Very few products have branding that stands out from the noise and clutter that characterises the craft beer category, says Matthew Remphrey, managing director of design agency Parallax.
Remphrey, who worked on the branding of Vale Ale, told delegates at the Craft Brewers Conference that differentiation is important in a category where a product, such as a pale ale, is very easily substitutable.
“Every category has a look. Banks all sort of look the same, because they want to look like a bank,” he said.
“Wine companies all want to look the same, because they want to look like a wine company, it’s no different with beer,” he said.
Remphrey said that only two breweries stand out from the above array of brands: Balter and Pirate Life.
“I would argue there’s not a lot of differentiation in there, it’s a very noisy and loud and cluttered looking market,” he said.
“Brand is the differentiator… It’s the story that you’re putting out there because you can always substitute one for the other.
“That can be a visual thing, but it can be a whole lot of other things in terms of your business model and the way you get to your customers as well.”
Remphrey said Balter really stood out visually when the brand was launched last year.
“It was just like a clean sheet of paper,” he said.
“If everyone’s shouting, one way of not standing out is by not saying anything. The opposite goes, if everyone’s being very quiet and subdued, sometimes the way to stand out is to shout.”
I would totally agree that many of the labels do not stand out, normally because the primary brand label is too busy. As with the Balter label, simple is often best. I would suggest however that brands such as Two Birds, Moo Brew and Vale Ale do stand out – they are relatively simple and bold labels – in Moo Brews case of course there is the art work.
Colonial Brewing, Sample and 4 Pines are good examples of breweries where there is a clear distinct label which is recognisable and stands out in the crowd. A lot of craft beer labels are cluttered and busy, with a focus on the individual beer rather than total brand consistency, and to the untrained eye, the breweries themselves are hard to recognise. This is a problem,as consumers are loyal to good brands.
Ditto Evan’s comment. Also Brouhaha Brewery. Clean uncluttered and distinctive. Stands out in a crowded fridge in the bottle shop.