Seville's laid-back charm comes to the UK

Bringing an iconic Spanish brand with a rich history and heritage to the UK.

Our love of European and European-style beers is growing – and with that comes a savvier consumer who, as well as looking for authentic taste, is responding to more ‘rooted’ brand expression.

UK drinkers’ thirst for European-style beers shows no sign of abating. Back in the 1970s, as more people started holidaying abroad, we developed a taste for ‘una caña’ or ‘la petite bière’ and wanted to relive the experience back home. Coupled with the more recent rise in popularity of craft beers, we Brits have been seeking out increasingly esoteric foreign labels ever since.

Of course the big brewers wanted in, so alongside the proliferation of smaller independents, we’ve also seen behemoths buy up breweries or replicate their style.

But whether a beer is owned by a big brewer or small, the country-of-origin story remains critical, and brand owners and their strategic design partners can’t afford to lose sight of this key consumer driver.

Along with the proliferation of European brands we’ve also witnessed a certain ubiquity when it comes to brand and packaging design. Part of the problem is they reference country of origin in broad brush strokes, rather than getting to the heart of a specific place.

Spain, Germany, Italy, they’re all countries made up of very distinct regions. Andalusia and Catalonia are worlds apart. Bavaria and Berlin have completely different cultures. Friuli-Venezia and Lombardy might as well be different countries.

Reaching for cultural relevance

This is something we understood when we started work with Heineken on its hugely popular Spanish brand Cruzcampo. Cruzcampo is Spain’s most popular draft beer, with a rich history and heritage born of Seville in Andalusia.

Our brief was to translate the established Spanish-market brand identity in a way that would resonate with Brits and bring excitement to the mainstream premium lager category.

Research showed the lager had the potential to succeed in the UK, but the provenance story was lacking. We needed to adapt the identity to celebrate the brand’s history and heritage authentically, appeal to UK consumers and stand apart from other Spanish and European offerings on the market.

This beer hails specifically from Seville, setting it apart and giving it a unique standing amongst its competitors. While other beer brands focus on broader cultural cues, Cruzcampo possesses a deeper untold story. So we embarked on a journey to explore everything that made Cruzcampo special, famous and beloved.

A taste of Seville

Through our exploration of Andalusian heritage, lifestyle and culture, we arrived at a design concept that resonated with Cruzcampo’s personality: a laidback charm inspired by the streets of Seville.

Our visual identity encapsulates the real essence of life in the city: Moorish tiles, weathered street signs, the radiant sun and a more leisurely pace of life. This world creates a culturally rich and cohesive brand identity across touchpoints. Our design stands out beautifully from the sea of other red-labelled Spanish beers on the market.

With 120 years of brewing heritage, it was important that we captured the cultural magic so UK audiences would fall in love with the brand and Heineken could accelerate sector growth in a country over 1,000 miles away.