Do brewpubs need *great* branding?

Say you’re considering opening a brewpub in an undeserved market and want to create a small, fun place. You don’t want to take over the world—why should you invest in your branding?  

Point 1: Branding as a signal 

Investing in your brand is a signal that you intend to stick around for the long haul. Otherwise, why would you invest in your identity? I never want to oversell the importance of a logo (on its own), but it does serve as a quick evaluation tool for people. "Does this place look cool? Then I bet their beer is pretty good."

At a base level, branding is a signal that a company is well run, puts out a quality product and is to be trusted. 


Point 2: What if you grow?

If you ever want to extend your brand—get into packaging (because of, say, a pandemic…), produce a non-beer product, open a satellite taproom, create a festival, open any other type of concept—then having a solid foundational brand will be crucial. How can you expand and extend something that is non-existent to begin with? Even if you have no intention of extending your brand and building something larger right now, you should set yourself up so that you can if the right opportunity presents itself down the line.

One of my favorite examples of this is our work for Big Lug Canteen. And now, Big Lug Brewing and Hospitality. 

We branded Big Lug Canteen as a one-off concept back in 2014 (read about that foundational project here). Eddie and Scott’s flagship brewpub was so successful that it acted as a springboard for several more restaurant concepts (each one as unique as it is beloved here in Indianapolis). They also restructured their brand architecture, creating the Big Lug Hospitality parent brand plus a rapidly-expanding production brewery.

Investing in their foundational brand, even when they had no grand vision beyond a fun brewpub, gave Big Lug the platform it needed to be on track to brew 10–13,000 barrels of beer annually over the next few years. 

Would 0 to 13k bbls per year have been possible without great branding? Big Lug co-founder, Eddie Sahm himself, doesn't think so—listen to this podcast episode where we discussed this very topic.

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So, to wrap this up: Can you operate a functional brewpub without spending the time and resources to develop great branding? Absolutely. But why would you want to? Compelling branding is the most cost-effective way to stake out your position in the market. A strong visual identity and a clear brand direction gives you a plethora of options should you decide to grow or pivot your efforts down the line. Otherwise, you could be painting yourself into a corner for the future. Plus, what will stop three other great breweries from opening in your neck of the woods later on? You need to attract customers and demonstrate why you’re their best choice, now and for the future. Great branding can help you achieve this.