In an increasingly difficult and competitive beer space, breweries need to dial in on the message and visibility. One of the best ways to do this – especially for breweries that are distributing – is to maximize the use of can labels. Even breweries that only sell out of their taprooms should be thinking about how to best use label real estate.
There are several ways to do this that don’t require a brand refresh but do need some critical thinking. Focusing on a few key elements can help increase visibility and can deepen a relationship with a customer.
Put your best label forward and consider these options.
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Brewery Name and Beer Front and Center
From a distance your label needs to be recognizable. Having a well designed logo that effectively communicates your brand is paramount. Regular customers should be able to spot it quickly. New customers should be able to read and understand it within a few seconds.
The better a brewery’s reputation, the better the logo will stand out. Think of leaders in the craft beer industry like Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. or Allagash Brewing. Simply seeing their logos on a label – even if it is a new or special release – automatically instills trust and curiosity. This is thanks to decades of dedication and commitment to quality. All breweries should be approaching their products the same way.
Even on a small scale, if your beer has earned consumer trust through quality, the prominent appearance of your logo will immediately instill confidence.
With so much choice on shelves, don’t make customers do the hard work of hunting for information on the style of beer contained within. If it’s a New England-style IPA, say so. Same for Porter, Hefeweizen, Fruited Sour or whatever. You can have a great art and design on a can but put the important information front and center.
This also goes for ABV. Some drinkers are specifically looking for alcohol content. Sometimes this can mean high or low, or whatever they consider their sweet spot. Give them that information with a single look. Other information like SRM or IBU is way less important (and likely confusing to casual beer drinkers).
Think of Themes
As your brewery’s brand identity is established, having a familiar color scheme or art work can help get customer attention. Sometimes this is easy, like hop cones to denote IPAs, or chocolate bars to showcase pastry stouts.
Other times, breweries can go deeper. Allagash, when it introduced its lager last year, put a somewhat familiar river scene on its packaging. Allagash White has long had a mountain river landscape on its cans. The view on the lager cans, brewery officials say, is from the same river, just downstream a bit more. It tells a visual story for the larger brand, offers a sense of place, and a feeling of familiarity.
Thinking about how core brands look stacked next to each other for brand identity can go a long way to foster consumer relationship and even lead to broader sales.
Tag lines, affiliations, and things of importance
If your brewery has a catchy motto, it should be on the can. Many breweries choose to put it near the top, wrapped around and easy to read. Others use that real estate for reminders to keep a beer cold or to drink it fresh. Simple, memorable lines can help forge a better product/consumer relationship.
A lot of breweries choose to put the Brewers Association independence label on their packaging. Others have opted to put their affiliations with groups like Certified B Corp or 1% for the Planet. Others have their own logos or causes that they give a place of prominence.
If you’re proud of something, be it an affiliation, initiative, or something than can be easily summed up on the label (like certified organic) that you feel will connect with consumers, consider adding it to your label.
QR codes
There is a healthy debate in the hospitality space about QR codes. While some restaurants and bars are seeing pushback by consumers on the use of the codes rather than paper menus, the use of QR codes on labels can be useful.
It just takes some thought on where you want the code to direct. Going to a brewery’s home page might result in some clicks, but likely not much exploration. Some breweries use it for social media landing pages to boost followers. Others use the code to link back to a specific beer information page, giving drinkers greater context on the beer in their hands.
If you go that route, make sure the page is stocked with stats, tasting notes, food pairings, awards, and anything else that forges a deeper connection with the pint. And always check and double check that the code being printed goes exactly where you want it to go.
The extra mile – sticker labels.
Some brewers have started using labels where a portion can be peeled off and used as a sticker. These are more expensive, but for the serious beer fan who likes to adorn a fridge at home, or a walk-in door at a brewery, these can be useful. The fun part is deciding what part of the label to peel off for sticker use. This can be the brewery logo, or a cool design from the beer. The possibilities are endless and the impression lasting well beyond when the can goes into recycling.