Ursus Breweries Corporate brand identity campaign

DEADLINE / LIFELINE: Dec 9, 2025

SEND THE DELIVERABLES LINK TO: Teodora.migdalovici@thealternativeschool.com / win@thealternativeschool.com

MANDATORY. Submissions must be shared via a link. Solutions sent as email attachments WILL NOT BE considered.

Disciplines:

Corporate identity campaign through PR / Digital / SoMe and / or Employer branding

The Audience / conversation partners. Pick your favorite:

Internal stakeholders: employees, partners

External stakeholders: media, authorities, customers, consumers & potential employees

Extra-focus on Gen Z, no matter what you choose.

The Challenge

1.Make URSUS BREWERIES as relevant, meaningful, loved and famous as its legendary brands, via a Corporate Identity campaign, using Digital / SoMe & PR as main disciplines.

It’s your choice to either:

create a Corporate Identity campaign focused on Employer Branding and the company’s inner world or

a Corporate Identity Campaign focused on its external audience and its wants & needs

What’s the starting point ?

2.Tradition & innovation, people & sustainability are the 3 core pillars to consolidate Ursus.

Up to you to suggest a new direction or to build the campaign on the existing ones, if this is what could help consolidating Ursus’ position, as one of Romania’s most iconic, contemporary, influential brands contributing to the country’s evolution.

Current relevant causes for Ursus

Focus on sustainability

*Plastic reduction: the company reduced the amount of plastic placed on the market by 28%, surpassing the target set for 2030: https://bit.ly/3LpfTk9

Focus on Nature

*Bear habitats’ protection & support, in the Făgăraș Mountains - https://bit.ly/3JMkH2g

and the associated local communities: https://bit.ly/4owyxF5

*Keeping the nature clean: https://www.bereciucas.ro/natura-curata

Focus on Society

*Addressing the gender gap topics: a campaign dedicated to female business talent, to join and perform in sales or technical departments: https://bit.ly/47N6rhF

*Support for vulnerable communities

Focus on responsible alcohol consumption

Preventing underage drinking - https://bit.ly/47xTvNV
*”Don’t drink and Drive” (programs alongside the Romanian Police & authorities to reduceirresponsible alcohol consumption among adults)

*Launching Zero la mie app (festival activations, promo content - https://bit.ly/4hS85n3 )

Focus on Education

*Trainee program: Go graduates https://bit.ly/4hNUDjQ

*Partnership with 11 educational institutions in Bucharest, Cluj, Timișoara, Buzău, and Galați, Ursus Breweries awarded 48 study scholarships and 11 internship scholarships (2024-2025)

*In partnership with #TheAlternativeSchool, supporting marketing and advertising talent in accessing international knowledge so they can influence audiences through communication that drives constructive change. Over 80 scholarships offered in 2024-2025 / 2 Young Lions teams sent to Cannes Lions 2025.

Focus on employees as community of experts

The deep sense of continuity is part of the company’s DNA. Many of THE 1500 employees have been with the company for years, carrying forward the craft, skills, and pride of brewing. Their experience and dedication are at the heart of Ursus.

Explore all programs & the sustainability report:

https://bit.ly/43WjPyT

Context:

• Everyone knows the company’s beers. Few know the story.

• Ursus Breweries enjoys strong brand equity through its iconic portfolio, but the corporate brand itself lacks a clear and distinctive identity in the public eye.

• The challenge is to clarify, propose directions and communicate what makes Ursus Breweries unique — the scale of its impact (current or future), leadership, people, and commitment to sustainability — and build stronger recognition and preference for the company, behind the beers.

Deliverables:

A. Max 2 pages PDF explaining:

Your selected choice (Internal or External corporate communication campaign and why this is “The most urgent / relevant” choice – 2-3 lines) \ The INSIGHT - (PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED – 2 lines) \ IDEA – 2-4 lines / STRATEGY / 6-8 lines (Explaining how your campaign will use the insight to address and solve the problem) / The Expected outcome – 3 lines (Optional: Budget. Its essence: small budget, big impact. No need for details, just a short, general overview, max 3 lines)

B. 3 visual solutions of your choice, supporting your campaign. (At least one should be social media related, at least one should serve as complement for a headline all press is interesting in debating). The videos – if included – shouldn’t be max 2 min long.

