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

Industry Context
Calif is an awarded QSR (Quick Service Restaurant) concept for years in a row and a very beloved local food brand in Bucharest. We worked for the Calif team before creating a new restaurant and product brands - Condimental and Kebun - that shortly became game changers.

Challenge
Calif decided to do a radical new brand positioning. By changing their existing menu into a more juicy, fast and affordble food option, Calif wanted to become more attractive to Generation Z, the most active, engaging and opinionated generation ever.

It was a difficult challenge. We had to break away from the existing customers and their expectations and begin to talk to the savy 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 would need to receive a name adjustment and become 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

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, gaining an important background and know-how in fresh food concepts. After deciding to return in Romania they brought with them an ambitious plan: open a local business and use all the knowledge they have acquired over the years.

Challenge
Develop a cool concept easily understood and 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 thought of a name that would bring up a relevance concerning fresh food, finding new tastes and products and always having multiple options at hand. The new concept would be called Piața9. In Romanian, it’s a word play: “piața” means market,and “9” besides the number nine, means new -The New Market. 

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

The interior design had to combine the open space of a local restaurant mixed with the dynamics of a European food market. It had to encourage people to stay in and have a quick delicious bite or offer them the option to take home some fresh food.

Team
Beniamin Pop
Adela Sabou
Marius Farcas 

Contributors
George Negrea - photography

Interior Design
Cosmin Todor Studio

Year
2018

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 and it represents an important market for the food industry. Being a strategic point for active companies in Transylvania and a launch pad for bold entrepreneurs, we wanted 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 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 due to the fact that its main two competitors were not far off.

Strategy
Our drive for change was brought on by Andrei Chiorean, one of Panemar's shareholders, responsible with recipes and product development. Because of his dedication we started the rebranding process having "passion" as the most natural and obvious 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 enhance the value of this great product by placing it in an interior design-oriented bakery - a warm, welcoming environment where customers would feel the "passion" behind the business first and foremost. 

Additionally we created a menu dedicated to fresh food: sandwiches and salads made on the spot and freshly squeezed juices. The result was rewarding. In 5 years Panemar opened 20 new shops and their net profit grew with 362%. They opened another bread factory and, with the new beautiful bakeries, they had the context to produce and sell a large variety of premium products.

Team
Beniamin Pop
Calin Valean
Adela Sabou
Peter Arpad
Marius Farcas

Interior Design
Cosmin Todor Studio

Year:
2011-2019

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

Industry Context
We were asked to create an easy to franchise pizza concept in an already crowded environment with similar brands and concepts. Being owned by an Italian investor, the new concept would need to talk about its deep roots in Italy and keep its relevance to tradition, but with a modern twist.

Challenge
Make the new concept distinguishable with the help of a star product not found anywhere else on the local scene.

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 would also serve pizza longa or longa combo, a half meter size pizza meant to be shared with a larger group.

Second: talk about its true Italian ingredients stemming 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. Having this in mind, the visual identity followed the path of “experience” / “a new experience in Italian pizza”. 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

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

Industry Context
Although Romania has a low percentage of coffee consumption compared to other European countries, due to more exposure to good quality coffee the consumers became more curious. Thus a substantial growth in the consumption is expected. In this business climate the stakes are very high for big and small entrepreneurs.

Challenge
Based on the 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
Having a much savvier audience gave us the opportunity to exploit the need for specialty coffee, but also look for a different approach on the method and place it would be served. 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 decided we had to use this to our advantage and change the dialog. We would not be just another business "in love with the coffee bean". We wanted a different kind of 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 drug that causes addiction, but also educate the public to get the best dose out there. After being commissioned to execute a series of uniquely designed objects (cup, plate, spoon and apron), together with the interior design team we managed to switch the consumer's focus on his dialogue with the product in front of him 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

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 environment is pretty dull and predictable, with few exceptions. One of them is our client, Calif, who managed to bring a change to this side of the business and be a well awarded player, for years in a row. 

