.CALIF

Services Provided
Brand Audit
Brand Design Strategy
Brand Persona
Name Adjustment
Visual Identity
Graphic Design
Display Menu Concept
Packaging

Industry Context
Calif is a multiple award winning QSR (Quick Service Restaurant) and a popular local food brand in Bucharest. We worked for the Calif team before launching each new restaurant and for their product brands - Condimental and Kebun - that shortly became game changers.

Challenge
Calif decided to make a complete new brand positioning. By changing their menu into a more juicy, fast and affordable food option, Calif targeted Generation Z, the most active, engaging and opinionated generation.

It was a difficult challenge. We shifted our focus from the existing customers and their expectations to the savvy Gen Zers.  

Strategy
We worked closely with the business strategy and the interior design teams to create a new killer food court concept.

Because Gen Zers want to connect and belong to brands that reflect their diverse personality as individuals, the new concept would need to fuel their social presence and become a reason to snap photos, videos or boomerangs. 

Calif needed to receive a name adjustment and became a point of interest, relevance and a meeting point where diversity is welcome. So Calif became .calif (point/dot calif).

Thanks to an open-minded client, we received total freedom in outlining the new identity. The design concept received a dominant pop-art approach and became infused with an industrial style and elements borrowed from urban playgrounds.

The first perception of .calif shortly translated into a fresh, cool and price-relevant QSR for Generation Z. In the first days since opening .calif exceeded sales expectations. 

Team
Beniamin Pop
Marius Farcas
Adela Sabou

Interior Design
Cosmin Todor Studio

Photo
Alexandru Prepelita
George Reuel

Year
2018

PIAȚA 9

Services Provided
Brand Design Strategy
Brand Naming
Brand Rhetoric
Visual Identity
Graphic Design
Packaging

Industry Context
Our clients have lived and worked in Ireland for more than 10 years where they earned an important work experience and know-how in fresh food concepts. After returning in Romania they came up with an ambitious plan: open a local business and use all knowledge acquired over the years.

Challenge
Develop a cool clear-cut concept accepted by the city of Oradea that would gradually evolve into a sought after and respected food hall.

Strategy
Starting from a brand idea based on “discovery”, we suggested a name that would be relevant for the idea of fresh food, inspiring you to find new tastes and products, while having multiple options at hand. The new concept was called Piața 9. In Romanian, it’s a word play: “piața” means market,and “9” besides the number nine, means new -The New Market. 

Its identity should be easily recognizable, versatile and contemporary. Having a bold simplicity in mind we created a logo that speaks clearly.

We taught of an interior design that combines the open space of a local restaurant with the dynamics of a European food market. It had to encourage people to stay in and have a quick delicious bite or to offer them the option to take away fresh food.

Team
Beniamin Pop
Adela Sabou
Marius Farcas 

Contributors
George Negrea - photography

Interior Design
Cosmin Todor Studio

Year
2018

PANEMAR

Services Provided
Brand Audit
Brand Design Strategy
Brand Persona
Brand Rhetoric
Visual Identity
Graphic Design
Display Menu Concept
Packaging
Interior Design Guidelines

Industry Context
Cluj-Napoca is the second largest city in Romania with a population of almost half a million people representing an important market for the food industry. It is a strategic point for active companies in Transylvania and a launch pad for bold entrepreneurs and our wish was to change the story for the most famous Romanian commodity food: bread.

Challenge
For more than fifteen years Panemar was known for having the best bakery products. Its regular consumers trusted the quality of the ingredients and always enjoyed the taste. Nevertheless Panemar had only 12% of the market share and it was facing a crucial point since its main two competitors were not far off.

Strategy
It was Andrei Chiorean, one of Panemar's shareholders, responsible with recipes and product development who inspired us to make a change. Because of his dedication we started the rebranding process focusing on "passion" as the most natural brand idea. All over the city bread was being sold by the local producers in small booths or in grocery stores. Our strategy was to increase the value of this great product by selling it in an interior design-oriented bakery - a warm, welcoming environment where customers can first and foremost feel the "passion" behind the business. 

Additionally we offered a fresh food menu: fresh made sandwiches and salads and squeezed juices. The result exceeded our expectations. In 5 years Panemar opened 20 new shops and their net profit grew with 362%. They opened another bread factory and due to their newly designed bakeries they had the perfect conditions for producing and selling a wide range of premium products.

