Since the 2020, every alcohol producer have been buzzing about seltzers. In the nordics, the category was not yet fully formed and the name ‘seltzer’ sounded vague to the consumer. Anora Group PLC wanted to be one of the first players to introduce this fast growing segment to the consumer and lead the revolution here in Finland.
In the beginning, we just had the brand name ‘SAY’ and good vodka based beverages. We started the project working with strategy partner to conceptualize the brand DNA of ‘SAY Seltzer’. The core of the brand was formed with laid-back attitude and proudness to walk one’s own path, doing the things one likes. With strong brand manifesto, we knew the visuality should be loud and proud, while still following the seltzer category ques.
Since the brand was created from scratch into a novel category, it was clear that the packaging needed to work extra hard in a busy retail environment. The brand name had to be prominent and visible no matter what. This challenge was solved by creating a logotype ‘SAY’, which was wrapped around a speech bubble. The black and white logo led to a realisation of how to turn the negative space of the speech buble in to a fully formed mouth. Capturing the essence of brand‘s DNA, the open mouth practically shouts out the brand and conveys it strong attitude.
The open mouth works as a centerpiece in all of the sku’s and ensures no matter how crowded the retail aisle is, the ‘SAY’ logo stands out always. To create a versatile and scalable system, each flavor of Say Seltzer has different, distinctively colored mouth with supportive illustrations to communicate the flavors while white background provides a clear and calming canvas to the overall layout.
Say Seltzer was launched in 2021 with two flavours, orange & guarana and strawberry & raspberry. The launch became one of the success stories of summer 2021 with strawberry & raspberry being second most sold product of Anora’s own beverages. For the year 2022 SAY Seltzer is introducing two new flavors; grapefruit & lemon and first alcohol free seltzer in Finland; lime & mint.