Challenge
Calif wanted to change the game even more. They wanted a new concept that would serve an improved and redefined kebab, and also widen the gap even more 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 in the consumer’s mind, creating THE NEW KEBAB - served fresh, in a box, using special ingredients (pomegranate, aubergine, homemade sauces) and completely eliminating flat bread from the picture.

The name had to communicate to people 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 and assigned the carefully crafted packaging that it deserved. We created the concept of the box, design line, and production finishes.

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

So while the competition was 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. Presently Kebun continues to be Condimental’s consumer top choice confirming over and over again a strong and visionary business strategy.

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

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 ranging livestock is an ideal spot 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 in order to produce and offer high quality dairy products.

Challenge
Mândra’s former identity did a poor job at expressing 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 that would allow Mândra to stand out and be proud.

Strategy
We needed a modern approach to the identity while keeping in mind and highlighting folklore traditional imagery, as an homage to local influences. The new identity would help Mândra stand out at the shelf and ensure her more credibility as a high quality dairy product.

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

Mândra might not be a big player, but she 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

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

Industry Context
From the get-go ATP Exodus was a big player and a market leader for commercial vehicle accessories and spare parts, with a network of over 30 branches, a turnover of almost 100 million euros in 2016 and a team of over 800 employees. Being in a continuous evolving market, ATP needed to show more courage and be at least a step ahead of its competitors. 

Challenge
Our client decided to build his own brand of spare parts. This was not an easy decision because in this business you either make it big or don't count. People and employees trusted the ATP dealership brand, but now we had to redirect their trust in a new brand and its products which were competing with the well-known Textar, Wabco, Sachs, Hengst, Knorr-Bremse, etc.

Strategy
We needed 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.

A new logo and a complete identity for the new brand architecture followed. We created a packaging series with a bold attitude for ATP’s products in order to underline its respect for reliable and trustworthy spare parts. Moreover, we made a movie clip inside the factories that produce ATP parts to make sure employees and customers see the exact process on how this spare parts are made, packed and delivered to ATP’s network.

Trust is a very important feature in the automotive business because when 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

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 producers of donuts in Romania. Although Romanian cuisine has a similar popular recipe, our clients were skeptical about growing a business using it exclusively. After nights spent in the kitchen and hour-long tasting sessions, the young people from Donuterie had the courage to improve the donut, put it out on the market and, of course, it was an instant success. Customers were queuing in front of the shop turning it into an overnight viral success. A selfie with the beautiful, mouth-watering donut was the new “it“ 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, but with the constant requests for a franchise system, we needed to find Donuterie’s true voice and true identity that could help it grow, be closer to its consumers and get noticed in a crowd.

Strategy
We needed to go nuts, so we did. We wanted to be bold, come out with a shocker identity and get 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 began to have it all: youth, good vibes and coolness. The Donuterie brand grew into a national-wanted brand, with a new, attractive and fresh identity, easy to implement in stores all over the country.

Team
Beniamin Pop
Marius Farcas
Adela Sabou

Interior Design
Deea Balgaradean

Year:
2016

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 with tradition passed on 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 fact that the business is run by a family of real butchers with a good knowledge of the trade and who passed on the skills of this craftsmanship from father to son.

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

We focused on the way we presented meat in all its variety. We reintroduced the lost concept of male butcher - a well respected trade in the olden days. We talked about the cattle farm and the 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 the farm along with the factory are in full progress and more shops opened

Team
Beniamin Pop
Calin Valean
Laura Laurentiu
Marius Farcas
Raluca Dragos

Interior Design
Cosmin Todor Studio

Video Production
Timotei Jinar

Year:
2013-2015

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 on salad alone. 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 the shopping malls in Romania, becoming the business with the fastest growth on the Romanian market. Salad Box wanted to rethink its image and consolidate it's position, especially because international expansion would follow.

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 thought of simple solutions, easy to modify and easy 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