Morning. 

We had a question come in from a subscriber recently that was so good I thought it warranted its own issue. 

As an aside: You can reply to this email — or any issue we send out — if you have your own questions and/or want to discuss working together. 

Anyway, here’s the question in all its glory (shout out to Alexandra in Cali for sending this in):

“Is there a best season or time of year to launch a rebrand? Curious to hear the pros and cons of, say, an earlier launch vs. a later one and what CODO has seen work best in your experience.”
 

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I love this prompt and don’t think we’ve ever actually examined this. So let’s do that today. 

We’ll start by laying out the usual deadlines we see in our work along with a few thoughts on which of these we think work best and then wrap up with some other important things to consider as you plan your rebrand launch.

Let get to it. 

(Above): Craft Beer, Rebranded and its companion workbook are a step-by-step guide to help you map out a successful strategy for rebranding your brewery. The 22nd person to email me with the subject Evolution vs. Revolution gets a free copy.

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Common deadlines we see in our work
(in no particular order)

1

Rushing to hit your ABP (or some other important chain retail and/or wholesaler presentation) 

ABPs (annual business plans) have driven a lot of our project work over the last few years. Not the formal rebrand launch itself, but an emphasis on having a first look at whatever it is we’re tackling (usually a brand and package refresh, a new innovation / brand launch, etc.) ahead of an important meeting so our clients can get their wholesalers bought in and excited. 

Sometimes these are formal pitches, i.e. we’re launching this new brand, are you in? But more often than not, it’s just a glimpse at what’s to come — a core package refresh, introducing a new variety pack, some exciting innovation, etc. 

Deliverables we’ll kick out for this can include:

– Packaging renders
– Vehicle, tap handle and billboard comps
– Merch mockups (and/or physical samples) 
– An ABP deck design (usually a simple template that allows our clients to customize and drop in content as needed)
– And if you want to ball extra hard, you can get digitally-printed cans and bring actual packaged product to the meeting (Virginia Beer Co. did this when pitching their Cold Drinking Beer brand and it was warmly received — turns out your 14th ABP meeting of the day can be enlivened with a few cold beers.)

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Again, the ABP deadline doesn’t usually mark the beginning of the formal rollout, but is an important step on the path towards that end. If your wholesale partners are bought in, then you can figure out whether an early year launch, spring launch, etc. makes the most sense from there.

(Above): Alewerks' refresh was timed to reveal internally during a crucial chain pitch. We made dozens of interim mockups for this meeting and got all their partners hyped (as hyped as a chain buyer can get, anyway).

Once we hit that deadline, we were able to leisurely wrap up their packaging for production in time for a January rollout. 

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2

Rolling out for the Spring / Summer selling season 

If the timing lines up, launching your rebrand, or starting to roll it out, during spring can be a good way to get your feet under you as you head into your prime summer selling months.

We see this approach a lot with staggered launches that center around an anniversary, e.g. you’re planning a big launch party this fall for your anniversary, but plan to roll the new look out sooner 

I think this is a great approach that can give you a lot of flexibility in how you shape your broader announcement.

3

Celebrating a big anniversary 

Launching your rebrand to coincide with a significant anniversary is common approach we see in our work. This can be for a major round number milestone — 10, 20, 25. Or, it can just happen on whenever your next anniversary is. (There is nothing wrong with celebrating your 9th or 16th anniversary. Especially in today's market.)

This is a fun approach that allows you to celebrate your business and your team and your community and fans. Thank people for their support and get them excited for what’s to come. 

A few thoughts here: 

A. You might consider a special anniversary version of your logo. This can lend itself to merchandising and a broader campaign that celebrates your business. It also turns a single day occurrence into a year long event if done right.

B. Depending on your brewery’s size and age, you can extend your anniversary as long as you can get away with. That can be a weekly celebration, a month, a season or even an entire year of programming (again, if you’re old enough. The mayor probably isn't showing up for your 4th anniversary extravaganza). 

(Above Top): AleSmith's 30th anniversary logo is a good example of supporting your refresh rollout with a specific mark. This is a great way of turning what could be a 1 day event into a year long celebration full of programming.

(Above Bottom): Our KettleHouse rebrand was one of the first staggered launches we planned. Their reveal centered around a big release day party across their three locations with the rest of their flagship packaging rolling out in tranches as painted cans and cartons came in.  

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4 

New year new me

Rolling out your rebrand at the start of the year feels right. It’s a nice clean break — out with the old, in with the new. Even if this is just a mental thing, launching your rebrand in January does seem intuitive. 

But beyond that, this also lets you get the new look out in the wild during a traditionally quiet time. This means you can possibly see a more immediate bump in sales, or just consider this a nice and easy, rolling soft launch up to spring when things start to heat up and your sales really kickoff. 

