples of the these.

The design of the logo was also really strong. Very simple, it was suited to signage and POS items alike. No explanation was needed, just the name of the brand, Double Diamond, which says it all.

By the end of the 1970's the popularity of keg beer was waning and Double Diamonds fortunes went hand in hand with that. CAMRA was formed in 1971 and consumers were now demanding more credible, distinctive and quality beers. Cask beers were coming back into fashion and Allied responded to this by launching Ind Coope Draught Burton Ale. DD sales declined further in the 1980s and Carlsberg, who now owned Allied discontinued bottled sales in 2003. However, a version of the keg remains on sale at 2.8% abv and is known as Double Diamond Pale.

So to conclude, how to remember Double Diamond? A weak fizzy beer of questionable quality and easily outshone by cask beer. Or as a fantastic beer brand of its time with great marketing that made considerable money for its owners and share holders and gave employment to many. As someone with a marketing background I'm certainly in the latter category.

Source
Thank you to the Beertonian and Retrowow websites in particular.