Case

Oedipus

Developing a new brand story for the most curious brewery in the universe.

Oedipus is a craft brewery with a strong arts DNA. Founded by four friends in Amsterdam, they use imagination to color the world, creating beers that showcase beer as a magical, tasty, exciting beverage for everyone.

Brief

When Heineken acquired a minority stake in Oedipus, the brewery experienced significant growth but faced the challenge of conveying their counterculture DNA to new corporate partners and colleagues. Foster&Kin was tasked with creating a new brand story to help all stakeholders, both internal and external, better understand the brand, solidifying their partnership.

Response

We delved deeply into the company, interviewing numerous stakeholders to better understand the challenges of their partnership. Once this became clear, we created a new brand story, delivered in two forms: a creative version for internal purposes and a corporate version that, while embodying the same story, used a more conventional tone of voice. This corporate version was used in more formal settings.

Once the brand story was completed, we guided the team in integrating it into the organisation over the following months, translating it into their day-to-day work and a refined portfolio strategy for the beers. This led to an improved partnership between Heineken and Oedipus, ultimately contributing to the complete acquisition of the brand a year and a half later.

Output