Hard at the tree line
Ruf Lanz launches the trendy beer Calanda Viva featuring tipsy animals
Ruf Lanz Launches the Trendy Beer Calanda Viva Featuring Tipsy Animals By Luca Aloisi Hops and malt alone are no longer enough. Lifestyle is a must, as beer consumption has been declining for years. Marketing strategists see growth potential only among a young target audience. Ruf Lanz has given the new brew a wild makeover.
International brewing conglomerates are as resilient to economic downturns as industries such as healthcare, food, and tobacco. However, this cannot be attributed to sales volumes in Europe, where the beer industry is suffering from changing drinking habits and rainy summers.
The latter have also thrown a wrench in the works for Swiss brewers. For the first time, per capita consumption of beer fell below 57 liters last year. When combined with the increased share of imports, the highly fragmented and saturated market paints a bleak picture.
Calanda Viva is getting a trendy Graubünden image
In Switzerland, the Dutch beer group Heineken (market share: 19 percent), now in its third generation of family ownership, has responded with two measures: First, it has concentrated the production of its brands in Chur. As a result, the Grisons capital now brews not only the local Calanda beer and the international brands Heineken and Amstel, but also Winterthur’s Haldengut. At the same time, the world’s fourth-largest beer group is attempting to break into new segments by introducing specialty beers. This is because volume potential and high margins can now only be found among a younger, active target group.
With the new draft beer
With Calanda Viva, Heineken Switzerland aims to target young, trend-conscious people and compete with the popular flavored alcoholic beverages (alcopops) on the market. Brand Manager Sandra Chollet describes the target audience as follows: «We’re targeting modern, open-minded young people who enjoy having fun in their free time, go out with friends, and are active in sports on the weekends—for example, snowboarding or carving.» The focus on winter sports also explains the strictly regional distribution in Calanda’s home region.
There, the new brew is served at trendy hotspots, and the brand deliberately highlights the benefits of its local origins across all communication channels. «If Calanda were an Aargau beer, we probably wouldn’t have chosen the »local roots’ strategy,” explains CD Markus Ruf of the Ruf Lanz agency with a smile. It’s no coincidence that the product is named Viva, a name that references its Graubünden roots.
In Graubünden, people clink glasses with the Romansh phrase «Viva» («Cheers!»). And if there’s still any confusion, the packaging designed by Future Brand makes it perfectly clear: a stylized ibex is visible on the bottle.
Ruf Lanz also consistently carried through the Graubünden-themed positioning in the advertising campaign. The idea behind all the advertising efforts: The new Calanda Viva tastes so good that you shouldn’t leave it unattended for even a moment. The creative duo used local animals to dramatize the concept of «sneaking a drink.».
In advertisements and on posters, you see a visibly tipsy line of chamois dancing against the backdrop of the Graubünden mountains. And in the offbeat movie trailers produced by Zurich-based Peacock Film, the Graubünden wildlife behaves in ways you’ve never seen before: In the first spot, an ibex gazes innocently into the camera, just like in a traditional documentary. Then, out of the blue, it lets out a satisfied belch from deep within. In the other spot, a marmot interrupts its hibernation due to an overwhelming urge to urinate.
Ad Rating
International brewing conglomerates are as resilient to economic downturns as industries such as healthcare, food, and tobacco. However, this cannot be attributed to sales volumes in Europe, where the beer industry is suffering from changing drinking habits and rainy summers.
The latter have also thrown a wrench in the works for Swiss brewers. For the first time, per capita consumption of beer fell below 57 liters last year. When combined with the increased share of imports, the highly fragmented and saturated market paints a bleak picture.
Calanda Viva is getting a trendy Graubünden image
In Switzerland, the Dutch beer group Heineken (market share: 19 percent), now in its third generation of family ownership, has responded with two measures: First, it has concentrated the production of its brands in Chur. As a result, the Grisons capital now brews not only the local Calanda beer and the international brands Heineken and Amstel, but also Winterthur’s Haldengut. At the same time, the world’s fourth-largest beer group is attempting to break into new segments by introducing specialty beers. This is because volume potential and high margins can now only be found among a younger, active target group.
With the new draft beer
With Calanda Viva, Heineken Switzerland aims to target young, trend-conscious people and compete with the popular flavored alcoholic beverages (alcopops) on the market. Brand Manager Sandra Chollet describes the target audience as follows: «We’re targeting modern, open-minded young people who enjoy having fun in their free time, go out with friends, and are active in sports on the weekends—for example, snowboarding or carving.» The focus on winter sports also explains the strictly regional distribution in Calanda’s home region.
There, the new brew is served at trendy hotspots, and the brand deliberately highlights the benefits of its local origins across all communication channels. «If Calanda were an Aargau beer, we probably wouldn’t have chosen the »local roots’ strategy,” explains CD Markus Ruf of the Ruf Lanz agency with a smile. It’s no coincidence that the product is named Viva, a name that references its Graubünden roots.
In Graubünden, people clink glasses with the Romansh phrase «Viva» («Cheers!»). And if there’s still any confusion, the packaging designed by Future Brand makes it perfectly clear: a stylized ibex is visible on the bottle.
Ruf Lanz also consistently carried through the Graubünden-themed positioning in the advertising campaign. The idea behind all the advertising efforts: The new Calanda Viva tastes so good that you shouldn’t leave it unattended for even a moment. The creative duo used local animals to dramatize the concept of «sneaking a drink.».
In advertisements and on posters, you see a visibly tipsy line of chamois dancing against the backdrop of the Graubünden mountains. And in the offbeat movie trailers produced by Zurich-based Peacock Film, the Graubünden wildlife behaves in ways you’ve never seen before: In the first spot, an ibex gazes innocently into the camera, just like in a traditional documentary. Then, out of the blue, it lets out a satisfied belch from deep within. In the other spot, a marmot interrupts its hibernation due to an overwhelming urge to urinate.
Ad Rating
Calanda Viva
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