Premium coffee brand Black Poetry has partnered with independent brand design and transformation consultancy OPEN Strategy & Design to develop the strategic and creative foundation for its entry into India’s emerging carbonated coffee segment.
As one of the early brands bringing carbonated coffee to Indian consumers, Black Poetry faced the challenge of creating a distinct identity for a product that sits between the established worlds of coffee and ready-to-drink beverages. Instead of borrowing conventional cues from either category, the brand sought to establish a new visual and cultural language.
OPEN Strategy & Design built the brand around the idea of ‘Coffee, Reimagined’, drawing inspiration from cultural movements that have challenged conventions across music, food and contemporary art.
This thinking led to the creative philosophy of ‘beautiful vandalism’, which embraces irreverence and challenges the seriousness traditionally associated with coffee. The idea positions disruption not as an end in itself, but as a way to create something new while retaining the craft behind the product.
With the category still unfamiliar to many consumers, packaging became a key communication medium. OPEN treated the can as more than a product container, designing it to stand out on crowded retail shelves, create curiosity and encourage conversations around the new format.
As part of the engagement, OPEN Strategy & Design worked on brand positioning, packaging design, visual identity and the communication framework, creating a distinctive brand world for Black Poetry.
Rahul Goel, Founder of Black Poetry, said the partnership helped the brand move beyond packaging to develop an identity capable of establishing itself in a category without established conventions. He added that the idea of ‘beautiful vandalism’ captured the unexpected and confident spirit the brand wanted to bring to the sparkling coffee segment.
Asparsh Sinha, Managing Partner, OPEN Strategy & Design, said emerging categories need to establish their own visual and cultural language rather than replicate established ones. He added that the team treated the can as the brand’s first and most powerful media channel, designed to capture attention, spark curiosity and introduce consumers to a new coffee experience.
The partnership reflects OPEN Strategy & Design’s approach of combining strategic thinking, cultural insight and design to help emerging brands establish distinctive positions and reshape perceptions of new categories.