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1. This series is a Beer Branding Trends Newsletter exclusive. If there's someone on your team you think would benefit from reading along, please forward this email to them or have them sign up here so they receive everything.

2. Shoot me an email if you'd like to discuss refreshing your brewery's packaging.

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Hi, there!

And welcome to the first issue of our 3-part series on package refreshes.

Today, we’re going to explore why so many breweries across the country are refreshing their packaging right now.

We’re going to deep dive into the nuances between rebrands, brand refreshes and package refreshes in our second issue in this series. But for a quick definition here, a package refresh is simply when you update your packaging on its own while leaving your core brand identity as is. So the end result would be new packaging adorned with your existing logo. 

But before getting into that, we need to understand the confluence of trends that are driving this shift in the first place.

Let’s get into that now. 

Why are breweries refreshing their packaging right now? 

Here’s our series thesis: 

There are more breweries today in the US than anytime in history, yet consumers are drinking less beer. This has led to flat-to-declining sales for breweries of all sizes across the country. The fallout? Marketing budgets are tighter than ever.

But this comes at a time when investing in your branding, packaging and marketing is more important due to all the aforementioned competition.

This means that breweries are carefully weighing their options and investing where they expect to see an outsized return. In this landscape, package refreshes have emerged as a compelling strategy to stay top of mind with consumers. 

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Let’s dig into this thesis a bit deeper now. 

1

Package refresh vs. a deeper rebrand: On weighing risk vs. reward 

The biggest issue driving a shift towards package refreshes is the challenging market we’re all facing.

A tough market necessitates being nimble no matter what, but in this context, a wholesale rebrand, complete with Brand Strategy, updating your brand identity, packaging (and the rest of your touch points: merch, website, way showing, sales materials and POS, etc.) and managing the complex process of launching the new look — represents a big investment (both in time and budget), that you might not be able to swing right now. 

To put it bluntly, rebranding is never without risk. And we're seeing people becoming more risk averse and more budget conscious due to the economic environment we’re in. 

Earlier this year, Allagash founder Rob Tod put it well when we he said that today’s beer market is a “game of inches.” Every dollar counts. Every barrel, every case, every account, all of it. 

And unless your brewery’s brand identity and positioning pose an immediate and existential threat to your business, it can be easier, faster and less risky to look for opportunities to drive incremental growth elsewhere.

So, a brand refresh that addresses annoying inconsistencies, or a package refresh that breathes new life into your on-shelf presence may be a better investment than burning everything to the ground and starting fresh 29 years in (even if that's what your heart really wants). 

TLDR: A package refresh can be help you find a quick win without as much risk.

Cost is subjective ( *a quick note )

I’ve mentioned a few times that package refreshes are more affordable than a formal rebrand.

I need to qualify that a refresh can be more affordable relative to a rebrand where you’re working through Brand Strategy (positioning and audience definition, brand voice, key communication pillars, Brand Essence and Architecture) and a Brand Identity update en route to refreshing your packaging. 

If — and this is a big IF that we’ll explore in issue 3 — your brand is on solid footing, then a package refresh can be a great investment that bypasses the additional cost (in budget and time) of a larger rebrand.

2

Your packaging is dusty (it hasn’t been updated since…)

There’s no hard and fast rule here, but if your packaging hasn’t been updated in 5+ years, it may be time to freshen everything up.

Why 5 years? Well… *gestures vaguely out the window* 

The last 5 years has presented a confluence of market changes, including a pandemic, channel shifting (home-premise vs. on-premise), shifting LDA demographics, consumers drinking across a variety of Bev Alc categories (to include NA options) and now, entrenched inflation. You’re also contending with increasingly blurred category lines (full of beyond beer / Fourth Category beverages), middle tier consolidation and (likely) significant changes to your competitive set.

And all of this happened hot on the heels of a period (the late 2010s) that saw as many as 3 breweries opening in the United State per day.

TLDR: A lot has changed over the last few years. And if your packaging, and along with it, your overall presentation and messaging, hasn’t evolved, you may be getting overlooked in the cold box.

A package refresh can be a tactical way to breathe new life into your off-premise presentation and give shoppers another reason to notice you.

3

You’ve gone through several in-house designers and/or agency partners and can clearly see the inconsistent label design style strata across your different brands

This is a common pain point for breweries that have been open for a while. If you’ve worked with multiple in-house designers, freelance partners or agencies, you're almost guaranteed to be able to see these various eras throughout your portfolio. 

You may have some illustration-heavy SKUs, and some minimal ones, and some that look more like Endorsed Brands than flagship beers…

Yeah, Kim designed those 2 cans, and Tom designed that one. That's when we tried to change our logo on our own…

This is exacerbated if each of these successive partners works in their own style vs. adhering to a dedicated set of Brand Guidelines.

No matter how it shakes out, a package refresh is a great opportunity to break everything down to the studs and start over. You can build on what's working, jettison the rest and bring everything in line so that it hangs together on shelf. This will help you rein in and systemize your packaging across the board. 

4

Your sales are flat (but not in a free fall)

Let’s throw 2020 out as an anomaly. From there, 2021 was a rebound year for almost everyone in the industry, with many of our clients posting one of their best years ever. Then 2022 was down. And 2023 was really down, or at least flat, for many. 

Breweries of all sizes are facing flat sales right now. So if you're in this boat, don't take it personally. As we outlined above, you're working against major headwinds that go far beyond your taproom walls. 

I wanted to include this point because most (but not all) of the refreshes we've handled in the last few years were done to reverse this trend and sell more beer after a generally flat period. 

