Hi, there. 

We’ve run into an interesting Brand Architecture issue on a few recent projects that you might be dealing with yourself.  

When rebranding breweries — particularly older ones — we regularly see portfolios with a mix of product naming conventions, including: 

– Fanciful names (e.g. 805, Cold Smoke, Hazy Days, Sea Quench)

– Style-forward / monolithic names (e.g. Alewerks Porter, Prost Pils)

Inevitably, the question will arise: “Is it confusing that some of our products have names and others don’t? Should we develop names for these products to make this all more consistent?”

There are no hard and fast rules here (if there were, I’d share them). But there are a few general guidelines we share with our clients whenever we run into this scenario. 

Let’s explore those today. 

(Above): Revisit one of our most popular issues ever. Trade secrets: How CODO develops killer brand names 

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1 

Style-forward names are great for building overall brewery Brand Equity 

A Branded House is the easiest way to build a strong parent brand. That’s why you see this so often in CPG portfolios.

We covered this at length in a past newsletter and podcast.

A style-forward naming convention takes the Branded House one step further by ensuring that every interaction a consumer has with your brand out in the market builds your parent brand.

Prost Pils, Prost Leichtbier, Prost Dunkel, Prost Radler, Prost Kellerbier 

This removes as much friction as possible and sells the beer based on your brewery’s overall reputation and merit. 

However, that being said… 

2

Fanciful names are valuable for a variety of reasons 

– Fanciful names give consumers a frame of reference

– Fanciful names help people to bond with the brand

– Fanciful names are better Bar Calls 

– Fanciful names help with recall 

– Fanciful names can become a platform for future growth (Line Extensions, Sub Brands, Co-branding, M&A moves)

Fanciful names give you more options than a style-forward convention. In this way, they’re a more effective way of building a well-rounded brand.

> Related reading: Are fancifully names beers Sub Brands?

(Above, Top): Kölschs are tough. This is an imminently drinkable style, but the name may be confusing to the uninitiated. St. Elmo bypassed all of this friction and simply aimed theirs 'Carl.' (We enjoyed dozens of these while down in Austin recently.)
 

(Above, Bottom): Over the years, Fernson has made an explicit shift away from the monolithic convention and toward fanciful names. We explored this in our package refresh case study and on their recent podcast appearance. 

3

Some styles require fanciful names to meet consumer expectations 

Category convention is an important consideration here. And while there are no official rules, there are consumer expectations (canon) you should think about when deciding whether or not you need to name a product. 

As an example, Hazy IPAs seem to need fanciful names. As do flagship IPAs. Or at least, that’s what we see out in the market most of the time. 

This isn’t a great example because you’re reading about Hazy IPA names right now, but what beer style do you think these all are?

– Electric Jellyfish 

– Tangerine Space Machine 

– Batsquatch 

– Neon Rainbows 

(You’re smart, so you probably guessed… Hazy IPAs.)

Anyway, a great name can be an important part of meeting consumer expectation.

However, that being said… 

4 

Some styles can live without a fanciful name

There are some old school, classic styles that seem to do fine without a fanciful name.

Porters, Stouts, ESBs are a few examples we’ve seen in recent rebranding projects. 

I’m not sure why: Maybe it’s because these particular styles are more esoteric these days, so they already stand out (from a sea of Hazy IPAs) more on their own? And some of these style names are evocative on their own as well: Porter has a lovely ring to it, as does Stout. 

Pilsner kind of rides this line. This style name is so ubiquitous — I bet most non-beer people have heard the term — that it can work on its own. But then, a well-made pilsner might stand a chance of becoming a top performing brand these days, so a fanciful name might be a good move here long term. 

(Above): Alewerks' portfolio has a good mix of fanciful and style-forward names in their portfolio. Check out our rebrand case study for more rationale on what guided these decisions.

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5

How much of this beer do you sell, what percentage of your overall sales does it represent and where do you sell it? 

A handful of points here:

A. How much of this beer do you sell?

If this beer represents a small percentage of your overall sales, e.g. 200 bbl out of 2,500 (or something you measure in CEs vs bbl), then it might not warrant the energy and effort (and cash) required to develop, trademark and rollout a fanciful name.

B. Is this brand distributed?

Do you distribute this beer or serve mostly in your taproom? If this is a taproom-exclusive, then you can get away with a style-forward name.

We actually recommend this approach to start regularly. Serve the product in house and see how it does. If you end up making it again and agin, then you can position, name and brand it.  

C. On-premise vs. Off-premise

It’s easy to understand why a packaged beer can benefit from a fanciful name. But don’t discount how important this is in the on-premise as well. 

Whether looking at a wall of tap handles, or (more likely) reading off a menu, a great name will help people wade through myriad decisions in the on-premise, no different than when standing in front of a cold box trying to decide what to grab.

A name is almost always someone’s first interaction with your brand. And a fanciful name that captures everything special about this particular beer and your brewery itself, will always strike a great first impression. 

(Above): Schlafly Pale Ale. Prost Pils. Birdsmouth Dunkel. 

If a beer has enough equity (resonance, recall and time in market), then a style-forward name can sort of act like a fanciful name. 

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Wrapping up

The final answer: This comes down to your parent brand, portfolio strategy, overall concept and broader Brand Architecture

I try not to speak in absolutes here on BBT, because as soon as I make a bold claim, we’ll run into a real world project that runs counter to that. 

Your brewery, your brand, your positioning, your competitive set — all of these things will dictate, which is your best course of action here.

However, I do feel comfortable in offering that, in almost all cases, a fanciful name will serve you better in the long run due to how flexible it is.

There are some styles and use cases where you can get away with not having a fanciful name in a portfolio alongside other products that do have them.

But a dialed in portfolio that makes it easy for consumers to make sense of and buy should always be the goal. And consistency is a big part of achieving that.