Opal Nera liqueur relaunches with design by Denomination

Italian liqueur Opal Nera has relaunched globally, featuring a brand refresh by drinks design company Denomination.

The sambuca-based dark liqueur was created by Distillerie Francoli in the 1980s and is made from ten ingredients including elderberries, which give it a purple hue.

Keeping the classic bottle, Denomination has aimed to make the brand relevant to the modern consumer, while also tapping into an explosion in the popularity of Insta-worthy liqueurs and aperitifs.

A chief challenge for the Denomination team was to create a design that looked at home in inner-city bars, while retaining existing consumers and attracting new people to the brand.   

“Opal Nera’s USP – its ‘dark secret’ – is that it turns purple on contact with ice, so we modified the bottle to reflect that,” said Rowena Curlewis, CEO of Denomination. “At first glance, it looks like black frosted glass but, on pouring, a purple colour that matches the liquid is revealed.”

The design aims to retain existing consumers of Opal Nera and attract new people to the brand.

Playing on this point of difference, Denomination added a code beneath the logo, which consumers can decipher using a sequence of letters and numbers that appears on the rim to reveal the words ‘dark secret’.

Curlewis added: “We wanted to tell the story in a unique way, and our ‘secret code’ mechanism is distinctive and really engages the consumer.”

Denomination used contemporary typography and created an ‘ON’ logo with negative tension on the bottle.

Nigel Brown, commercial director at Gruppo Francoli, said: “Denomination has developed a beautiful design solution that captures people’s attention. It is still recognisably Opal Nera but has been brought up to date so that it will appeal to the modern consumer. 

“It’s a sophisticated response that plays to Opal Nera’s distinctive qualities, making it stand out in a sea of conservative brands. We love the way consumers are now drawn in and taken on a journey of discovery, with layered packaging that engages bartenders and drinkers and makes Opal Nera a memorable experience.”