The Bull in the Cigar Shop – Villiger Söhne

130 years of family tradition in the refined world of cigars: Villiger Söhne is among Europe’s leading manufacturers of cigars and cigarillos. In 2017, it was time for a new, powerful brand. With “Corrida – Anything but gentle”, the bull is unleashed. A true statement, with a band in bold colours and a carbon look. A provocateur, an enfant terrible? Unconventional, at any rate! Account manager Armin Kyre has looked after the company for many years – and for “Corrida” he played the torero with complete assurance.

Inhalt

Marke

A traditional company with the highest standards

Cigars and cigarillos are the crowning glory of the smoking world. With a production capacity of more than 1.5 billion units a year and over 1,500 employees, Villiger Söhne is one of the top players in the tobacco industry. And a family business for 130 years, based in Switzerland, in Bünde and in Waldshut-Tiengen. Even today, the over-90-year-old principal Heinrich Villiger is still actively involved in the company. The cigar bands of brands such as “Villiger do Brasil” or “Villiger 1492” aim for elegance. Two lions hold the coat of arms. Many gold tones gleam. The lettering is finely curved. In 2017 the company – including the senior principal – felt like something entirely new and extraordinary. What was wanted was a design that would stand out in the tobacco-brown world of the cigar selection.

Challenge

Noblesse brechen – Wertigkeit behalten

Every cigar is adorned with a cigar ring, also known as a belly band or band. Just as the label is for a wine bottle, the ring is the cigar’s calling card, the space for storytelling – only much smaller. Everything must be said in a few centimetres: brand, series, design, ambition. The ring also adorns the outermost tobacco leaf. A flawless, even wrapper – without veins – is considered a mark of beauty and quality. The brief for “Corrida” was: “The band should deliberately stand apart from the classic look,” explains Sabine Sklenar, Head of Purchasing Department and Fleet Manager. It should be loud rather than quiet, without undermining the quality claim. How do you break with nobility and still remain premium?

The print solution: carbon look for even more bull power

Approach

The design solution: the bull goes on the attack

In the “Corrida”, a bull – a striking sign of strength of character and uncompromising standards – takes an attacking stance. Tail raised, neck deeply lowered, horns ready for the fight. It almost seems as if the bull’s body has tipped the entire band and already “gored it on its horns”. The Spanish word “Corrida” means “run” or “race”. The bull appears in four different colours – each colour symbolises the country of origin: green, for example, stands for Brazil, and the wrapper gives a finely spicy, pleasant sweetness. This cigar offers an exotic range of flavours – leather and earth, with notes of cocoa and coffee. The strongest cigar, at a strength of 5 out of 5, is the blue Nicaragua. Even the wrapper is deep brown to black, with a velvety, oily feel. Enjoying a “Corrida” is always full-bodied, never delicate. It also comes consistently in unconventional formats: the oversized Robusto+ at 5 x 56 is considerably more voluminous than the standard. The print solution: a carbon-fibre look for even more bull power. Carbon, the wonder material of the future, is best known from the automotive industry. It is what makes cars ever lighter – and therefore ever faster. And it has a cool, distinctly masculine surface. For “Corrida”, the brief was not paper as a band: not handmade, not yielding, not classic. No: they wanted horsepower. Not as horse-power, but as bull-power. Racing-car equipment – a carbon-fibre look for the cigar. Of course, genuine carbon fibre could not be used for the cigar band. “The cigar is classified as a food product. That means we have to use food-safe inks for these products,” says account manager Armin Kyre. No easy task: the specialists at Vollherbst first tried to imitate the distinctive look with black foil. Sabine Sklenar recalls: “But neither we nor Vollherbst itself was satisfied with the first result. The corners split open. Theory is not the same as practice.” So Vollherbst invited everyone to a joint session at the plant. Armin Kyre: “We had to feel our way towards what the client wanted. It was tricky. Everything is in the smallest of spaces, very delicate.” Then, at last, the solution: black ink was printed onto the base foil – and then covered again with a transparent foil. Perfect! “It was like a eureka moment,” says Sabine Sklenar today, years later. The bull and the lettering are also finished with varnish. For even more tactile impact and presence!

Personal Touch

Decades of collaboration: half of all bands from Vollherbst

Sabine Sklenar has worked at Villiger for more than 16 years. Around 50 per cent of all cigar bands are printed at Vollherbst – and have been since 2007. Including the special editions for the 130th anniversary. Sabine Sklenar: “It really is a very partnership-based collaboration on equal terms. Management and employees at Vollherbst always ask themselves: ‘What does the customer want? How can we make it happen?’ The way it should be! As a customer, you even learn something along the way.” The bands for the “Corrida” travel around the world, because the producers apply them by hand themselves. So to Honduras, the Dominican Republic, Brazil and Nicaragua. They return fully dressed – and then, above all, conquer the German and Swiss markets. If that is not a bull run … Olé!