Thinking small, branding big

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In a world of big ideas, one thing I have learnt over the years is that there can often be a real creative contradiction when branding smaller enterprises versus branding larger established acts. 

We all know that startup brands need to disrupt and challenge the status quo. Whereas, big corporate brands tend to be about consolidating reputation and customer loyalty (evolution not revolution, stupid).

But what if a company sits somewhere in the middle?

How do you move the ‘established startup’ up to the next level? Is it possible to open up a small brand to new audiences without sacrificing the hard-earned authenticity accrued over many years? 

A recent challenge that ticked this particular (multipack) box was a branding collaboration I did with Dapple for Crate Brewery. It was not a case of simply landing the big idea, we needed to look after many smaller, more nuanced ones too. 

The home of Crate: the iconic White Building

Crafting authenticity

Quietly brewing away since 2012, Crate had been busy growing its reputation along with its extensive line of refreshing beer-based products.

They needed stronger brand visibility to help them evolve into new markets. Their Holy Grail was a brand that would feel like a local craft beer but would behave and look like a trusted mainstream player. The tall order was made even taller given the potential interest from a well-known UK supermarket behemoth.

Their Holy Grail was a brand that would feel like a local craft beer but would behave and look like a trusted mainstream player

Our research revealed that Crate had a loyal following who would likely be protective of a brand they had shared a good few beers with over its 6 or so years of being. The beer brand wasn’t, in fact, just a brewery; it was also a celebrated destination. Its spiritual home, The White Building had attained legendary status within the local Hackney Wick community, pairing beer brewed on-site with some of the finest stone-baked pizza, all served up within an enviable canal-side location. 

What faced us was a real balancing act; the audiophile equivalent of a fan discovering a new band only to see it ‘sell-out’ to a commercial label soon afterwards. You may have a bigger stage, money and fame, but not without the risk of losing the admiration of the people that got you there in the first place. 

Creating the box, outside of the box.

After listening to Jess, Neil and Tom (the brains behind the bubbles), it soon became apparent that the way forward was to dial up the dimensional cues behind the name to help the brand feel more alive and to lend it more visual impact. The trouble with the previous identity was how flat and recessive it appeared when reduced down to black and white. Needless to say, this wasn’t something that would go down well on a supermarket shelf.

Starting with the logo, we began the process of forging a singular C marque straight from the idea of a physical crate. The idea was to establish a container-of-sorts for the broader brand identity – a platform which would enable the product line to grow organically over the years to come.

The next step was all about defining a clear product system.

Out with the quirky product naming and cryptic illustrations that belied Crate’s small brewer mentality and in with more focused, dimensional interpretations to help communicate the various product personalities: ‘tropical’ Pale, ‘refreshing’ Lager, ‘bold and complex’ IPA.

The test was to create something unmistakably Crate, something that would stand alone and would be recognisable even without the logo or other products present. We also wanted the brand to be visually ownable on all parts — even down to the typographic treatment and tone of voice.

The test was to create something unmistakably Crate, something that would stand alone and would be recognisable even without the logo or other products present

By tying the logo intrinsically to the illustration and vice versa, the brand recognition wasn’t reliant on a big logo treatment. The product illustrations are equally identifiable as Crate. It is all very symbiotic, a brand feedback loop where one connects to the other. Tying it to the illustration also helps the packaging feel clearly ‘branded’ without being too ‘brand-led’.

The answer was in black and white. 

One thing that was hard to ignore from the original branding was the binary colour application. It turned out to be an obvious keeper, helping to reinforce the utilitarian, functional roots behind the Crate name. Our gut instinct was further backed up by how prevalent multi-colour already is within the craft beer market. 

Black cans, white bottles: Alternating colours complement a bar versus restaurant setting

But black and white didn’t just apply in a visual sense. 

We decided to filter it down to the tone of voice and marketing copy, leading to a direct and unfussy style that carries boldly across all the communications. We purposely opted for simple flavour profiles, evoking familiar social scenes, on backs of packaging (in favour of more abstract tasting notes) to help appeal to a more mainstream craft-aspiring market. 

Tone of voice instills the unconventional and inquisitive nature of Crate and its core creative audience

Crate illustrations tessellate across retail packs to create a more visually arresting canvas

Unique print finishes mimic rolled-ink to bring the brand back to its local printers’ yard roots

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Results

The proof was in the ABV, you could say. Initial orders were quadrupled to 1 million units across 1000 of Tesco’s UK stores after re-pitching the new-look branding and packaging.

And another thing that deserves a raised glass? A satisfied community of local east-side punters that continues to be as engaged with the brand as its proud owners.

So, maybe you can have the best of both worlds...