Postcard from Zagreb
Anja Bauer, director of brand strategy and creative director at Fabular, chats to Transform about life in the Croatian capital of Zagreb, how the agency crafts enticing brand names and what the future of brand design might be in the Balkan nation.
Tell me about Fabular and how it differs from other brand agencies in Zagreb.
I would say that we are a great group of friends firstly because we have been working together for more than 15 years. Fabular has its own brand methodology for creating strong brands and this has been the backbone of our work. We have been awarded international awards for brand strategy, naming and visual identity.
Zagreb is known for its colourful architecture, pleasant parks and vibrant city centre. Which parts of the city do you, as a creative, draw the most inspiration from?
I try to go to the park every day, where I spend at least an hour to get the free flow of ideas. I go to the park where I can run and walk in the woods, it’s just really pretty there. I think that by being immersed in nature we are more in touch with our creative side and our brain just creates more imaginative names. This park is right in the centre of Zagreb; we are very lucky that we have so many parks here in Zagreb. Whenever I travel, I do the same. I go to forests or to the sea; I run, walk, think and create. When you do this job, it never really stops, your head is creating concepts even while you sleep. There are many times that I am awakened by an idea, and then I either write it down or challenge myself to remember it.
Zagreb has a fun café and restaurant scene so sometimes I just sit in a café and write down my ideas and see if a new name will arise from that.
It’s important to create on the basis of strategic foundations, to create inside the strategic framework with out-of-the-box solutions that resonate with meaning and uniqueness among the consumers.
What would you say is distinct about brand design in Croatia compared to neighbouring countries?
I would say we are pretty similar since we are all part of the global village. The brand identity of Fabular is strongly rooted in brand strategy which is somewhat different from other agencies. It’s important to us to be able to get our clients to grow financially pretty fast after branding or rebranding and the strategy is the foundation for the targeted creation of brand associations which are then projected through the brand name, brand slogan and messages as well as the visual identity.
Fabular excels in crafting new brand names, as demonstrated by its Transform Awards-winning work for The Amauris hotel in Vienna. How is the agency able to consistently create great brand names?
We aim to create diverse names that stand out. It’s important for the name to be meaningful and memorable. The name is an integral part of the brand, hence it needs to communicate relevant meaning and be unique.
Our branding is founded on our unique methodology whose role is to create emotional relevance, differentiation and synergy between the psychographics and positioning. Once we have that, it’s fun to create names and slogans. Then the important part is to let go of strict rational thinking and go into nature, the woods, walk in the park, the sea shore, the river, to go and sort of feel your thoughts create new verbal concepts.
How has the branding scene – in terms of naming and logo design – changed in Croatia over the past decade, and where do you see it headed next?
The brand identities are more meaningful. Today, brands have a sense of purpose and express deeper meaning, more emotion, less function and resonate on a more personal level with consumers. Branding a decade ago in Croatia was more focused on quality and functional associations. However, we were even then determined to create brand stories that are emotional – we call that relevant emotional associations. Our methodology, called ‘8 Ingredients that build the brand,’ revolves around building distinct brands filled with emotional relevance that grabs consumers’ attention, drives engagement and growth.
This whole marketplace has changed because today’s creatives are aware that boring brands are bland and can’t motivate people to want to become the protagonists of their brand stories. Nowadays, ideas are more compelling, brand concepts more meaningful and design is a bit more metaphorical, creating symbolism that is deeper and has a sense of purpose. Brands reflect the culture and Croatian culture loves brands which are aesthetically pleasing, have a sense of humour and are motivational and inspirational.
This article was taken from Transform magazine Q3, 2024. You can subscribe to the print edition here.