C. An A 3 landscape board to include:

The name of the team and the title of the campaign

• INSIGHT - (PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED) / IDEA / STRATEGY (Explaining how your campaign will use the insight to address and solve the problem)

• At least 3 relevant visuals

DEADLINE: December 9, 10 AM. Send the deliverables via a Google Drive link to andra@thealternativeschool.com

Extra-info:

About Ursus Breweries

Ursus Breweries is the largest beer producer in Romania and the local market leader, part of the international group Asahi Europe & International. With a tradition spanning more than a century, the company employs over 1,500 people and operates three modern breweries in Brașov, Buzău, and Timișoara, as well as a microbrewery in Cluj-Napoca, dedicated to innovation and new recipes development.

Ursus Breweries stands out in the Romanian beer market through three essential dimensions.

Tradition & history
Ursus Breweries safeguards some of Romania’s most iconic beer brands, with over 700 years of combined heritage. Its portfolio — including Timișoreana (1718), Ursus (1878), and Ciucaș — preserves Romanian roots while innovating for evolving tastes, including Gen Z. Alongside local icons, it offers global premium brands such as Asahi, Pilsner Urquell, and Peroni, plus non-alcoholic innovations.
People-oriented culture
The company operates in a people-centered ecosystem — employees, partners, and consumers — and fosters Diversity, Equity & Inclusion. Long-tenured teams carry forward the craft and pride of brewing, ensuring continuity and expertise.
Sustainability & responsibility
Sustainability is core to its identity — from reducing emissions and optimizing resources to supporting communities and promoting responsible drinking. Together with heritage and a people-first culture, this commitment defines its role in the Romanian beer market.

How to crack the brief. What you should look for:

Think beyond the category.
Ask yourselves: How can we create an idea so strong that it sets a new standard for beer and inspires other categories too?
Start from real societal challenges.
Look at Romania’s current issues — especially Gen Z. Prioritize them.
Identify which can be meaningfully addressed through a corporate campaign that helps society and strengthens Ursus’ role as a catalyst and contributor.
If you pick the Employer Branding route, think of a campaign that is both authentic to company’s community of experts while offering an internal communication program to attract exceptional talent in the near future.
Find a sharp insight.
One that triggers an “Evrika!” moment when expressed.
Be genuine & useful. Stay away from meaningless bla-bla.
Remember: it’s a beer brand.
You’re encouraged to use good humor, even when solving serious problems.
Design with intention.
Use white space. Keep visuals and messaging clear.
Choose typography that reinforces the idea and its clarity, when expressed on the Board.
Write concisely.
Don’t repeat the brief. Avoid unnecessary words. Keep it simple.

Ursus Breweries Corporate brand identity campaign.pdf

Client: The Alternative School

Briefs

Discover all Briefs

12/8/24, 11:30 AM

Cooler Daytime Drinking Occasions

Increasing penetration and frequency by tapping into new consumption occasions

Have a Cooler whenever you are craving! (Oricand ti-e pofta, bea un Cooler!)

Cooler is drank mainly in the evening, offering deep relaxation moments after a long working day. People appreciate a lot its refreshing, delicious, flavorful taste, that indulges and revigorates. There is still an unexploited consumption opportunity - the daytime occasions, currently owned by carbonated soft drinks.

Disciplines / skills: PRINT / OOH / INSTORE ACTIVATION / STRATEGY

The client:

Cooler is the leader of the flavoured non-alcoholic beer in Romania, being the first on the niche. Initially created as a Ursus extension, now it’s a standalone brand, with distinctive personality and brand promise.

https://ursuscooler.ro/

https://www.instagram.com/ursus_cooler

Campaign’s Tone of voice:

Witty humor, bold and a bit provocative, modern and up-to-date, authentic, suitable for the Urban, young target (18-44 y.o.).

Brand’s personality:

Clever, charismatic, effortlessly cool, challenger and a bit unconventional, yet not in a rebel way, authentic and true to himself, sometimes breaking the traditional ways of doing or saying things, (like drinking a “non-alco” beer during daytime), frequent user of the urban dictionary.

The Audience / conversation partners:

*Urban, less conventional young consumers (18-44 y.o.), open to experiment, interested in a healthier lifestyle, digital-first in terms of media consumption.

