Who to involve in a brewery rebrand and what to budget

People and money come before mood boards

Stage three of a rebrand deals with the two things most likely to derail a rebrand halfway: too many people with a veto and a budget nobody agreed. It comes after you have written your goals and before any designer is hired. It is the third of seven stages in our rebrand series.

It breaks into five tasks: build the executive team, list the stakeholders, set the budget, decide what kind of design partner you want, then shortlist and contact them. We take them in that order.

Four to six people get the final say

Keep the sign-off group to four to six people. These are the gatekeepers: anyone who can approve, veto or quietly undo a decision. In an Indian brewpub that often means the founders, an investor or two with strong views, the head brewer and whoever runs sales or marketing. If a silent partner is going to weigh in at the end anyway, put them on the list now rather than meet their opinion in round three.

Write down each person's role and agree how decisions get made. Unanimous, majority or one founder with the casting vote? Settle it in writing. Design reviews go faster when everyone already knows who breaks a tie.

About ten interviews tell the design firm what it needs

Stakeholders are the people the design firm should interview during its discovery work. They do not vote, but they know things the founders do not. About ten interviews is enough. After that you mostly hear the same points again.

A sensible ten for an Indian brewery might be:

• 2 brewers or cellar staff
• 2 taproom servers or managers
• 1 distributor or their sales rep
• 2 on-trade accounts, such as a bar manager in Bengaluru or Pune who pours your beer
• 1 shop that stocks your cans
• 1 investor who is not on the executive team
• 1 long-standing regular

Collect names, roles and phone numbers in one sheet now. A WhatsApp message from you explaining the project gets a far better response than a cold call from a studio they have never heard of.

Set the budget before you ask for quotes

Budget 5 to 15% of a year's revenue for a full rebrand, less for a refresh. Treat it as a starting point rather than a rule.

Work it through with your own turnover. On ₹3 crore, 5 to 15% is ₹15 lakh to ₹45 lakh. On ₹1 crore it is ₹5 lakh to ₹15 lakh. Write down two numbers: an ideal budget and a hard maximum. The design fee is only part of the bill. New labels or printed cans, tap handles, signage, merch stock and a reprint of every menu cost money too. They often arrive after the design invoice is paid.

Knowing your number saves everyone time. A firm can tell you in one call whether the scope fits. You can rule out partners you cannot afford before anyone has written a proposal.

Freelancer, studio or agency each buy you something different

There are three kinds of partner to weigh. The trade-offs usually look like this:

• A freelancer costs least and talks to you directly. The risk is capacity: one person handling strategy, a logo, a packaging system for 6 beers and a website can stall when they fall ill or take on another job.
• A small or medium studio brings a strategist, designers and a project manager. It costs more than a freelancer and usually less than an agency, with senior people still in the room.
• A large agency brings depth, research and production muscle. For a single brewpub you may pay for overheads you do not need and see the senior team only at the pitch.

Note your concerns about each before you shortlist. They become your interview questions.

Shortlist two or three firms and brief them the same way

Shortlist two or three firms. Find them by looking at food and drink packaging you admire, then asking the brand who did it. Look for packaging work that has been through Indian printing and label approval. A design that ignores FSSAI labelling and state excise label rules will come back for changes. Those rules vary by state and change, so a good partner will ask you about them.

For each firm, note what you like (specific projects) and the questions you want answered. Ask how many rounds of revisions are included, who will actually do the work, how they handle label approval and what the fee does not cover. Send each one the same short brief: your pain points, your goals, your executive team, your budget range and a target launch season. Then compare like with like.

The next stage, the brand audit, is where a team most needs to know what good branding work looks like and how to judge it. An outside eye with advertising experience helps there.

Your first step this week: write the names of your executive team and your two budget figures on one page. Then get every one of them to agree to it.

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 big should a brewery rebrand team be?

Keep the group with the final say to four to six people. The design firm also interviews about 10 stakeholders, who give input but do not vote.

How much does a brewery rebrand cost in India?

There is no fixed price. Budget 5 to 15% of a year's revenue for a full rebrand, less for a refresh. That is ₹15 lakh to ₹45 lakh on a ₹3 crore turnover. Set an ideal figure and a hard maximum. Budget separately for printing, signage and merch.

Should we hire a freelancer or an agency?

It depends on scope and budget. A freelancer can suit a refresh of a small range. A studio or agency brings more people, which helps on a full rebrand covering packaging, signage and a website.