Branding, Packaging & Web | CB Craft Brewers
Situation The craft brewing landscape in Western New York changed forever when Mike Alcorn opened “Custom BrewCrafters” in Honeoye Falls, NY. In the beginning, he brewed custom beers for area bars and restaurants. Within a few years, Mike introduced a few craft beers under the brand “CB” and sold them through select retail outlets. After 10 years, the brewery and its brand had grown organically and had 6 different logos.
Challenge Create a unified corporate brand and a hierarchy of sub-brands, which accurately describes the offering of each business segment and works as a cohesive system. The brand must be modern, reflect the personality and spirit of the company, give the nod to its history, and appeal to the target market while standing out in a crowded marketplace.
Solution An intensive branding session was conducted, including research into this quickly growing and ever-changing market.
The new name—CB Craft Brewers—was chosen to encompass the company’s many offerings better.
A new tagline, “Small batches. Big Taste.” was developed to reflect the company’s unique value proposition.
A new brand was developed that is strong, cohesive, exciting, and reflected the fun and passion of the company. While retaining the original diamond motif, we gave it an updated, kinetic feel and used a heavy, black, hand-drawn style.
For CB’s consumer packaging, each product has a consistent look, but each has its own color and illustration treatment to characterize the specific brew. Placed side-by-side on the shelf, CB’s six-packs own the space!
Signage was redesigned, and the rebranding was extended to all aspects of the company’s marketing communications, including advertising, banners, merchandise, tap handles, menus, and the new website.
Results Web Average number of page views per month: 3,143; 66.4% are new users, 33.6% are returning visitors; 36% of all visitors are engaged 60 seconds or more – An increase in traffic to social media profiles since the rebrand, including Facebook, Twitter, Yelp and UnTappd.
“Reactions to the brand have been positive, especially to the new logo. “We have been flying through new glassware—pint glasses, growlers, tasting glasses.” -Suzanne Wolf, CB Craft Brewers Marketing Manager.