Beer Branding Trends

Points of discussion: 1. The "traditional" craft beer audience 2. Why craft breweries haven’t had to focus on defining their audience 3. Shifting demographics (and industry trends) that will lead to this becoming more important 4. A primer on audience segmentation 5. How to define your audience (with internal research) 6. How to gather external context to define your brewery's audience 7. Customer...

Points of discussion: 1. We’ll be releasing a hard seltzer later this summer as a brand extension under our brewery’s name. Is there any downside to branding it under our brewery’s brand and not as its own thing? We already have plans for future flavors, if that’s relevant. 2.  I’m a long time newsletter subscriber and was surprised you didn’t include the hard seltzer shakeout idea in the annual r...

Points of discussion: 1. Read the piece at: https://cododesign.com/2022-beer-branding-trends / 2. Join Beer Branding Trends Newsletter to ask questions for our next podcast: www.beerbrandingtrends.com 3. Reinvention (rebrands, refreshes, packaging formats in flux, SKU rationalization, a shift back to bottles?) 4. Why are lifestyle brands s smart play right now? (Also, what is a lifestyle brand?) 5...

Points of discussion: 1. The most common goals we’ve seen breweries have for a branding or rebranding process 2. Qualitative vs. Quantitative goals 3. The most important goal of any rebranding project. Period. 4. S.M.A.R.T. Goals (Specific, Measurable, Action-Oriented, Realistic, Time-Limited) 5. Common qualitative goals we see 6. How to defeat a grizzly bear in hand to hand combat  7. CODO's 2020...

Points of discussion: 1. Trust the process? 2. Understand that the design process is iterative. 3. Thoughts on the big Don Draper reveal. 4. Why you need to stick to your timeline. 5. Why is giving great feedback challenging for non-designers? 6. Candor is king. (Don’t worry about your designer’s feelings) 7. Keep feedback focused on specific project goals (and the defined strategy) and not person...

Points of discussion: 1. You’ve worked through the proposal process and now have a signed contract. What is our next move? 2. Email handshake = let’s get after it! 3. Pre-project art direction homework. (Art direction, competitive set audit, brand audit, if applicable) 4. Tools and software for onboarding clients. 5. Beyond the Executive Team, who do we need to talk to during the kickoff? 6. How d...

Points of discussion: 1. Give us an eagle eye view of the business development process, from a branding firm’s perspective. 2. How much should a brewery prepare ahead of your initial conversations with a potential partner?  3. What subjects will you discuss in your early exploratory meetings? (timeline, budget, project goals, project context, business objectives, etc.) 4. What is project “fit” and...

Points of discussion: 1. What is a Freelancer? Pros and cons? 2. What is a small to medium size firm? Pros and cons? 3. What is a Big agency? Pros and cons? 4. What does “Full Service” actually mean? 5. Why you never want to be an agency’s “cool” client. 6. Why we believe mid-size firms are taking over the world. 7. What should your partner be able to handle in order to be a great fit? 8. Let’s op...

Points of discussion: 1. Why is this important? What are some of the moving parts and logistics that need to be organized ahead of a brand launch? 2. Gird yourself? 3. A proper brand launch start internally by getting your team on the same page. How do we get everyone marching in the same direction if we’re spread out over several states? 4. What is a Master Campaign Timeline and what are some of...

Points of discussion: 1. CODO Design overview 2. Cody and Isaac introductions 3. We founded CODO the Monday after graduating from college in 2009 4. Internship experiences that galvanized our decision to start our own firm right out of school 5. How we began to focus on the Food and Beverage space 6. Our work in beer, starting 2010 and leading up to current day. 7. How did our Craft Beer Branding...

Points of discussion: 1. What is a Brand Essence? (+ real project examples) 2. Why does this matter? 3. Should (or can) a Brand Essence be public facing? 4. What is Brand Personality? 5. “If your brewery were a person, what sort of personality traits would it have?” 6. What is Brand Voice? 7. Spectrum Exercise as a process tool. - Learn more at www.craftbeerrebranded.com - Have a topic or question...

Points of discussion: 1. Who comprises the Executive Team throughout a branding project. 2. How many people should actually be involved in decision making throughout this process? 3. How do we organize and prioritize other stakeholder groups beyond the Executive Team? 4. How (if at all) do we bring customers into this process? 5. Why CODO prefers one-on-one intimate conversations over beer to the...

Points of discussion: 1. Isaac is leaving CODO to open a brewery? 2. What is positioning (3 Core Questions) and why does this matter? 3. How to use a matrix to get a quick eagle eye view of your competitive landscape. 4. Categorical Differentiation as a positioning strategy. 5. What is the “Positioning Trap?” 6. Can a specific a theme or differentiator be too limiting on a day-to-day brand buildin...

Points of discussion: 1. What are core brand values? 2. Why frame your values? 3. Are brand values public-facing or an internal tool and rallying cry for your team? 4. Quick run down of the most common values we hear over and over again, from breweries all over the world. 5. 'The Advantage’ book by Patrick Lencioni *quick note: Isaac’s an idiot. The author of ‘The Advantage’ is PATRICK Lencioni. N...

Points of discussion: 1. Differences between a refresh and a full rebrand. 2. Where does a package refresh fall into this? 3. Why is this all so confusing? 4. What is brand equity? 5. What is a brand audit? 6. How do you interpret all of this research? 7. Can you rebrand and keep the same logo? - Learn more at www.craftbeerrebranded.com - Have a topic or question you’d like us to field on the show...

Points of discussion: 1. Your overall look is dated and inconsistent (and no longer reflects your core values and current version of your business). 2. You’re making major changes within your company. You are repositioning and/or specifically making major changes to your portfolio with new extensions, sub brands and other brand architecture restructuring. 3. You don’t know how to tell your story....

CODO Design cofounder, Isaac Arthur, fields community submitted questions about our 2021 Craft Beer Branding Trends article. - 1. What’s your favorite packaging trend this year? 2. Do brewpubs really need to package their beer? There were several mentions to this effect and I’m not sure I agree with you. Won’t this need fade once we’re beyond COVID? 3. Can you expand on the packaging lifespan thou...