What:

Create a print campaign idea (to be declined in OOH, In-store, Retail media) that would build a new consumption habit among the urban, young target - drinking Cooler during daytime also.

How do we measure success ?

The impact of the idea in increasing penetration and consumption frequency among our target

Compelling: is the idea strong enough to change a behavior? Is it routed in a real insight?

Cut-through: is the idea memorable enough? Does it have the power to break the clutter and be visible? The visuals have the power to extract local flavour relevantly and impact the pop-culture ?

Consistent: is it in line with the brand personality?

Clear: is it easy to understand in an environment where you have 2-3 sec of peoples’ attention?

Premium: are the executions visually appealing / stunning?

Deliverables - pick one of the two directions below, based on the impact in brand lovability & sales:

A print campaign that would live in OOH, IN-STORE and Retail Media and that would convince people to drink Cooler during the day also (strategy, creative idea & its execution across the mentioned touchpoints). In-store: a key visual on one point of sale material & a multi-pack developed on the same idea.

Decline your big idea on a specific consumption occasion of your choice (e.g. Christmas, 1st of May, Summer season, National day, Sanziene) via: one poster, one OOH solution, one in-store point of sale material & packaging.

Technicalities:

A Google drive folder containing:

a) 1 PDF, max 2 pages, explaining: a) the idea - 1 line, b) The Insight: 3 lines on how you found it by exploring the urban, young target consumption habits c) Up to 3 paragraphs focusing on how to establish a new consumption habit, detailing the strategy and how this would be brought to life across visual touchpoints (OOH, Instore, Retail Media), the expected outcome in 2025 - 2-4 lines.

b) 4 items

1 poster, 1 OOH solution, 1 in-store point of sales item, 1 packaging

The formats: PNG for the static items, gif for gif & MP4 for the video (if the case)

c) A3 board, landscape, containing the name of the team, the title of the campaign. The catchy board, essentially selling your solution, is presenting in a concise, appealing form the highlights from a & b, following as guidance for headlines: 1. Idea 2. Insight / Tension 3. Strategy 4. Expected outcome + a selection from the visuals.

Samples of A3 competition boards solving similar briefs:

https://thealternativeschool.com/the-school/explore-briefs

Deadline:

Send your solutions on a google drive, under YOUR_TEAMS_NAME link until 8.12. 2024, 11:30 AM

Make sure the link is public before sending the email.

Contact:

andra@thealternativeschool.com

Any further recommendations ?

Build your proposals taking into consideration how a modern, relevant and appealing brand for youngsters would act, at the same time making sure that we keep elements from what Cooler is currently known for.

Q&A helping you to better solve the brief:

How much of the current visual brand identity should we keep ?
Cooler is known for its bright blue color, the yellow sun logo & the red calligraphy. Keep this visual consistency in order to ensure that the brand is still recognisable. However, the client is open and more than happy to explore complementary visual routes if they make sense for your strategy. (especially if your direction is connected to a special moment / period within the year)
The In-store context
The In-Store environment is about 2 key topics: it’s limited and extremely crowded. Brands usually receive small spaces for their placements outside the shelf (e.g. 80cm x 1m). These placements are not standalone, but mixed with other categories of products. This is why the cut-through and the clarity of the message & the visual experience are essential. (pay attention to a possible co-branding route)
OOH
You are encouraged to explore beyond the conventional print ideas and propose a mix of conventional and unconventional OOH, declined both in store and in the public space. Digital OOH or the screens to be found in big stores could serve as media platforms.
Using AI is permitted, but remember it has to genuinely help your idea being declined in a diverse & unexpected way. You don’t use AI for the sake of it, you use it to genuinely make your idea / perspective standing out. Shutterstock has its own AI, with copywrigtht included, so you can make good use of it.
6.Final recommendations for the board ?
a) The idea / insight (translated in the title of the board) should give a very clear reference to your strategy & creative solution.
b) Keep the board’s text to a minimum, everything else - the extra-details - could be integrated in the pdf.
c) Use white space, keep the board decluttered, integrate the impactful visuals
d) The clarity, magnetism, appeal of the board (selling basically your idea) is the first step to win the jurors’ attention & appreciation.