Team
Beniamin Pop
Calin Valean
Adela Sabou
Peter Arpad
Marius Farcas

Interior Design
Cosmin Todor Studio

Year:
2011-2019

CUT & CRUST

Services Provided
Brand Design Strategy
Brand Rhetoric
Visual Identity
Graphic Design
Packaging

Industry Context
We were asked to create an easy franchising pizza concept in a crowded environment with similar brands and concepts. Owned by an Italian investor, the new concept should talk about its deep roots in Italy while focusing on tradition, but with a modern touch.

Challenge
Make a new distinguishable concept by using the star product not found anywhere else on the local market.

Strategy
First: communicate its star product - pizza longa - as a new pizza experience. Pizza usually comes in its ‘tonda’ shape and size, but cut&crust also serves pizza longa or longa combo, a half meter size pizza meant to be shared with friends and family.

Second: describing the Italian ingredients originating from different corners of Italy: mozzarella from Lazio or Northern Campania, parmigiano and prosciutto from Parma, olives from Liguria, anchovies from the Cantabrian Sea and capers from Northern Sicily. The visual identity came naturally from “experience” / “a new Italian pizza experience”. We wanted to emphasize the Italian passion and handmade pizza in our packaging design. We used hand sketching, pomodoro red and “crazy” lines.

With its new identity cut&crust became the crazy good Italian pizza makers.

Team
Beniamin Pop
Adela Sabou
Marius Farcas

Interior Design
Cosmin Todor Studio

Year:
2018

NARCOFFEE ROASTERS

Services Provided
Brand Design Strategy
Brand Naming
Brand Persona
Brand Rhetoric
Visual Identity
Graphic Design
Packaging
Interior Design Guidelines
Object Design

Industry Context
Although compared to other European countries Romania has a low percentage of coffee consumption, the availability of good quality coffee on the market raised the consumers’ interest which led to a substantial growth in coffee consumption. In this business climate the stakes are very high for both big and small entrepreneurs.

Challenge
In this context, the client had the courage to give way to the first native Romanian specialty coffee chain that would reach 50+ national and international locations. We had to create a whole new coffee shop brand. 

Strategy
The savvier consumers gave us the opportunity to exploit the need for specialty coffee and to look for a new approach of its serving method and place. In order to come up with something different, we needed leverage and we had it. We had a national and international cupping and latte art champion as a head barista, an own coffee roastery and, of course, freshly roasted and grounded specialty coffee. We have decided to use this to our advantage and change the message. We will be more than just another business "in love with the coffee bean". We wanted a different personality, a bolder one.

We created the name Narcoffee and the tagline "We're not dealers. We're roasters". We decided to treat coffee as it is, a tasty addictive product, and to educate the public to get the best dose. After being commissioned to execute a range of uniquely designed items (cup, plate, spoon and apron), together with the interior design team we managed to switch the consumer's focus on a dialogue with the product and create a special kind of interaction. 

Team
Beniamin Pop
Adela Sabou
Marius Farcas

Contributors
Istav Cimpan - fashion designer
Andrei Garba - ceramic artist
George Negrea - photography
Radu Comsa - artist

Interior Design
Cosmin Todor Studio

Year
2017

CONDIMENTAL

Services Provided
Brand Audit
Brand Design Strategy
Brand Naming
Brand Persona
Brand Rhetoric
Visual Identity
Graphic Design
Display Menu Concept
Packaging
Interior Design Guidelines
Object Design

Industry Context
In Romania, the kebab and shawarma QSR business environment is pretty dull and predictable, with few exceptions. One of them is our client, Calif, who managed to make a change in this business and be a well awarded player, for years in a row. 

Challenge
Calif wanted to do things differently. They wanted a new concept that would offer a better and redefined kebab experience, which would widen even more the gap between them and their competitors.

Strategy
Our job was to create a new brand with a new naming and identity. Its purpose was to reposition the kebab product, by creating THE NEW KEBAB - served fresh, in a box, using special ingredients (pomegranate, aubergine, homemade sauces) and by completely eliminating the flat bread.

