Oh oh oh oh Yes! Oros gets a trendy new upgrade

Just Design Jhb brings retro-futurism to a family favourite.

Issued by Just Design3                                                                                           Dec 2020

I don’t think that there is a single South African who doesn’t have a soft spot for Oros. The brand has played a pivotal role in all of our childhoods and remains firmly entrenched with South Africans of all ages.

Heritage brands like Oros are tricky to upgrade, in that one needs to walk a fine line between familiarity and progression. Stray too far, and one risks ostracizing loyal consumers; but not pushing far enough leaves them wanting.

The Just Design Jhb team saw this brief as an opportunity to stretch their creative muscles – pushing the execution into the realm of retro-futurism. One of the top trends for 2020, retro-futurism allows for the nostalgic elements of a brand to live hand in hand with futuristic aspects, creating feelings of anticipation in the progression of these elements.

The key driver for this upgrade came out of the need to increase the brand’s street cred through their ready-to-drink offering, allowing Oros to appeal to a teenage / young adult audience. This type of audience craves ‘newness’ and excitement, and the traditional brand elements really needed to be pushed in order to drive that appeal and shift brand perception from kids / families to something a little ‘cooler’.

The resulting execution uses abstract pattern-like ‘fruit’ to reinforce the flavour cues. Each variant demonstrates a unique pattern, in bright colours, and contrasted on a dark navy background. Oros feels rejuvenated and on-trend and certainly a step away from a more kid-like perception.

This particular design route was our ‘wild card’ of the presentation. It was put into consumer research (with both users and non-users) and it came out tops. This just goes to show that often, we as creatives and marketers, underestimate our consumers’ appetite for progressive design solutions. We need to keep pushing the envelope, and testing the results, so that we can remain not only relevant, but on-trend.