Beers of New Europe

A primer on
Central and
East European
beer design

INTRO
Cocoon Group has been designing
beers in New Europe for almost 2 decades. In that time, weve built up a pretty
good understanding of what makes beer design work in this part of the world. On the following 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 European beer design.
CG.

Art Nouveau

Bottles

Green

Conveys both naturalness and premiumness. Mainstream brands and core

lagers continue to migrate toward
green bottles for their portfolios.

Brown

Conveys 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.

Clear

Conveys 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.

Craftsmanship
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.

Dark Beer
With a sweeter caramelized
taste which typically appeals
more to women than to men,
dark beer labels typically
ref lect the dark product
inside, as does the choice of
a dark bottle color.

Evolution
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.

Fonts

Gold

You from within our glasses, you lusty golden brew, whoever
imbibes takes fire from you. The young and the old sing your praises.
Heres to beer, heres to cheer, heres to beer.
Bedrich Smetana, The Bartered Bride

Heritage

Intrinsics
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.

Joy

Kith
Labels often ref lect
the soci a l r itu a ls
where beer is present,
evoking the joy and
subtly transporting
the buyer to the
expected moment of
consumption.

Letters

Masculine
The 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
m a n l i ness. Nowher e is th is
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

PET
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.

Quality
cues

Red
Red 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.

Shape

Tradition

Combing through the design

histories of most CEE beer rands,
you frequently come across
examples of upward sloping text.
Meant to mimic the style of the
craftsmans 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

Wheat

Xenial

Young adult males

Young 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 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 marketers, loves his friends, tolerates his girlfriend, and hates his job.
He seldom thinks past his next get together with his pals or expands his horizons beyond wherever his favorite team happens to
be playing this weekend.
There are, of course, variations on this theme. But clearly, the UCLD is a god among men in the world of CEE
beers.
While this may, at first glance, seem to be a less-thanflattering snapshot of any user group, it begins to
make sense when you consider that most beer volume 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 depiction of a real target audience
than an idealized version
of the carefree lad that
real male drinkers wish
they were.

Zillions

We hope you enjoyed this quick look at New European beers and our
work with them. However, keep in mind that these 26 pages is only
the tip of the iceburg. There are a zillion things we know about Central and Eastern European beers, which we dont 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.

Thank you for your

attention!
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Cocoon Group
Douglas Kaufman
d.kaufman@cg-eu.com
www.cg-eu.com

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