Pacha Group

Strategy: Understanding purpose for an entertainment brand

What is the point of a night club? What is the reason to build yet another party hotel? Is it just for the fun of it? Or is there something more? After hours of interviews and working sessions in a joint effort with Pacha, we reached some interesting conclusions. Ones that allowed the brand to look further and think bigger. To feel a connection, to elevate desire, to find a balance between openness to influence and a grounding in Mediterranean heritage. To connect people with the sounds of our locations, that soon become the soundtrack of their life, and to enjoy the wonder of creativity. All these were vital pillars that led to a narrative claim. Pacha is the brand for curated celebration. Yes, fun. At a whole new level.

A brand ecosystem means a narrative ecosystem

The brand ecosystem presented itself as a complex structure. It needed to be able to have aspects of monolithic consistency, while maintaining the degree of freedom a house of brands allows. It had to cater to the main club, urban hotels, luxury beach hotels, and quiet boutique hotels, all the way down to cabaret clubs, restaurants, beach clubs, and transient events. To do so, we developed sub-narratives for the different outlets, to ensure they were woven into the main narrative. We also included some specific elements that could boost their identity.

Here, a strong icon was on our side. It was based upon a ‘cherries-first’ logo construction and paired by the Pacha name as a house name. The structure of the outlet brands allowed for a clear consistency for Pacha to build a strong and diversified brand. It was going to need it to compete with big players in the entertainment world. However, this structure also offered a huge space for creativity and elegant identity at an outlet level. In such a way, each hotel or restaurant could build its own soulful narrative. Pacha’s vision for these logos was creative and bold, aiming for them to become more like movie title logos that would make the customer imagine and dream. For the clubs and party brands, the cherries added to the outlet brands’ strong character and did the trick.

The restyling of an Icon

For a logo as well known and beautiful as the iconic cherries, it was handled with care from the start. However, technical adaptations for digital application were needed, and the ecosystem asked for a robust symbol reduction. With this in mind, we looked for rounder shapes and more responsive possibilities. Regarding the logo, reduction and reproduction capacity were the main drivers of redrawing letterforms and allowing for bigger inner white spaces.

Casa Pacha

Casa Pacha is Pacha’s boutique hotel brand. It had to represent a unique vision in this kind of product. Maintaining the main brand’s values of connection, desire, life soundtrack and creativity, it included its own narratives of hidden home, rooted attitude, and friendship to offer a curated retreat. We used an unconventional handwritten type with a playful and whimsical approach – some Dali logos were an essential inspiration – to produce the Casa Pacha logo, which then extended to the whole signage system. The graphic language is rooted in the basic essence of elements, organic shapes and the abstract beauty of nature. Watercolor itself evokes landscapes – a rocky sea bottom, a horizon line, a magically glowing sunset, the closeness of water itself. Watercolor inspires calm and a sense of well-being.

Lío

The ultra-successful cabaret restaurant is an experience in and of itself, and it has become an island’s must. Here, millionaires and celebrities alike enjoy the pleasures of Ibiza’s nightlife, with an extra sprinkle of wonder and elegance. In this case, the old logo did not follow suit. The concept of wonder and sexy playfulness was there, but the execution did not meet the quality standard. A work of typographic craft was implemented, so that the great concept of lio (a pun which mixes the meaning of the word ‘mess’ and ‘party’) could come to life. Finally, the inclusion of the cherries allowed Pacha to capitalize on the values and the awareness built by the cabaret.

Destino Pacha

Destino Pacha is the brand’s luxury beach hotel, fueled by Pacha’s well-known parties and dj sets. It brings its unique values of outdoor life, a curated vision for creativity and a sense of experience unlimited by standard timetables. In short, it is a true adult playground, where beauty, music and an outdoor lifestyle come together. The Destino Pacha logo needed to reflect this promise of fun in the sun, so it was created with an elegant attitude while reflecting the idea of connection through the link of the ’t’ and the ‘h’. The brand language followed with a deep electric blue as the main color. It encompasses iconic Destino places represented through figurative and abstract illustrations. Behind them, an impossible red or blue sun appears to signal the magical sunset hour, a moment that defines the hotel.

El Hotel Pacha

El Hotel Pacha is the brand’s proposal for urban lifestyle hotels. It added a sense of creative community and an agnostic attitude to the important connection to the club’s heritage in this urban hub for creative minds. It is no coincidence that the hotel is door to door with Pacha, the club. The visual identity was hence inspired by the nuances of club lights, their tones, and variations. The result is a powerful combination of 3-tone gradients that dress every one of the hotel applications. Its versatility is an important feature. Many graphic variations can be achieved by playing with different shapes and compositions. To those variations, strong photography and typographical elements could be applied.

Fteliá

The case of Ftelià was one of the first cases in which the company expanded its business into the food & beverage sector outside of Ibiza. Landing in hyped up Mykonos, with a plethora of harsh competitors to fence off, was no minor threat. This had to be very Pacha and very Mykonos. To all the key brand values, we added a sense of wild beauty, the full strength of the elements, and the elegance of a remote retreat. The logo was created through elegant typography, which added an unusually bold and conspicuous accent over the ‘a’— a statement of local language and local culture. The brand language was based on the wind and sea surrounding Fteliá, which have shaped the island of Mykonos for centuries. Air and water are the defining elements of the local spot and both strongly belong to the local culture. The different illustrations developed a fluid pattern evoking both figures drawn by the wind and the sinuous figures generated by the waves and seawater on the horizon.