Another note here (and an obvious one): January is a natural time to launch an NA product — NA beer, Hop Water, etc. as Dry January gobbles up all the oxygen during the month.) So this could be a good time to launch your rebrand itself, if you have an NA line coming out around at the same time. 

5 

Get that new look out ASAP

We’ve seen some breweries launch their packaging and identity as soon as they received it. I mean, one of our Sr. Designers will send over Brand Guidelines and we’ll see the new logo up on their instagram account later that day.

I appreciate the enthusiasm and do think there’s something A.) funny, and B.) actually kind of refreshing about just sending it. 

Here’s the thing: It’s easy to overthink things — this entire newsletter is built for people who overthink their brand and Brand Strategy and positioning and marketing and on and on. And this approach — getting your new look out the door ASAP — just throws caution to the wind and builds the plane in the air. 

And I think there’s some merit here. 

There could be an opportunity cost in waiting for an extended period of time to reveal your new look. 

A quick example we’ve shared in the past: 

A rebrand is an investment in your brewery’s future. As with any investment, you do this with the intention of reaping a larger (hopefully compounding) return than you put in.

So let’s say you see an increase in sales of 30% YoY in year 1 after rebranding. For argument’s sake, let’s say that a 30% bump comes out to 600k in additional top line revenue earned in year 1. If you wait 4 months to launch your rebrand, that pencils out to 200k you won’t see in new revenue over those 4 months. 

Now this is a heavy-handed, and obviously flawed way to calculate your ROI (I hear you—beer sales aren’t consistent year round, you likely won't see a dramatic increase on day 1, etc.).

But this does highlight the fact that your rebrand is an investment. And that you’ll want to see a return on that investment as soon as possible.  

So if that means you can launch your rebrand today and start building awareness and good will and increased velocity sooner, then maybe you should consider that.

(Above): One of my favorite parts of our Forest Road rebrand was how excited they were to get the new look out into the wild. It was awesome: We'd send packaged identity files their way at 11am and their social handles would be switched over by lunchtime. 

After carefully planning and executing dozens of staggered rebrand launches, this was kind of refreshing. Why wait when we can go now?

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To (finally) answer our original question here, no. There is no best time of year to launch your rebrand. As with any of the strategies we’ve outlined today, your best path depends on how you’d like to tell your story along with a handful of production parameters. 

Here are a few more considerations to wrap us up.

A process of forward thinking / backward planning 

Ultimately, whichever of these dates (or any other time that suits your brewery) will depend on a handful of other moving parts we haven’t covered here today. 

The biggest of these will usually be your packaging stock. This isn’t that hard to work through, but it’s kind of an art of…

– Determining how much current stock you have on hand (e.g. how many printed cans or labels or cartons have we already paid to have printed and therefor need to use)

– Projecting how long it will take to work through those and then  

– Getting a firm idea of how long it will take to get your new packaging ordered and in hand. 

Ideally, you’d run your last can through the line right as that delivery truck is backing up to your dock (though, that’s probably cutting it a bit too close.). But you get the idea. 

This complicated dance is another reason why CODO has come to recommend a Staggered launch with most of our clients. 

On the Staggered Launch 

Whichever launch date(s) you decide to aim for, I want you to consider the merits of a “Staggered Rebrand” Launch.

This means that you will have old (or current) packaging in the market at the same time you are rolling out your new packaging. There’s going to be some period of overlap, but this is by design and it’s really by necessity because it’s hard to have a clean changeover today. 

So this is an actual rollout plan. But beyond that, it’s also a mindset shift. This approach isn’t a compromise, or confusing (if handled well), or lingering. Instead, it’s an opportunity to continually stay top of mind and celebrate every time a new package design hits the market. You can message around that and send out press releases and have a big release party, over and over and over (though, let’s not wear out your welcome here, yeah?).

In the interest of not expanding this issue by another thousand words, here are a handful of links on this topic if you’d like to dig deeper: 

> Embracing the Staggered Rebrand Launch – [ BBT Issue ]

> Embracing the Staggered Rebrand Launch – [ BBT Podcast ]

> When to Refresh, Rebrand or Stand Pat – [ CODO x BrewBound Podcast ]

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While there's no universally best time to launch a rebrand, the key is to choose a strategy that aligns with your brewery's goals, production capabilities and storytelling opportunities. 

Whether you opt for a January 1 launch, an anniversary celebration or an extended staggered rollout, your most important factors for success are thorough planning and clear communication with your team, distributors and customers. 

Ultimately, successfully launching your rebrand depends less on the specific launch date itself and more on how well you execute the transition and leverage it to reinvigorate your brand in the market.