Disciplines: Meaningful Promotion, supported by Design / Community / PR / SoMe

The Audience / conversation partners

• Occasional beer drinkers in small urban areas (corner-shop buyers).

• Small shop owners serving their neighborhoods.

The Challenge

• Lost habit: People forgot to return 0.5L bottles; they throw them away.

• Convenience: No home space for storage; no return routine; shopkeepers also lack space.

• Missed moments: At shops, people enjoy 0.5L glass with neighbors; at home, they buy 2L PET as “better value”.

Context

• RGB = Returnable Glass Bottle: washed, refilled, reused (20–50 cycles). Not recycled → reused.

• Available only in small shops, not in big retailers.

• Rural areas recycle more than urban.

• Perception: “corner-block beer” → social, affordable, everyday.

• Glass = authentic, chic, better than plastic.

Budget

200,000 EUR → prizes for the promo campaign.

Use it as an investment in community well-being.

Mandatory

No “Buy. Scratch. Win a BMW.” kind of a mechanism for the promo.

The campaign must:

• Stay simple, meaningful, impactful, human.

• Solve real issues of buying–depositing–returning bottles.

• Improve daily life for neighbors, shop owners, communities.

• Make prizes & mechanics practical, relevant, fun, culturally & anthropologically rooted.

To Do

Create a promo campaign with prizes that motivates both consumers and shop owners to use and return the 0.5L RGB bottle, while improving the experience and their lives in the process.

Show the bottle as:

• A social connector, aligned with Ursus’ 140+ year legacy (a natural social glue for the neighbors, shop owners, friends’ lives)

• Functional & aesthetic (glass feels and looks better), as their deposit spaces should.

• A community builder (shops as hubs)

• Sustainable - reusing the same bottle for 20-25 times before being destroyed, means the conscious option)

Deliverables

I. PDF (max 2 pages)

• Idea (1 line).

• Insight (3-4 lines): habits, challenges + why this moment matters (grounded in local culture).

• Strategy:

  • 2-4 lines: how to drive buying & returning, respecting people’s real needs.

  • 2-4 lines: design + community activation.

• Promo Mechanism (3-4 lines): what you say & what you offer (consumers + shop owners) to join the Returning-the-Glass-Bottle Movement. Keep it light, joyful (it’s beer, not ink).

• Expected Outcome 2026 (2 lines).

II. Three Visual Items

• Poster or outdoor – to announce the promo for those enrolled in the Returning Movement.

• One visual of your choice for the digital space. Your choice of format and exposure space (insta-tiktok-games will be the indicator of what’s the best media to amplify the message.)

• One large-scale design solution – pick one (or propose your own):

• New bottle storage idea (home or shop).

  • New look for bar/outside shop/terrace (landscape, outdoor, upcycling).

  • Visual statement (e.g., mural).

  • Experience improvement for small neighborhoods.

III. A3 Board

• Team name + Catchy campaign title.

• Sections: Idea | Insight / Tension | Promo Mechanism | Strategy

Include at least 3 best visuals.

Samples: A3 boards from different competitions.

Deadline:

Send your solutions on a google drive, under YOUR_TEAMS_NAME link until 30.10.2025, 10 AM at andra@thealternativeschool.com

Make sure the link is public before sending the email.

Recommendations

• Make life better for people, shop owners, communities.

• Use design: murals, interiors/exteriors, shop-as-bistro, storage units.

• Prizes should be meaningful for local lives.

• Think about time:

  • Best launch moment (traditions, seasonal peaks).

  • Long-term vision (evolving campaign, maybe series-style).

• Build on EQ & warmth: small shops = trust, gossip, neighbors, homecoming.

• Beer = social glue, it’s not just about generic prizes.

• PR twist: What if, for once people don’t win prizes for themselves, but for others? On a dedicated platform, prizes can be given by locals to locals (best shopkeeper, best neighbor, best friend, best wife, best mother-in-law, best football-watching buddy).

• From the media perspective - expose the content of the promotion in relevant yet unexpected contexts, so every outdoor / poster / mural or digital content to make sense and be highly specific for this campaign

RGB Cheat Sheet

• History: Dominant until 1970s → replaced by PET → eco-comeback today.

• Advantages: sustainable, authentic, premium, circular economy.

• Disadvantages: heavier, fragile, storage needed, less convenient.

• Market: Works best where return culture is strong → Romania can grow.