Great brand design is subjective and means different things to different people. But the marketing landscape is challenging and when your identity is right, it will be a much more enjoyable place to navigate, explains Lisa Desforges, Strategy Director, B&B studio.

Consumer desire within the thriving beer market continues to be strong, especially for craft and small batch breweries. And whilst there is a wealth of opportunities for both new and existing brands in the face of growing demand, this heightened competition means that brands are having to work harder than ever to stand out.

As new brand creation specialists, every craft brewer we meet is ‘passionate about beer’ and ‘dedicated to their craft’. But when your consumer is faced with a well-stacked bar or supermarket aisle full of options, how can you make sure this passion and commitment cuts through the noise?

Be clear about your brand purpose

In today’s fragmented, two-way marketing landscape, brand identity has never been so important. It is the way a brand communicates, both visually and verbally, and needs to have the power to sustain lifelong growth and ambitions. 

As a category, beer has become so saturated that many of the traditional design codes and conventions have now disappeared. And this presents challenges as well as opportunities.

Modern brands must work harder than ever to gain the trust of marketing-savvy audiences who are quick to dismiss irrelevant or inauthentic brands, or simply those they find irritating. 

For a brand to make an impact, its story and mission need to be clearly defined. What is your brand’s reason for being – why does it matter? Does it solve a challenge or offer something entirely unique? Is there a social or ethical mission? Or do you simply create a delicious, refreshing and authentic craft beer?

Only once this purpose is defined can you begin to build the core brand identity. It is the foundation upon which the complete brand world will be designed. 

For example, with alcohol-free beer brand Infinite Session we created the brand’s philosophy – that beer is bigger than booze – along with a name that focuses on the social experience, with or without alcohol. This unapologetic attitude is combined with bold, confident branding for a refreshing take on the standard category codes. 

Engage in two-way conversation

Over the past few years there has been a dramatic shift in the power balance between brands and consumers. People are no longer passive recipients of a brand’s product and message. They are active collaborators and seek out brands that both understand them and listen to them.

Many brands are embracing this with gusto. Some rely on consumer feedback to shape their products and services. For others, crowdfunding enables consumers to become stakeholders themselves. BrewDog is, of course, a great example of this model, with its Equity for Punks programme having generated in excess of £50 million funding to date.

This two-way conversation means that brands now need to connect with their consumers on a higher emotional level. As public mistrust in traditional institutions continues to rise, services such as entertainment and social responsibility are falling within the domain of brands. 

This presents a fantastic opportunity as consumers increasingly align themselves with brands that they feel reflect their own values. 

Gone are the days of looking at your consumers as a demographic. Seek to understand the emotional drivers that unite your consumer groups so that you can craft an engaging, relevant brand identity that connects on a higher level. This is the basis of a long-standing consumer-brand relationship. 

Your brand identity should empower you to be free 

In such a competitive category, start-up brands are having to think about their long-term goals from day one. Are you happy sitting behind the bar at your consumers’ local pub or is national – or international – expansion on the cards? By setting strong foundations for your visual and verbal identity, you will keep the door open to greater levels of growth in time. 

Brands are living, breathing entities. Your visual identity needs to have the power to flex depending on who you are talking to and when. Although grounded in an overarching positioning, you will likely need the ability to be spontaneous and creative – especially when limited editions and collaborations come calling. 

This spontaneity will be empowered by the optimum brand positioning and identity. A strong visual identity will set you free to showcase the individuality of new brews, collaborations and different elements of your personality. Just make sure that everything points back to that core brand purpose.

Authenticity isn’t an aesthetic

Walk down your local supermarket aisle and you’ll see a mass of duplicate products from unremarkable brands. But there is a role for the right sort of brand. One that has a true purpose and reason for being. Brands that matter. And there’s a real appetite from consumers for authentic brands – those they can trust.  

The thing to remember is that great brand design is subjective and means different things to different people. But the marketing landscape is challenging and when your identity is right, it will be a much more enjoyable place to navigate.