Case Study

Azuga Spring Water / A mouthful of nature

Visual identity Structural design Packaging concept

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Context
While still mineral water was enjoying rather a short history on Romanian market being animated by a small
number of players , Azuga Waters decided to launch in 2009 Azuga Spring Water, a new consumer brand to
activate in the mainstream segment. This decision was made subsequent to a rejuvenation process conducted
by SAAB Miller for a beer brand carrying the same name - Azuga. Thus development of the new brand strategy
was assigned to BrandTailors, including also creation of structural design and package graphic design specific
task.

Challenge
Bearing in mind Azuga beer brand life stage, the strategic brand platform of Azuga Spring Water had to limit
connections between the two product categories exclusively to the positive ones. In other words, the main task
was to identify that the one and only element capable to leverage on both brands target audiences while
consumer profiles were being clearly different. Moreover, the challenge was to create a strategic brand solution
in a modern manner, fit to an urban audience and able to convey both the rational benefit (natural refresh-
ment) associated to the category of still mineral water and the emotional one (natural spring of optimism and
good mood) associated with Azuga geographical area, perceived rather as a rural place.

Solution
Being located in a region nationally-wide known for its unspoiled nature, Azuga’s water collecting spring is 7
Kilometers far from the last human lodging, a characteristic important for water’s freshness and purity. As a
resort, Azuga is well-known for hosting the wildest and the least spoiled nature; the warm and friendly side of
the region resides in its long history and it’s name’s fame.

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Furthermore, the qualitative research initiated previous to the project briefing, revealed the fact that Azuga
area is perceived as a very credible water source due to its mountains’ origin. The credibility resides in the
perception that Azuga is scarcely exploited and thus it could stay authentic. So it is perceived as an ideal
<natural source of optimism> for the weekend tourists, as it holds the advantage of being positioned in the
central part of Romanian mountain area, with easy access from most of the bustling towns of the country.

These were the premises on which we built the bold ambition of

Azuga Spring Water to grab people living in urban environments to
the natural source of water – the unspoiled nature, without
neglecting the fact that the man’s natural place – urban or not – is
out in the nature and it is there that one has the nostalgia of going
Beatrice Daniș
back as often as possible. Brand Strategist

With the view to anchor Azuga Spring Water in a visual territory tightly associated with the mineral water,
BrandTailors’ consultants and designers chose the “forest glade” as the ideal space for the brand’s activation,
being altogether the place where the vegetation is luxuriant and where the wild animals gather.

<An agora> of the forest, the meaning of <glade> as a concept, has

connotations that refer to playfulness, powerful solar images and a
beautiful fairy imagery. Moreover, the <glade> is the place that
attracts people willing to simply enjoy the nature, without
Andreea Florea
previously planning for a certain activity. Brand Consultant

In this context, the brand promise speaks of rediscovering that simple things are the truly valuable ones, the
brand slogan “Azuga Spring Water – a mouthful of nature” capitalizing on the importance of mankind coming
back to nature

As a proof of Azuga being located in the middle of a wild mountain area, the logo design caries the symbol of a
deer horns reduced to the minimum required for its recognition for modernity reasons. Dark blue was chosen as
the primary color for the logo, thus remaining true to proprietary category colors.

The front label design stresses on the fact that water is the primary result of nature and that the latter is the
most natural frame to express water’s value. “Nature gives birth to nature”, the package design concept is the
expression of the concerted effort that the entire nature makes so that the spring water to come out to the
light. The execution aims to change the visual paradigm in the category so to differentiate Azuga Spring Water
on the shelf and to give it a higher level of visibility compared to competition.

Follow-up
After successfully launching Azuga Spring Water (still mineral water), the company has decided to extend the
brand portfolio by launching two more SKUs of bubble mineral water. Mid summer of 2010, Azuga Waters
assigned BrandTailors to stretch the package design concept on the product line extension to be introduced.

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Contribution
Brand audit - Andreea Florea, Janos Kurko
Brand strategy - Beatrice Daniş, Andreea Florea
Creative concept - Janos Kurko
Package design - Janos Kurko
Image retouching and printing pre-production - Mihai Părpălea
Project management - Ilinca Apetrei, Anca Andronescu

Project implementation started in January 2010.

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