The beerthat rules CroatiaREJUVENATING THE TOP CROATIAN BEER WITH AN AWARD-WINNING DESIGN.

On the market since 1893, Ožujsko is the clear leader in Croatia in terms of sales and national prestige. This is a brand so close to the people that it is the only beer brand known commonly by a nickname — Žuja.

The packaging, however, had remained unchanged since 2007 and it was felt that a refreshment was needed to bring it more in line with consumer expectations and increase brand competitiveness. After a successful cooperation with Cocoon Group on the PET bottle extension, the agency was invited back to see what they could do with the flagship, 0,33 l bottle.

Refreshing Žuja

As Ožujsko is a core lager and a leader on the Croatian market, the agency was very careful to avoid drastic changes to the identity. We understood that this was an opportunity to reinforce the brand appeal but absolutely didn’t want to risk alienating the loyal core consumer, young adult males.

Brand definition

2000 2007 2011

The first step in the design process was an extensive research into Croatian national symbols and semiotics. What elements could we dial up to increase the brand perception as a national icon?

We also looked into the history of the brand itself to see if there were any ‘lost’ icons or elements which we could potentially bring back.

Brand definition

Work in progress

mockups

3D modeling

technical drawings

Identity

Work on the design of the label and the bottle itself were done concurrently. An overall concept, with the working title ‘New Classic’ was almost immediately accepted and the concept did not change much through the design process.

New Classic

Overall, the design was simplified and the bottle gained an inviting new shape. The curvy, ergonomic silhouette that one perceives at first would not allow any labelling if it were constant all around the bottle.

CG’s industrial design team created a specific cilindric area for the label, surrounded by an embossing that is unique to the brand: the slogan “ŽUJA JE ZAKON!” (Žuja is the law!)

Execution

Curves

Embossing

Smart shape for the label application

The communication campaign for the brand was definitely giving a lot of attention to the bottle, were its shape and ergonomic grip are widely emphasized.

Communication

The fact that Ožujsko is the most beloved beer brand

in Croatia is proven by the market share: over 33%,

making it also the most sold beer in the country. Even

its TV commercial was considered the favorite in 2011!

This successful bottle was also the overall winner of

CroPak Awards 2012 and elligible to compete globally in

WorldStar Awards in 2013.