If your sales are flat and not in free fall, let's call it hanging consistently at 10–20% down from your peak YOY for a few years in a row, then a refresh can be a good way of knocking some dust off and increasing sales. 

Check with your distributor and state brewers guild for more concrete benchmarking data to see where you stack up if need be.

If, however, you're seeing deeper declines, 30–50%+ down YOY for a few years, there may be a deeper issue at hand that a package refresh won't resolve.

This could point to any number of things, from a production quality issue (are you actually making great beer?), to a distribution and retail problem (are you actively gaining new placements? are you selling through?), to a branding and core positioning problem (do people know what you stand for? or that you exist? if you went out of business, would they even notice?), etc.

You have to decide where this line is. But our main takeaway is that a refresh can work great as long as you're not attempting to paper over a bigger problem. (We'll explore this idea in depth in our next few issues.)

But again, this isn’t the end of the world. You may just need to address some other issues before you get to your packaging revamp. 

(Above): Dogfish Head has been refreshing its packaging on a 4(ish) year clip for the last decade. This latest iteration brings their beer and RTD lines under a more cohesive look and feel by focusing one the "shark and shield" mark in a consistent spot. 

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5 

Things are going well (you’re winning new placements and sales are increasing YOY) and you want to invest in your brand while the sun’s shining

Enough doom and gloom. Let's get positive for a moment. 

We’ve handled a few packaging refreshes (though more often, these are more thorough brand refreshes) to capitalize on a period of growth and maintain momentum. 

So here, we're not working to right the ship and/or reverse a negative trend. Instead, we’re giving it some gas so you can keep building on your momentum and stack wins. 

NoDa and Fernson's refreshes are recent examples that illustrate this concept well. 

NoDa Brewing is a 13 year old Legacy Brewery in the hyper-competitive Charlotte, North Carolina market that needed to clarify messaging and bring more cohesion to their portfolio.

Fernson Brewing is 9 year old brewery in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. We refreshed their packaging (after a period of growth) to allow for more Sub Brand development within their portfolio as they expand into other markets. 

The takeaway here is that in both cases, things were going well. Both outfits were growing YOY, and they invested in their packaging now while the getting is good. 

It's far easier to invest in your business — to pay down debt, handle planned maintenance, make a major CapEx investment in the brewhouse, hire killer talent, etc. — while everything is calm and quiet and the revenue is free flowing. 

It's far tougher to cut that check when your sales start to flatten.

If you're in a position to, you might consider making hay while the sun shines. 

(Above): Read more about how CODO helped revamp NoDa's packaging here.

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6

You’ve rationalized your portfolio and want to clean everything up now that you have a clear set of priorities 

We’re seeing a lot of SKU rationalization amongst our larger brewery clients (30k+ bbl). And after a few years of this, you'll end up with a more streamlined product lineup.  

A package refresh can be a good way of officially re-introducing these brands to your distributor and broader market.

We usually see this driver run in tandem with these points as well: 

– You’re making some format changes to save costs on production (and possibly decrease turnaround time for new releases)—moving from a 16oz to a 12oz can, moving from bottles to cans, from painted cans to pressure sensitive labels, etc. 

– You're introducing a new flagship brand and want to bring everything up to snuff  

– You're revamping your ABP presentation and want to bring something to the table that gets your wholesale partners excited

7

Package Refresh as a stop gap: You’re planning on a deeper branding effort in the coming years, but still need to make a change now

We’ve seen a few cases lately where a brewery is considering a more thorough rebrand, but due to any number of reasons — budget constraints, production issues, an impending ownership shakeup, lack of capacity, bringing new locations online, navigating a crucial lease renewal — they still need might need to refresh their packaging now to address some immediate issues. 

This isn’t ideal, obviously, but it’s indicative of the market we're in today. The beer industry is shifting and it’s going to become increasingly difficult to launch a full scale rebrand like we used to back in the late 2010's. 

But you may still have to make a change right now, regardless.

If you’re in this position, revisit our thinking on Staggered Rebrand Launches to see how you can incrementally roll out your rebrand and turn this seemingly negative situation into a positive.

(Above): Here's a Lagunitas blog that outlines the first big change (the middle image, above). And here's a BrewBound article that details their new refresh (the bottom image, above), done just 16 months after the first look rolled out.

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8

You need to address an Intellectual Property (IP) issue 

We normally see IP issues stem more from corporate naming (or beer naming) conflicts than with package design and trade dress. But then, we've handled two package refreshes over the last year that were driven expressly by an IP issue. 

In one case, the brewery had previously refreshed their packaging (just a few years prior), only for it to end up looking too similar to a large competitor in their market (Oops). 

In the other case, the brewery was dealing with a lingering IP issue with a much larger competitor (think international conglomerate) that had finally decided to crack down on the situation after a few years of sending vague letters.

If you have an IP issue hanging over your head, consider whether or not a simple package refresh could be an effective way of addressing the problem (while also cleaning up some other inconsistencies and minor pain points along the way). 

Wrapping up

It's important to note that the drivers we've explored here rarely occur in isolation. More often, breweries face several of these challenges simultaneously, making a package refresh an attractive solution to address multiple issues at once.

A package refresh can be a great investment for breweries looking to make a change without the commitment of a more thorough rebrand.

If handled well, it allows you to update your shelf presence and increase sales while maintaining your core brand identity.

However, it's crucial to assess your situation carefully. While a refresh can solve many problems, this isn't a panacea.

We'll explore this idea — the differences between package refreshes, rebrands and brand refreshes (+ why the difference matters) — in our next issue.

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PS: If you’ve recently refreshed your packaging, or are planning to, shoot me an email and let me know why. Was it something we covered here or another reason entirely?