12/10/25, 1:00 PM

YOUNG LADY x The Alternative School x LoveAndLobby Creative Brief – Beauty as a Rich Inner World

Disciplines: DESIGN / LOBBY & PR via strategy, SoMe & more

Tension / Insight
Romanian women carry a double story: admired for their looks, underestimated for their talent, brains and contribution.
At the same time, many women under 35 grow up in a culture of anxiety, social comparison, economic pressure and “easy way out” options (like videochat or under-potential jobs). Role models who mix brains, beauty, courage and global performance are there, sometimes exceptional, performing globally, however but too quiet, too scarce, too disparate, with the social media noise covering their acheivements.

Young Lady is The Alternative School’s x LoveAndLobby.com answer:

A creative platform (digital-print-events) that reframes Romanian beauty as the visible expression of a powerful inner world – talent, skills, character, values.

Key words: beauty, identity, career choice, stereotypes, social pressure, flipping the script, private diplomacy.

Young Lady’s mission / purpose:
Reposition beauty – in general, and Romanian beauty in particular – as the expression of talent & a rich inner world. #BrainsAndBeauty
Challenge clichés about Romanian women and Romania, and position “Romanian beauty = Romanian talent” on the global stage. #Brains&Beauty

3.Who are we talking to?

Primary audience: Young women in Romania, up to 35, from creative fields, business, tech, STEM, fashion, PR, marketing, art, especially those dealing with insecurity, lack of direction or pressure to choose “easier but emptier” paths.

Secondary audience: Romanian and international creative & business communities, Media & influencers, Foreign audiences who still see Romanian women mainly through beauty clichés, BRANDS that can resonate with the goal of the program, signing “The Pledge for Beauty”, where Beauty is repositioned as expression and talent as subject.

Tertiary audience: Brands and decision makers who have the power to fund, host, amplify and normalize this new definition of beauty.

WHAT’S YOUR TASK:

Create the cover of the Young Lady Magazine. It should mirror or complement the LadiesFirst Cover, for very often they will be distributed together.

Pick one or several brands that could make sense to team up with Young Lady and create a campaign amplifying the Young Lady mission, while bringing the partner brand(s) consistent benefits.

Create 2 other visual statements of your choice, beyond the cover of the magazine, to document your campaign. (it can be an instagram layout for the carousel, to communicate the selected talent backstage story of transformation, it can be video, poster, other social media content to be used at any moment in the Young Ladies journey, from the digital stage, to the print - events - potential exhibitions with the portraits of the selected talent). Keep in mind the media budget is very limited, so you need to pick those media that are serving the cause, while being realistic.

Note: While proposing visual content, take into consideration TheAlternativeSchool & LadiesFirst aestetics: https://www.instagram.com/theschoolforcreativethinking/ https://thealternativeschool.com/cia/ladies-first)

Deliverables on a gdrive link:

Magazine cover for the LadiesFirst / Young Lady magazine. Format: PDF The size: 286.103 x 295.981 mm or 1081 x 1119 pixels)

Two additional key visuals. Static or motion. Formats: JPG or MP4

A3 campaign board

Presenting the insight, the idea and strategy, based on the brand(s) selected to team up with the platform (explaining how the Young Lady platform and your chosen brand(s) work together to transform the purpose of the platform into a reality, and the changes in culture or behavior when your campaign succeeds), It must include the three visuals above (cover + 2 key visuals) and feature an impactful campaign title.

Note: The board must be signed with the team name only (not the individual participants’ names).

6.Find here additional visual references from LadiesFirst to help you frame YoungLady

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1yNs8fMgWN0Y5EMYvoKblovRMdouW-rJt?usp=sharing

7.Deadline:

Send your solutions on a google drive, under YOUR_TEAMS_NAME link until 10.12.2025, 1pm at andra@thealternativeschool.com Make sure the link is public before sending the email.

More about Young Lady

1.What is Young Lady?

a) A hybrid platform:

Digital “reality show” of talent

Instagram + thealternativeschool.com x Love&Lobby

Visual takeovers, interviews, backstage stories about confidence, fears overcome, and personal visions of beauty, backstage stories from the shoots

Featuring exceptional talents under 35 from the creative economies, STEM & co.

