murat the 1st
packaging project designed @ Storience
MURAT INTAIUL
INDUSTRY CONTEXT
Economy food brands today do almost nothing but compete on price. And competition is fierce, with a glut of offerings in most categories. When it comes to pickled foods, a small number of manufacturers deliver basically the same product to most of the brands on the market, who need to find novel ways to differentiate.
CHALLENGE
Roughly 2 million Romanians now live in south-western Europe. Being one of them, our entrepreneurial client has set up an FMCG commerce business (both retail and wholesale) and started to create his own brands, targeting fellow Romanians living in Spain (about 1 million people, working in everything from agriculture and construction to medicine and technology).
STRATEGY
Package design for Romanian pickle brands is surprisingly uniform. Names and imagery are generic, descriptive and utterly bland. Since pickles are the stuff that spices up our meals and help with digestion, we decided to make our brand fun. We wanted it to demonstrate a sense of humour, as no other competitor had ever done that.
OUTCOME
Making a big dent in a barren landscape, the brand identity we created revolves around a quirky and fun fictional character, made up of standard pickle fare. He is an instant match for its product category. But to Romanians, Murat Întâiulis reminiscent of their nation’s history, because it is the name of an Ottoman emperor. The brand name is also descriptive in a fresh manner, as it basically says ”top-notch pickle” (Murat Întâiul literally translates intoPickle the Ist). The brand slogan (Murături cuceritoare – ”Captivating pickles”) has an obvious double meaning, applying to both food and imperial habits.
Project designed@Storience branding agency