The name should convey the message that the restaurant was serving oriental food, with a twist. Condimental was born. Next we had to find a name and an identity for a totally new product - the fresh kebab in a box. We came up with the name Kebun packaged in a suitable carefully crafted box. We created the concept of the box, the design line, and finishing.

The name Kebun is a combined word from ‘kebab’ and ‘bun’ – which in Romanian means ‘great, fine, pleasing’. The name has a very agreeable tune and its purpose was to underline the difference from ordinary kebabs found elsewhere along with the high quality of the product and the healthy approach. 

So while the competitors were selling kebabs, Condimental was selling beautiful and carefully crafted Kebuns.

After only 3 days from the official opening, Kebun was the best selling product exceeding all expectations. Currently, Kebun continues to be the consumers’ top choice confirming that a strong and visionary business strategy really paid off.

Team
Beniamin Pop
Adela Sabou
Marius Farcas 

Contributors
Istvan Cimpan - fashion designer
George Negrea - interior design photography
Catalin Hladi - food photography
Liviu Lambrino - food styling

Interior Design
Cosmin Todor Studio

Year
2017

MÂNDRA

Services Provided
Brand Audit
Brand Design Strategy
Visual Identity
Verbal Brand
Graphic Design
Display Menu Concept
Packaging

Industry Context
Our client has a small-size dairy plant - Mândra - located close to Mărginimea Sibiului, in the heart of Transylvania. This geographical area with green pastures, local farmers and free range livestock is the ideal place for dairy farms and milk production.

Mariana Linn, the owner of Mândra, is a very hard-working and high-demanding entrepreneur who returned to Romania after 10 years of living and working in Switzerland. Her plan was to support local farming to produce and offer high quality dairy products.

Challenge
The former identity of Mândra poorly expressed Mariana’s story, her hard work and her values. We were commissioned to create a new identity that would offer the brand a new personality and allow Mândra to proudly stand out.

Strategy
We needed a modern approach to the identity while highlighting folklore traditional imagery to honor local influences. The new identity would help Mândra stand out on the shelf boosting its credibility as a high quality dairy product. 

The new tagline “Plin de bunătate, nu pe jumătate” - Full of goodness, not half full - better rhymed in Romanian, underlines the superior quality of the products and their honest and natural ingredients for which Mândra is best known and appreciated.

Mândra might not be a big player yet, but it surely belongs in the big league.

Team
Beniamin Pop
Adela Sabou
Marius Farcas 

Contributors
Florina Sacara - wall art
George Reuel - photo
Emi Iova - photo

Interior Design
Cosmin Todor Studio

Year
2017-2018

ATP EXODUS GROUP

Services Provided
Brand Audit
Brand Architecture
Brand Design Strategy
Division Naming
Visual Identity
Graphic Design
Packaging

Industry Context
With a network of over 30 branches, turnover of almost 100 million euros in 2016 and over 800 employees, ATP Exodus was a big player and market leader for commercial vehicle accessories and spare parts from the very beginning. In a continuous evolving market, ATP needed a bold attitude to keep ahead of the competition. 

Challenge
Our client decided to build his own brand of spare parts. This was not an easy task because in this business growth is the only option. People and employees trusted ATP dealership brand, but now we had to shift their trust in a new brand and its products in competition with well-known Textar, Wabco, Sachs, Hengst, Knorr-Bremse, etc.

Strategy
We had to build trust. In order to do this, we decided to split the “mother ship” - ATP EXODUS - in 3 different divisions:

ATP AUTOMOTIVE
dealership of spare parts

ATP TRANSIT
official logistics and transportation branch

ATP MOTORS
certified auto service and dealership for Mercedes-Benz, Opel, Man, Suzuki, Mazda, Iveco.

Next, we made a new logo and a complete identity for the new brand architecture. We created packaging with a bold attitude for the ATP’s products in order to underline their dedication towards making reliable and trustworthy spare parts. Moreover, we made a movie clip inside the factories producing ATP parts to present the customers how the spare parts are made, packed and delivered to the ATP network.

Trust is very important in the automotive business because when the employees trust your brand and your products, trust transcends to their customers.

