Promote Your Brew Brand Personality

In Food & Wine, Goose Island’s Marketing VP summed up the state of craft beer labels like this: “A lot of what originally drew drinkers into craft beer was the packaging that screamed personality.” Now with nearly 7,000 breweries across the country, there’s a lot of personalities screaming at once, and if you need your brand to shine, then you need your screams to make sense.

Simplify your brand and find your target consumer by asking the following questions:

1. What are you selling, and why should people choose your beer over others?
2. What are their tastes and preferences (e.g., craft connoisseurs or fun-loving young people)?
3. How and where are they buying your beer?

The Craft Beer Branding Guide from CODO Design recommends pinpointing three to five personality traits to define your brewery. These should be visual as to be included in your print beer labels, explanatory, or in used in any other descriptive way that you think might get through to your customers.  While knowing your brand personality is one thing, the next step is to transform that into a brand identity. In other words, you need to take that experimental and fruity sour beer perfect for a party on the beach and figure out how to communicate that with your beer label.

Customize Your Beer Labels

With the right printing techniques, it’s possible to maintain a consistent theme among all the different beers you offer while getting your label to connect with specific audiences. Here are some ideas to get your label noticed:

• Color-Code SKUs – If you offer a variety of beers – IPAs, pale ales, and lagers – one option is to color-code all of these based on the beer type. This offers visual consistency across your inventory while giving customers a quick way to identify their favorite choice. You need to specify this to the company that is responsible for printing beer labels for your company.

• Personalization – If regional pride in your brewery’s home state or city best reaches your audience, you can use locally-inspired artwork or geographic imagery to connect with your consumers. Variable printing enables you to customize just about anything on your label – different text, vintage designs, and unique color patterns that spark something deep inside the locals.

• Collectables – Big brands run campaigns for limited edition labels that comprise a set. For example, 50 states and 50 labels may sound extreme, but digital printing can make it possible to print short runs that entice consumers to try more of what you offer.