5 Signs Your Brewery Needs A Brand Refresh

Is your brand performing at a world class level on the shelf, on socials and on the bar line up? Are you giving your customers a reason to choose your beer over someone else's? At a beer festival, do you feel proud of your branding or a tad self conscious? If the little voice inside your head answered ‘no’ to these questions it’s worth considering how a brand refresh could help you answer ‘yes’ instead.

As an agency specialising in the craft beer sector, we have seen the same niche problems, from different perspectives time and time again. We can identify patterns, as well as actions and solutions when it comes to refreshing beer brands. Here are 5 common signs that it might just be your time to shine with a brand refresh:

Your target audience has changed.

The world has changed remarkably in the past few years, which means people have changed too. Your customers have gotten older, a new generation of legally aged drinkers are buying beer now, and beer is (finally) appealing to a more diverse crowd. Drinking habits have changed, laws have changed, no doubt you have changed too. Considering this, is your brand still appealing to who you want it to appeal to? Or have you noticed a bit of a lag in sales where you used to crush?

Identifying your current audience compared with your aspirational audience(s) is a great way to understand if your brand is appealing to the right people.

Your look is dated and new competitors are gaining traction with your core customers.

As of August 2022 there were 740 operating breweries in Australia, that is 520 additional breweries to potentially compete with from the 220 that were open a decade ago. Staying relevant to craft beer fans can be challenging when the nature of craft beer is to always be exploring the new. Breweries with hip branding are opening up by the month, perhaps one has just opened down the road from you. If they have a similar offering to you, but look better and their tap room feels better, who are your customers going to choose?

You feel invisible in an oversaturated market.

For city based breweries, this is a constant talking point. If the North American market is anything to go by, as the craft beer market becomes more saturated, breweries who have been around for a while rebrand in droves to stay relevant and stand out amongst the noise. Your packaging might have been a showstopper a few years ago, but now with so many well thought out beautiful designs, it’s just not performing the way it used to.

Your point of difference isn’t being communicated.

While all breweries sell beer, there are a million and one ways to execute this. What is your unique selling point? What is the reason your target audience would buy your beer over someone else's? If you are heavily involved in your local community, or brew using unique ingredients, or are aligned with a sub-culture, or are a purpose led business, can people tell when interacting with your brand? Your core message should be understood the moment someone engages with your brand whether they are looking at your cans in the bottleshop, scrolling your socials, or visiting your taproom.

You are expanding into new markets.

Have you identified a big opportunity in a market you haven’t dipped your toes in yet? Could this be the game changer you have been dreaming about? Who else is playing in that space? Bigger markets attract bigger business with deeper pockets. Doing everything you can to make your brand as strong as it can be to pull of your next big move will be vital to your success.

Has that inner voice gotten a little louder about a rebrand yet? Making a change to your brewery’s branding is no small feat. Even a slight change to your logo has the trickle down effect of changing everything your logo touches from your packaging to your signage to your online listings and on and on. To make this worthwhile, a budget and realistic time dedication by yourself and your staff need to be planned for. More importantly though, your brand must have a solid strategy to ensure your new look will set you on the right path to achieve your vision.

If this has got you thinking about refreshing your brand, we are always here for a chat.