The Key Steps to Beer Branding Success

You can make the best Hazy IPA in the country or the world, but if your brewery branding is hazy, those slabs in the cold room could gather more dust than drinkers. Nobody wants to see good beer go to waste. Brewing beer is your special skill — and brewing beer brands is our business. The Creative Method’s Owner and Creative Director, Tony Ibbotson, has 20+ years of experience working with the beer and alcohol industries on brand development and packaging projects. Our team has worked with mainstream breweries, helping them develop and rejuvenate their brand’s reputation and renew the thirst for their brew, as well as creating brand identity and beer packaging for new-to-market craft beers. Working with some of the most impassioned and colourful brewers and hop-heads from the brewing industry has its obvious perks — beer on tap (pun intended), a well-curated bar fridge of cold golden “research” beers — but most of all, it gives us invaluable insight into what it takes to get a beer into the right hands. The Australian Craft Beer Brewery list reported that in 2018, a new craft beer brewery opened every six days in Australia. In 2024 The Independent Brewers Association listed 415 Australian Craft Brewery members. That’s just the independent breweries! With that in mind, the same craft and graft that goes into brewing is needed on the branding in order to stand out in today’s highly competitive landscape.

Craft Beer Branding: A Unique Approach

Craft beer branding requires a unique approach, different from mainstream beer branding. It’s about creating an identifiable brand that resonates with a specific niche customer. Craft beer enthusiasts often seek authenticity, story, and a connection to the brewery’s roots. Therefore, the brand strategy and brand identity must focus on a visual identity and packaging that effectively brings these elements to life. Like most craft breweries, you’ll unlikely have a multimillion-dollar advertising budget, so your on-shelf presence needs to do the heavy lifting. The name, logo, imagery, colour palette, and even the language used on the label, all have their role to play. Done right, it’ll make it out of the fridge and into the right hands; done wrong, it’ll go undiscovered.

Understanding Your Market and The Mindset of Your Ideal Drinker

The first step. Understanding your target audience is crucial when competing with 330+ Aussie craft beer brands and the mainstream big boys. Develop a crystal clear persona for your ideal drinker. What is their age, socio-economic bracket, and preferred drinking occasion? Are they looking for a six-pack for a casual gathering or a rich, dark pint for a more intimate setting? To develop an effective brand strategy, visual identity and packaging that’s appealing to your ideal customer, you need to keep them in mind and identify the key opportunities to differentiate from your competition.

Positioning Your Brand in the Market

Defining your position in the market is an essential part of your brand strategy. Whether it’s craft, mainstream, or specialty, your brand’s unique positioning will crystallise who and what you are in your customer’s mind.

Storytelling: At The Heart of Every Beer Brand

Storytelling is a powerful tool in beer branding. It’s not just about the brewing process or the flavours; it’s about the stories behind the brand, the brewery, its founders, its team and each beer. Your brand’s story can be founded in truth, or mythology, but most importantly, it should be unique to your brand. Emotional connections built through stories can drive recall, loyalty and sales. A great story will inform the look and feel of your brand, packaging and marketing materials.

Distinctive Brand Assets

Creating distinctive brand assets is key to standing out. This could be a unique logo, graphic design elements, label shape, bottle design, or an illustration that captures the essence of your brand. These elements along with patterns, colours and typefaces should be consistent across all branding and marketing materials to build a strong visual identity.

Branding is a Key Ingredient in Brewing Beer

Creating a successful brand is about more than a logo. It’s about building a brand identity that reflects the unique qualities of your beer and the story of your brewery. Our experienced team of strategists, brand designers and writers have decades of knowledge in branding beers and booze with clients ranging from local breweries to major companies like Lion and Coca-Cola Amatil. It has given us a deep understanding of the market, the competition, and what it takes to create, develop and promote a unique brand that your target audience responds to today and in the future.