Follow The Bear
What We did:
Brand Relauch
Packaging Design
Brand Strategy
Brand world
Twenty years after the brand was discontinued, this much loved brand was relaunched by two friends. Hofmeister is a different animal now though, only brewed in the heart of Bavaria, made according to the Reinheitsgebot German beer purity law, and uses only three ingredients: mineral water, locally grown barley, and Hallertau Hops.
THE BRIEF: Hofmeister used to be brewed in the UK, at only 3.5%, and after initially being much loved, eventually fell out of favour… We want to relaunch with a seriously great beer brewed in Bavaria, and reinvigorate the brand visually. There is a lot of latent love for Hofmeister and its mascot ‘George the Bear’, so we want to capture that recognition if possible.
THE OPPORTUNITY: Retain any distinctive brand visual assets, imbue the design with Germanic craft, but make it contemporary and relevant to new drinkers. Hofmeister and George the Bear always had twinkle in their eye, and we wanted to retain that.
BRAND MARQUE: A brand new bear - now unchained! Typography developed from Hofmeister’s visual history, and a celebration of their Bavarian provenance.
PACKAGING: A celebration of the instantly recognisable brand colours, giving us on-shelf pop and rapid fundability at the fixture.
TAP HANDLES AND FONTS: Elegant and modern with a nod to tradition. The use of ‘Hof’ as a shorthand for the brand, gives us a great bar call.
BAR FURNITURE: Elevates the bear as our primary recognisable brand asset, and a cheeky tone of voice through the brands copywriting.
‘FOLLOW THE BEAR’: An original advertising strapline for the brand back in the day, now takes on added meaning in the age of social media.
