According to the American Brewers Association total US beer sales were 1% down in 2018, nevertheless craft beer sales have shown an increase of 4% – claiming 13,2% of the beer market.

Despite the slight decrease in total sales it is inevitable to say that the beer industry is however a significant market defined by $114.2 billion sales, hence offering huge economic potential.

BASIC KEY INGREDIENTS

1. Developing a game plan for a tasty beer

I better leave this part to you – the brewmaster!!
Definitely offering my services as a taster.

2. Define & position your brewery

The most important question you have to ask yourself when defining your brewery’s brand position is ‘Why?’. Understanding what makes your brewery unique to identify the differentiation to your competition. What are your core values, who is your ideal customer and why should someone be interested in your brewery, let alone buy your beer? What emotions should your brewery provoke?
What is your brewery’s story/history, where is it located and what end game do you pursue regarding distribution.

Getting aware of all this might even be a helpful tool to discover your tagline, think about ‘Born in the rockies’ (Coors), ‘One Life, Right? Don’t’ blow it.’ (Kona Brewing), ‘Beer for punks’ (BrewDog) or ‘Dam Good Beer’ (10 Barrel Brewing).

3. Define your brewery through branding

Name
As with most brand names there are few aspects you should consider when deciding on a brewery name. Reflect on your brand history, niche and values to find a name that is relatable.It should be easy to remember. In addition, check that there aren’t any cultural misconceptions!
For brewery names, specifically, evaluate whether additional product lines can be integrated.
Last, but not least, make sure the name hasn’t already been claimed. To be 100% certain you can also contact a (trademark) lawyer.

Brand System
Of course, your logo (and tagline) will be an essential asset of your brand system and will find application in print assets, labels, packaging, merchandising etc. Apart from the main logo you might want to develop additional elements like icons and patterns. When creating those remember that typography and color have a huge impact on how your brand is being perceived in the very first seconds, eg. bold, vintage, modern etc.
It is also important to have your designer develop a brand guideline to define its usage.

Print Assets
You will need various print assets when for advertising, flyers, menu cards etc. Your designer should be able to create a cohesive look based on your brand system.

Label, Packaging Design
Make sure to use durable, waterproof labels
Keep in mind! Packaging/Labels need to have all required information and be approved e.g. by TTB (US) or according to EU’s provisions on food labelling.

Website
Investing in a website is essential to give your (prospective) customer the nitty-gritty information like products, location(s), opening hours, brewery tours, and in the long-run you might even expand and include events and a shop.
Be sure to develop a responsive website, which basically means that the layout adapts to different sizes of devices, like mobile and tablet and consider investing in SEO (so your website is ranked high on search engines).

While your website might be under construction, I suggest that you make use of an online presentation by teasing or giving most necessary information with a microsite. Meanwhile, it is also a good idea to think about your social media presence and include it in your marketing plan. Those platforms are more or less free tools to promote your beer/brewery. With frequent updates you can attract, inform, connect with new customers and/or visitors easily.

Environmental Design, Signage
With an environmental design you have the possibilities to turn your brand story into a brand experience. When customers visit your brewery you want to captivate them and live your brand values in a ‘3D space’. The way your brewery space will be designed, use of materials, atmosphere, music, signage etc. will give them a well rounded, cohesive experience.

Packaging, branding and vice- versa; make your brand storytelling work on all mediums.

Once you’ve defined your brand, brand strategy respectively, it should be relatively easy to identify what your brand stands for and in what way this can be represented via packaging. Of course, this also works vice-versa, because how much you invest in your packaging reflects on your brand as well. Cohesiveness is probably one of the most important keywords here.

First impressions matter

First impressions generally take only a few seconds, therefore effective packaging is important to:

• grab the (potential) consumer’s attention
• convince him of the product (which he might not even know) or
• make him consider/take a closer look at it and
• ultimately make him decide to chose your product over the competition

Design that stands out

Your packaging represents your brand and consequently it’s promise to deliver a quality product and experience. There are multiple factors given the design that can make a difference and create an impact or not.

Aesthetics

As mentioned before, stick to your overall brand style and transfer your art of storytelling onto your packaging. Keep in mind that your choice of packaging material can have a huge impact regarding quality.

Color

Color is an important aspect when designing your packaging. It’s one of the first things that can grab your customers attention. However, when choosing colors consider whether it fits to your brand, as well as the psychology and cultural usage of it, to make sure you’re sending the right message.

Icons

In our age of digitization emojis and icons have become a crucial element, and are often even understood internationally. Such icons can come very handy as they not only have a specific meaning, but also are connected to memories and feelings.

Emotions

All of the above definitely contribute to create a certain feel, and consequently trigger specific emotions within your customer. Therefore, it’s important to know your target group and build a connection with them. Such emotions can lead to long-term relationships between the customer and the product (brand), which is the ultimate goal.

Depending on the product you’re trying to sell, envision how it might look like on a shelf next to each other and/or surrounded by competitors.

Embrace a rebrand

A company’s brand identity is the fundamental that ‘it’s built on’. Above all it states its core values and defines what image it represents. However, a brand identity is never completely finished and needs to be adapted from time to time.

A rebrand is necessary due to different changes within and outside of the company, be it that your audience expands, the company’s goals change or due to technological progresses and future trends.

SO WHAT EXACTLY IS A REBRAND?

Generally speaking it’s an overhaul of your existing brand image. This may include a new brand strategy, a new brand positioning and a new brand image (logo, typography, graphic assets).

Of course, a rebrand does not always have to be as far fetched – sometimes just a logo redesign can be enough to refresh your brand.