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Essa is a beer brand that appeared on the Russian market in 2010. Products under this brand are produced by the Russian division of the Turkish holding Anadolu Efes – Efes Rus, which occupies the fourth position in the list of the largest manufacturers in the Russian Federation. The assets of Efes Rus include a malt plant and 6 breweries in various Russian cities. Since the end of 2016, preparations have been underway for the merger of the businesses of Anadolu EFES and the world’s largest brewing concern AB InBev in Russia and Ukraine. The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2018.
The history of the brand is still very short: the production of Essa Pineapple & Grapefruit flavored beer began at the Kaluga branch of the Moscow-EFES Brewery in 2010. The emergence of “Essa” was to a certain extent prepared by the launch of Redd’s fruit and berry beer, beer cocktails Dolce Iris, Dolce Iris Rosso. The decision to expand the line of “women’s” beer was made by the manufacturer, based on the data of the Nielsen analytical agency, indicating that there is an active growth in consumer demand for this category of drinks. In just a year, the share of the flavored beer segment increased by more than 2%.
Before launching the novelty on the market, Efes Rus also conducted its own research, inviting survey participants to evaluate the taste and packaging design of the new beer drink. The results of the survey led to the conclusion that the Russian consumer is ready for bold experiments and is open to everything new. It was women who turned out to be the avant-garde group: they are less conservative than men, more often giving preference to “special” types of beer – flavored, with various flavoring additives.
After 6 years, Efes Rus decided to repeat its success and introduced a new version of ESSA to the market, this time with mint and lime flavor. Having hit the bull’s-eye with the positioning of grapefruit ESSA as a beer for beautiful ladies, the manufacturer decided to expand the audience of potential consumers. Pineapple & Grapefruit has gained popularity as a drink for quiet bachelorette parties, Essa Lime & Mint has become a decoration for noisy parties.
For the packaging design, a yellow-green color scheme was chosen, associated with the freshness and explosive taste of citrus. The changes also affected the writing of the brand logo: if earlier two letters S turned to each other formed a touching heart, then on the new label they are folded into a glass with a cocktail tube. The designers managed to maintain the continuity of visual means and brand recognition.
Awards
Brand of the Year/EFFIE, Moscow:
- 2010 – Silver (Essa Pineapple & Grapefruit) award.
International competition of beer and drinks, Kiev:
- 2011 – Silver (Essa Pineapple & Grapefruit) medal.
Helsinki Beer Festival:
- 2012 – Bronze (Essa Pineapple & Grapefruit) medal.
“Best Beer of the Year”, Moscow:
- 2013 – Bronze (Essa Pineapple & Grapefruit) medal.
International Forum “Beer”, Sochi:
- 2017 – victory (Essa Lime & Mint) in the category “For the original design of products.”
Interesting Facts
In honor of the sixth anniversary of the presence of beer on the market, the brand opened a place in Moscow for the most incendiary parties and interesting get-togethers – ESSA Party Box. The main attraction of this place was the chosen format of events, based on the principle of DIY (“Do it yourself”), when guests are invited to come up with and implement the scenario of the party themselves. Another “magnet” for lovers of music and drive has become a joint project of the brand and the popular Canadian singer Kaiza. She performed her program at the opening and promised to virtually attend the rest of the parties of the season.
The popular online specialized resource Beercomments held a vote to identify the most popular beer brands among Russians. ESSA took 8th place in the spontaneously compiled rating and is the leader in the number of detailed and reasoned reviews. The overwhelming emotionality of the assessments gives out in most of the authors the representatives of the fair sex.
Thanks to the commercial for ESSA beer, the recognition of the American group The Pierces in Russia has increased significantly. The video sequence and the music track matched so well that the query “the song of the Pierce sisters from the advertisement about Essa beer” became one of the most frequent in search engines.
During the METRO EXPO 2017 exhibition, a record number of visitors gathered near the Efes Rus interactive stand. The company found a non-trivial solution to draw attention to its products: guests were invited to take a virtual walk, go through an exciting quest, try to break into a safe made in the form of a beer keg, try their luck in drawing a monthly supply of beer. Pleasant prizes awaited the participants who passed all the tests, including the key novelty of 2017, Essa Lime & Mint beer.
How to distinguish a fake
The manufacturer made sure that counterfeiting brand products was as difficult, expensive and unprofitable as possible. Despite this, before buying it is worth studying the packaging design in detail – in order to avoid acquiring counterfeit goods.
Distinctive features of ESSA beer drink:
- bottled in 0,5 l bottles with a high neck and sloping shoulders;
- the label and collar of Pineapple & Grapefruit are dominated by red-pink and yellow tones;
- the label Lime & Mint is solved in yellow-green scale;
- under the label is a convex inscription on the glass “Premium Quality”;
- twist-off lid, which does not require any tools to open.
Types of beer Essa
Essa Pineapple & Grapefruit, 6,5%
Flavored beer, originally aimed at a female audience, which in itself is a non-standard move. By launching this premium product, Efes Rus planned to create a new niche brand in the Russian and CIS markets. The start of sales was accompanied by a powerful advertising campaign on television and in retail outlets. The novelty was almost immediately awarded the prestigious Brand of the Year award. The shape and exotic design of the bottle are designed to emphasize the feminine character of the beer drink. The bouquet contains pineapple and red grapefruit, as well as tangerine, passion fruit, apricot. The taste is a sweet and sour fruit mix, complemented by a light hop bitterness. Unlike other beers, Pineapple & Grapefruit is recommended to be poured into tall and narrow glasses
This Lime & Mint, 6,5%
A novelty of the Essa line, released at the end of 2016 in the wake of the success of beer with the smell of grapefruit and pineapple. If the first mix was addressed primarily to girls, then Lime & Mint is designed to attract a male audience as well. At summer parties, a beer with a refreshing bouquet of lime, lemon and peppermint will be a worthy alternative to the popular Beer Mojito cocktail. At the same time, you don’t need to mix anything in the shaker and even look for a bottle opener, you just need to turn the lid: for convenience, arrows show the desired direction on it. A beer drink without serious hop bitterness, fragrant and sweet without cloying, perfect to quench your thirst and at the same time discover a new original taste.
