Keep cool on the dance floor

Launching a premium lager as the summer approaches should be a piece of cake almost anywhere on Earth – even more so if it is aimed at 18- to 24-year-old clubbers in the sizzling Canary Islands.

This was the happy task facing Compañía Cervacera de Canarias, the largest brewery in the Canaries, which this week launches a new blonde beer in a bid to square up to increasing competition from imported premium lagers on the islands.

CCC’s new white lager is coolly named 4C, after the chilled temperature at which it is stored and drunk. The bottles have emphasised long necks so they stand out from the rest of the crowd on the shelf.

The name and bottle shape were chosen by CCC, and it commissioned London design consultancy Lloyd Ferguson Hawkins to devise a brand identity, both for the bottles and the packaging of four-bottle take-out packs and bumper 24-packs.

LFH has kept the youthfulness of the target market in mind in creating 4C’s image. The bottles have a sleek feel, more reminiscent of alcopop bottles than those for traditional lager. LFH has added to this by using shimmery silver and blue neck and body packaging, with minimalistic bold lettering.

The bottles smack of cool clean fun, based on street and club culture, rather than lager-loutish behaviour in back street pubs. The bottles and their packaging give the impression that anyone up for posing – and most people out clubbing are – would do well to grab a bottle.

LFH creative director Mark Lloyd, who worked with designer Mark Parsonson, says: ‘The label has a clubby, night-time feel and is dark and mysterious. It is not like traditional lagers where you expect a crest and seal. We have broken away from traditional lager language.’

4C is initially being launched in the Canaries alone, though the long-term aim is to infiltrate the Spanish market. With packaging like this, it will not be out of place competing against other, better-known premium lagers.

Designer: Lloyd Ferguson Hawkins

Client: Compañía Cervacera de Canarias