Rebrand or refresh? How to tell what your brewery actually needs
Before anyone sketches a logo, write down what is actually hurting. This guide turns the first stage of a rebrand into an exercise your team can run this week. It ends with the call that shapes everything after it: evolve or start again.
The first stage is a list of what hurts
Every rebrand we run starts with a deliberately unglamorous task. Before goals, budgets or mood boards, the brewery writes down its pain points. It is stage one of our rebrand series because it stops the project from turning into a debate about taste.
A pain point is something you can point to that costs you money, time or drinkers. It has a place and an example. "Our 500 ml can disappears on a fridge shelf next to imported cans" is a pain point. "The brand feels dated" is a mood. Moods matter, but they need translating into something a designer can fix.
Four places to look, six problems to find
Sort the pain into four areas. Take them one at a time and aim for at least six honest entries in total.
- Identity. Does the logo hold up when it is printed 15 mm wide on a crown cork or embroidered on a T-shirt sleeve? Do staff use three different versions of it?
- Packaging. Can a drinker tell your lager from your IPA at arm's length? Does every new beer need a design from scratch, which slows each launch?
- Website. Does it load on a phone on mobile data? Does it show today's tap list, the address and the opening hours, or a menu from two years ago?
- Reputation. What do people say in Google reviews and Instagram comments? Is the brewery known for one beer, one event or one complaint?
Ask beyond the founders. Taproom staff hear the confusion first: guests asking which beer is which, or getting your name wrong. A distributor's sales rep knows why a shop said no.
A wish list turns complaints into a brief
Once the pain is on paper, write the opposite: a wish list. Split it into five areas: logo and merch, reputation, website, packaging and sales. Write everything down, including wishes that repeat the pain points. Repetition helps here. The items that show up three times are the ones that matter.
Keep wishes concrete. "A can range where a new beer needs only a colour change and a new name" is a wish a designer can work with. So is "merch that taproom guests buy without being asked". Leave numbers and deadlines for the goal-setting stage. At this point you only need the raw material.
Evolution keeps what drinkers remember
The big decision, which you can only make properly after the brand audit, is how far to go: evolution or revolution. We call them a refresh and a rebrand.
A refresh keeps the core of what people recognise (the name, often the logo shape or a signature colour) and fixes what is broken around it: a cleaner typeface, a packaging system that scales, a website that works. It is the right call when your pain points are mostly about execution and drinkers still like you. If regulars can draw your logo from memory, that recognition took years to build. Throwing it away is a cost you should count.
The brand audit gives you the evidence. It includes a recall test, where 30 to 40 regulars draw your logo and can from memory over three or four weeks.
Revolution is for when the brand itself is the problem
A full rebrand makes sense when the pain sits in the foundations. Typical signs: the name clashes with someone else's trademark; the brand was built for one taproom and now has to work on 330 ml cans in three cities; the founding story no longer matches the beer; or the reputation is tied to something you have deliberately left behind. In each case, tidying the typeface will not help.
Revolution costs more and carries more risk. You are asking existing drinkers to find you again on the shelf and on the tap list, so the launch needs careful planning. It also usually means state excise label approval for every changed label at once, so paperwork, printing and timing all land together. Rules vary by state and change. Check the current notification or ask a licensing consultant before you commit to a date.
Run the exercise this week in 90 minutes
Here is how we would run it with a brewpub team.
- Put the founders, the head brewer, a taproom lead and whoever handles sales in one room for 90 minutes.
- Give everyone 15 minutes alone to write pain points on sticky notes, one per note, under the four headings.
- Group the notes on a wall. Count the duplicates: they are your priorities.
- Spend 20 minutes on the wish list across the five areas.
- Finish by marking each pain point E for execution (a refresh can fix it) or F for foundation (it needs a rebrand).
If most notes carry an E, plan a refresh. If the F notes are about the name, the story or who the brand is for, you are looking at a rebrand. Many teams find that naming what is wrong is far easier than briefing what comes next.
Your first step: put the 90 minutes in the diary before Friday and buy a pad of sticky notes for each person.
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
What is the difference between a rebrand and a refresh?
A refresh keeps what drinkers already recognise (the name or the logo shape) and fixes how it is used. A rebrand changes the foundations (often the name, the story or the audience) and rebuilds the visual identity.
How many pain points should we list?
Aim for at least six specific problems across identity, packaging, website and reputation. More is fine as long as each one says where the problem shows up.
Who should take part in the pain point exercise?
The founders, the head brewer, a taproom lead and whoever sells to shops or bars. Staff who talk to drinkers every day often spot problems the founders have stopped seeing.