Each talent receives:

Personal branding support (as a tool to express the gorgeousness of the inner world, not as an instrument to cover up insecurities)

A #Makeover experience (hair, make-up, styling, professional photoshoot)

A chance to show how their inner world translates into outer expressivity

Premium English-language print & digital magazine – Young Lady

45 profiles of remarkable Romanian talents, already awarded in international contexts (women + men and non-binary personalities as recommenders & designers)

Same graphic DNA & recommendation mechanic as LadiesFirst (an accomplished male or female professional, is recommending a young female talent, who’s recommending a young designer, regardless the gender)

The best pictures of the shoot are selected for the print, while the second best, with backstage quality will go on social media, to keep the flame alive

Distributed at international festivals & events related to creativity, art, tourism, that could serve as cultural diplomacy platforms, local School’s events (#TheFutureOf series / BrandsTalk - Identity & culture) and premium locations in Romania (hotels, cafés, restaurants where foreigners can be easily reached out and exposed to contemporary romanian talent in all shapes and sizes)

Purpose: challenge clichés about Romanian women and Romania, and position “Romanian beauty = Romanian talent” on the global stage. #Brains&Beauty

b) Backed up by edicated events

On Beauty / On Romanian Talent / #TheFutureOfCreativity

c) A PR & Lobby platform

Sparks media and professional conversations about: contemporary Romanian talent / cosmopolitan education / beauty as expressivity of personality and talent / performance against all odds. Acts as a tool for the Romanian creative industries “at export”.

The Core Idea behind Young Lady / Ladies First

Beauty = the visible expression of a rich inner world.

The hero of the story: the head –what’s inside (talent, skills, ideas, values) what’s outside (hair, style, face) = one coherent expression of identity.

“Romanian beauty” is not about fitting a stereotype. It is about:

performance against the odds,

diversity of backgrounds (economic, geographic, cultural, LGBTQ )

women who use their heads to build meaningful lives and careers.

Role of the Partner Brand(s)

In 2025, brands can be more than advertisers.

Within Young Lady, the partner brand becomes:

Coach & amplifier of better aspirations

Stage where real stories of Romanian talent are seen

Ally that transforms its platforms (products, spaces, channels, tech) into tools for confidence, visibility and opportunity.

Brand partnership

Choose at least one real brand to partner with Young Lady:

A beauty / hair brand (haircare, styling, skincare, make-up, salon), A tech brand

(telco, device, app/platform, AI, wearables, fintech) You may also imagine a collaboration between a beauty brand and a tech brand if it serves your idea.

Show clearly:

Why this brand is a credible ally for the cause

What concrete assets it puts on the table (products, technology, spaces, communities, media, expertise).

What your campaign must do

Your campaign should:

Flip the cliché: Challenge the old narrative “pretty face, not much else”

Replace it with a new mental model: “Brains ^ Beauty” / “Beauty that thinks & acts”.

On possible direction is to Make the head the hero: Use head / hair / face / style as symbols of inner richness and expression, not as objects to be judged. Show how style, hair and make-up become a translation of personality, not the starting point.

Keywords: #HairStory, #HerStory

Live as a real ecosystem, not just a slogan

6.Show how your idea plays out across:

Digital & social content (including Instagram takeovers, stories, AR filters, challenges, UGC)

On-ground or hybrid experiences (events, makeovers, talks, mentorship, workshops)

PR & media (how does it generate conversation locally and internationally?)

The Young Lady magazine and its presence at global festivals.

Inspire better choices

Offer young women desirable, realistic alternatives to “easy-way-out” narratives: role models, paths, communities, support.

Avoid shaming; focus on showing what’s possible when talent meets opportunity.

Impact & Future Life

7. Tone & Guardrails

Empowering, bold, emotionally intelligent

Respectful of all life choices – but clearly in love with talent, courage, and inner richness

No victimization, no “fixing women”. We celebrate and amplify what’s already powerful in them.

Avoid superficial “beauty empowerment” clichés. Go deeper, be specific, be human.

The campaign should help real brand(s) stand next to Young Lady and loudly prove that the most powerful form of beauty Romanian women can flaunt is the one born from their minds, hearts and talent – with hair, make-up and style as the visible echo of that inner world.

Make your mama proud:

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Make your mama proud:

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