Rebranding a brewery: the seven stages, from pain points to launch day

A rebrand is seven jobs done in order

Many brewery rebrands start in the wrong place: someone opens a folder of can mock-ups before anyone has agreed what is broken. The order matters more than the talent of the designer. A good designer handed a vague brief will still produce something handsome that solves the wrong problem.

We split the job into seven stages and teach them in this order, because each one feeds the next. The examples come from Indian brewpubs and packaging breweries in Bengaluru, Pune, Gurugram and Mumbai: 330 ml and 500 ml cans, 650 ml bottles, state excise label approval and budgets in rupees.

Below are the seven stages, each with the guide that goes deeper.

Stages one and two decide whether you need a rebrand at all

Stage one is honesty. List what actually hurts across four areas: identity, packaging, website and reputation. A logo that turns to mush at 20 mm wide on a coaster is a pain point. "It feels tired" is not, until you can say why. From that list comes the real question: does the brand need a full rebuild or a careful refresh? Our guide to rebrand or refresh walks through that call.

Stage two turns pain into goals. Write three to five SMART goals (specific, measurable, action-oriented, realistic and time-limited) plus a few softer ones you cannot count but will recognise. "Get the new 500 ml can into 40 more shops within 12 months of launch" is a goal. "Look more premium" is a wish. See setting goals for a brewery rebrand.

Stage three puts names and rupees on the project

Before you call a single designer, decide who has the final word. Keep the sign-off group to four to six people, often the founders, an investor and whoever runs sales. Around them sit the stakeholders the design firm should interview: brewers, taproom staff, a distributor and two or three on-trade accounts. About ten interviews is enough. After that you mostly hear the same points again.

Then the budget. Budget 5 to 15% of a year's revenue for a full rebrand, less for a refresh. On a ₹3 crore turnover, 5% is ₹15 lakh and 15% is ₹45 lakh. Treat it as a starting point rather than a rule. Still, know your number before you talk to anyone, because it decides whether you are hiring a freelancer, a small studio or a large agency. Shortlist two or three firms. The details are in who to involve and what to budget.

Stage four finds out what your drinkers already remember

A brand audit gathers everything the brewery has ever put out: logo files, every label version, keg collars, tap handles, menus, coasters, social posts, merch and press cuttings. Lay it all out on one table or in one shared folder. The inconsistencies tend to show up quickly.

The part we like most is the recall test. Leave simple outline sheets and markers in the taproom and ask regulars to draw your logo or can from memory. We aim for 30 to 40 drawings over three or four weeks. Whatever people draw correctly is equity you should be careful about throwing away. Whatever nobody remembers is fair game. This stage also lists your trademarks and settles the choice between evolution and revolution. See the brand audit guide.

Stage five is the strategy the designer will build on

This is the longest stage and the one most tempting to skip. It has five parts, each with its own guide in this series:

• Positioning: plot yourself against your competitors, which may be 5 breweries in one city and 50 in another, two axes at a time. Look for the empty quarter.
• Mission, vision and values: 3 to 6 core values and a vision that looks about 20 years out.
• Personas: two or three drinkers described well enough that a designer could guess what is on their phone.
• Brand architecture: will the brewery name go on every product, or will some launch under their own name?
• Personality and touchpoints: where you sit between homemade and precise or quiet and loud, plus every place a drinker meets the brand.

Write it down in your own words. A design firm will run its own discovery anyway. A team that arrives with this work done gets shorter workshops and a sharper first round.

Stages six and seven are design, then a launch timed to the slowest job

During design your job is mostly to wait, answer questions quickly and hold the executive team to the decision rights agreed in stage three. Feedback from 5 people in one meeting is manageable. Twelve opinions arriving separately on WhatsApp is how good work gets watered down.

Rollout has a simple rule. Find the chokepoint, which is almost always new packaging. Estimate when it will be finished, add one month and call that your launch date. Start the launch campaign two months before that. In India the packaging chokepoint includes printing, FSSAI labelling and state excise label approval for every changed can and bottle. That approval process varies by state and changes, so check the current notification or ask a licensing consultant. If new 330 ml cans should be ready by mid-March, launch in mid-April and start the campaign in mid-February. Rolling out a brewery rebrand covers the timeline and the channels to update.

Your first step is one hour with the founders this week

Doing all seven stages well is easier with an outside eye. Someone with years in advertising will spot what the team has stopped seeing, from a tired tagline to a can that vanishes on the shelf.

Book one hour this week with whoever would sit on the executive team. Bring a can, a bottle, a menu and your Instagram grid open on a phone. Each person writes down the three things that annoy them most about the brand today, without discussion. Then compare. If the lists overlap, you have the start of stage one. If they do not, you have found your first problem. It is not the logo.

About the authors

Ankur Napa is a Master Brewer who also works in data and AI. Chatty Girija spent more than 30 years in advertising, hosts the Cheers Chatty Beer Podcast and teaches at Craft Beer School.

Common questions

How long does a brewery rebrand take?

It depends mostly on packaging. Set the launch a month after the new packaging is ready and start the campaign two months before launch. Plan backwards from the packaging date.

How much should a brewery spend on a rebrand?

Budget 5 to 15% of a year's revenue for a full rebrand, less for a refresh. On a ₹3 crore turnover that is ₹15 lakh to ₹45 lakh. Treat it as a starting point and set your own ceiling before you approach any designer.

Do we need a design agency?

Not always. A freelancer, a small studio and a large agency each suit different budgets and scopes. Fix your budget first, then shortlist 2 or 3 firms whose food and drink work you admire.