a to z beers. a primer on beer design

Beers of New EuropeA primer on Central and

East European beer design

INTRO

Cocoon Group has been designing beers in ‘New Europe’ for almost 2 dec-

ades. In that time, we’ve built up a pretty good understanding of what makes beer de-

sign work in this part of the world. On the fol-lowing pages, in an easy-to-follow A to Z format,

we showcase some of our favorite recent (and not so recent) beer projects, as well as share

some of our knowledge of the category and the region. Please sit back, relax, and we hope our little show gives you a better sense of

what makes a truly great ‘New Europe-an’ beer design.

CG.

Art Nouveau

GreenConveys both naturalness and premi-umness. Mainstream brands and core

lagers continue to migrate toward green bottles for their portfolios.

Bottles

BrownConveys tradition, heritage.

Soviet and historical beer bottle color. For most core brands, brown seems cheap. However for brands

looking to highlight tradition, brown is an excellent choice.

ClearConveys newness, refreshment. Most common for on-trade and

summertime beers.Great for intrinsics and showing

rich beer color, but some skepticism remains as to whether clear bottles

maintain beer quality over time.

A finely crafted label instills confidence that the product inside has received at least the same amount of care and attention. High quality materials, gold print, and the right embellishments and quality cues speak volumes about the liquid inside. This even if the drinker remains largely unaware of the hidden influence of design. This seems to be especially true here in New Europe, where tradition and heritage are still the premiere indicators of quality. Craftsmanship in product and design stand as the most visible outward indications of a commitment to creation of the best

possible product.

Craftsmanship

With a sweeter caramelized taste which typically appeals more to women than to men, dark beer labels typically reflect the dark product inside, as does the choice of

a dark bottle color.

Dark Beer

Steeped in the deepest beer making traditions and insulated from the pressing need to innovate during communism, New Europe is home to some of the most conservative beer cultures and beer brands in the world. That said, the pressure from market forces has recently opened a floodgate of innovations that would have been unheard of just a decade ago. Plastic PET bottles, new formats, unfiltered beers, and even flavored beers have now become common as local brewers recognize there is more value to be found on the cutting edge of an evolving category than as guardians of a non-developing one.It is our expectation that over the next few decades, Central European beers will parlay their experience and beer making expertise into global innovation leadership — just as the Swiss and French did with chocolate

and wine.

Evolution

“You from within our glasses, you lusty golden brew, whoever imbibes takes fire from you. The young and the old sing your praises. Here’s to beer, here’s to cheer, here’s to beer.”

Bedrich Smetana, The Bartered Bride

Gold

Heritage

Taste, color, tradition, quality, refreshment, origin. These are examples of intrinsic values that serve as the foundation for any great beer brand. A beer brand without intrinsics is nothing more than a commodity with a catch-phrase. In New Europe, intrinsic values are heavily weighted toward quality of product, as evidenced by a long tradition and strict adherence to standards and practices set forth by

previous generations. While most brands pay lip service to other intrinsic

qualities (such as refreshment) - these brands must still sound the right notes with regards to

quality and tradition - generally in the form of universally recognized quality

cues and design elements.

Intrinsics

Labels often reflect the social r ituals where beer is present, evoking the joy and subtly transporting the buyer to the expected moment of consumption.

Kith

Letters

MasculineThe other universal value for CEE beer brands is Masculinity. And every inch of the label and communication not devoted to quality is generally devoted to celebration of manhood and manliness. Nowhere is this more readily visible than in beer iconography, which inevitably features a testosterone-fueled ‘manly beast’, accoutrements of manly battle, or some geographic feature which needs conquering

(in a decidedly manly way).

National pride

Ornaments

Central and Eastern Europe leads the world in acceptance of PET packaging for beer, where the ubiquitous liter and 2 liter bottles have become the go-to party format for young drinkers in these countries. This in spite of a rocky start for the material, which was originally offered in half-liter sizes and touted as an all-terrain alternative to glass. While consumers were not ready to embrace a plastic version of their beloved single serving bottles, they have been more than ready to grab a few larger bottles for sharing and socializing with a few friends. PET stands as a triumph of innovation based on creating new opportunities rather than simply applying technology to the same old formats.

PET

Quality cues

RedRed is popular in beer design as a convenient and attractive way to catch the eye and focus attention on particular design elements. In this way, icons, ribbons, signatures, and other small, yet important equities can be highlighted. When used as a brand color, red must be carefully combined with other colors since solid red is generally recognized as a cola, juice, or even energy drink color.

Tradition

Combing through the design histories of most CEE beer brands, you frequently come across examples of upward sloping text. Meant to mimic the style of the craftsman’s signature, upward sloping text until a few short years ago was a common design element that is lately being phased out. In its place, most brewers are now opting for more modern, masculine interpretations of the brand. Often this ‘retro’ design style still holds value for export or limited editions, where the traditional aspects of the brand need to be highlighted.

Varieties

Xenial

Young adult malesYoung Adult Males are the preferred target audience for most beer brands and all core lagers in Central and Eastern Europe (and the world at large). Mass market distribution has led to a sort of ‘Universal Core Lager Drinker’ profile which is applied, almost like a template, to the positioning statements of mass market beers. The Universal Core Lager Drinker, as envisioned by beer market-ers, loves his friends, tolerates his girlfriend, and hates his job.He seldom thinks past his next get together with his pals or ex-pands his horizons beyond wherever his favorite team happens to be playing this weekend.There are, of course, variations on this theme. But clear-ly, the UCLD is a god among men in the world of CEE beers.While this may, at first glance, seem to be a less-than-flattering snapshot of any user group, it begins to make sense when you consider that most beer vol-ume is consumed by men older than the profile — men who may long wistfully for a time in their lives when they had less responsibility and more freedom. Taken in this light, the UCLD is less a depic-tion of a real target audience than an idealized version of the carefree lad that real male drinkers wish they were.

We hope you enjoyed this quick look at New European beers and our work with them. However, keep in mind that these 26 pages are only the tip of the iceberg. There are a zillion things we know about Cen-tral and Eastern European beers, which we don’t have the capacity to share in this format. If you would like to know more about what we know about beer, feel free to contact us and follow us.

Zillions

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:Cocoon GroupJiří [email protected]

Thank you for your attention!

PRODUCTS FEATURED IN THIS PRESENTATION:Zwei Meister, (Kaluzhskaya, SAB Miller) Russia

Kelt, (Staropramen Brewery, InBev) Czech Republic

Niksicko, (Trebjesa Brewery, StarBev) Montenegro

Staropramen Cool, (Staropramen Brewery, StarBev) Czech Republic

Frisco, (Plzensky Prazdroj, SABMiller) Czech Republic

Velvet, (Staropramen Brewery, StarBev) Czech Republic

Bagbier, (InBev) Russia

Grolsch, (SABMiller) Russia

Noroc, (StarBev) Romania

Staropramen, (Staropramen Brewery, StarBev) Czech Republic

Jelen, (Apatinska Brewery, StarBev) Serbia

Ozujsko, (Zagreb Brewery, StarBev) Croatia

Bergenbier, (StarBev) Romania

Borsodi, (Borsod Brewery, StarBev) Hungary

Klasik, (Plzensky Prazdroj, SABMiller) Czech Republic

Kamenitza Lev, (Kamenitza brewery, StarBev) Bulgaria

a to z beers. a primer on beer design

Design