Team
Beniamin Pop
Laura Laurentiu
Marius Farcas
Raluca Dragos

Video Production
Timotei Jinar

Year
2015-2016

DONUTERIE

Services Provided
Brand Audit
Brand Design Strategy
Brand Persona
Brand Rhetoric
Visual Identity
Graphic Design
Packaging
Interior Design Guidelines

Industry Context
Donuterie is one of the first donuts manufacturers in Romania. Although Romanian cuisine has a similar popular recipe, our clients were skeptical about growing a business by using it exclusively. After nights spent in the kitchen and long tasting sessions, the young people from Donuterie had the courage to improve the donut and launch it on the market. Naturally, they had an instant success. Customers were queuing in front of the shop, which went viral becoming an overnight success. A selfie with the beautiful, mouth-watering donut was the new trend for all the cool kids in the city.

Challenge
Although an overnight success, Donuterie didn’t have a successful identity. The plain logo and packaging did not fit with the consumer’s lifestyle and fresh attitude. Being a local business there was no challenge or pressure to improve it, but with the constant demands for a franchise system, we needed to find Donuterie’s true voice and identity that could help it grow, come closer to its consumers and be noticed in the crowd.

Strategy
We needed to go nuts, so we did. We wanted to be bold, come out with a shocker and make our customers to take selfies with the new logo on the block. We found the voice, we found the slogan: “Be nuts. Be donuts”. The new packaging has it all: youth, good vibes and coolness. Donuterie brand grew into a national-wanted brand, with a new, attractive and fresh identity, easy to implement it in the stores all over the country.

Team
Beniamin Pop
Marius Farcas
Adela Sabou

Interior Design
Deea Balgaradean

Year:
2016

SALAD BOX

Services Provided
Brand Audit
Brand Design Strategy
Brand Rhetoric
Visual Identity
Graphic Design
Packaging
Interior Design Guidelines

Industry Context
There is only a handful of businesses focused only on salads. The Salad Box story began in 2011, when Dan Isai had an idea of introducing Romanians to a new lifestyle based on healthy food at affordable prices.

Challenge
In a short period of time, Salad Box opened numerous restaurants in all shopping malls in Romania, becoming the business with the fastest growth on the Romanian market. Salad Box wanted to rethink its image and consolidate its position on the market, especially because the company aimed for international expansion.

Strategy
We started with an emotional brand driver: food is life, make it good. We used elements of design and color that communicate a natural, healthy, authentic lifestyle. For their shops we chose simple solutions, easy to modify and to implement at a very fast pace. The new shop concept was all about health and freshness.

Team
Beniamin Pop
Laura Laurentiu
Marius Farcas
Adela Sabou
Raluca Dragos

Interior Design
Cosmin Todor Studio

Year
2015-2017

MOLDOVAN

Services Provided
Brand Audit
Brand Design Strategy
Brand Naming
Brand Persona
Brand Rhetoric
Visual Identity
Graphic Design
Packaging
Interior Design Guidelines

Industry Context
In Romania, meat industry is dominated by large producers who sell their product at a national and international level, mainly in the supermarkets. The local meat producers have their own shops but they look more like grocery stores than butcheries.

Challenge
CosmFan is a local producer from Cluj-Napoca, the second largest city in Romania. The business is owned by a family of butchers. The tradition in meat production passed from father to son. Although they had a beautiful craftsmanship story they lacked the means to communicate it. 

Strategy
Our rebranding strategy was radical. The brand idea was focused on the idea that the business is run by a family of real butchers with a strong knowledge in this trade, who passed from father to son the skills of this craftsmanship.

We focused on some aspects that eluded big competitors. Our aim was to create a real butchery with great design. A butchery where you could have lunch or dinner and choose the meat for your steak. At that time, this was a big novelty for Romania.

We focused on presentation of meat in all of its forms. We reintroduced the lost concept of the traditional butcher - a well-respected trade in the olden days. We talked about the cattle farm and grass-fed bovines. The owner, a former butcher himself, became the face of the company in our advertising campaigns and the butchery name was changed with his family name - Moldovan.

The story is an ongoing success. After 3 years, more shops have opened and the farm along with the factory are in a continuously development process. 

Team
Beniamin Pop
Calin Valean
Laura Laurentiu
Marius Farcas
Raluca Dragos

Interior Design
Cosmin Todor Studio

Video Production
Timotei Jinar

Year:
2013-2015