Setting goals for a brewery rebrand you can actually measure

Goals settle the arguments before they start

Every rebrand ends with someone asking whether it was worth it. Without written goals the answer depends on who you ask: the founder who loves the new cans, the sales lead who has not seen orders move, the investor who only sees the invoice. Stage two of a rebrand exists to settle that argument in advance.

It follows directly from the pain points and wish list of stage one. Every goal should trace back to something on those lists. If a goal does not, ask why it is there. This is the second of seven stages in our rebrand series.

Three to five SMART goals is enough

Write three to five SMART goals: specific, measurable, action-oriented, realistic and time-limited. With fewer than three the project has no shape. With more than five nobody remembers them by the second design round.

Take a vague goal and push it through each letter.

• Vague: sell more cans.
• Specific: sell more of the flagship lager in 330 ml cans through shops in our home city.
• Measurable: cases sold to shops each month, taken from the distributor's statements.
• Action-oriented: redesign the can so it reads from 2 metres away on a crowded fridge shelf, then brief the distributor's reps on the new range.
• Realistic: check it against fridge space, distributor reach and brewing capacity.
• Time-limited: measured 6 and 12 months after launch against the same months the year before.

Write the baseline down now. A goal with no before figure to compare against is only a hope.

Some goals cannot be counted and still matter

Leave room for qualitative goals too. We would not skip them. Examples: staff who are happy to wear the T-shirt outside work; a brand the head brewer feels matches the beer; a taproom that feels like the same place as the can. You cannot put these in a spreadsheet, but you will know within a month of launch whether they are true.

Write 2 or 3 of them. For each, say how you will check. A short anonymous question to staff at 3 months is enough. So is counting tagged Instagram posts from the taproom over the first four weekends.

Decide what return the spend has to earn

Next, decide what kind of return you need. 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, which is real money for a brewpub.

Some of the return is direct: more cases sold, a higher price per glass that drinkers accept, new on-trade accounts. Some is cost saved, such as a packaging system where a new beer needs only a colour and a name instead of a fresh design. Some is harder to price, like being easier to hire for or to pitch to an investor. Decide which of these the rebrand must deliver and roughly how much before you approve a budget.

Show the working with your own numbers. Say the rebrand costs ₹20 lakh and the brewery keeps ₹500 of margin on a case of 24 cans. It needs 4,000 extra cases to pay back on margin alone. If that looks unlikely within two years, either the budget or the goals need another look.

Picture the taproom on the first weekend after launch

Close this stage with an imagination exercise. It is more useful than it sounds. Ask each member of the executive team to spend 10 minutes writing, in their own words, what they see when they walk into the taproom on the first Saturday after launch. Prompt them with specifics:

• What do guests think and feel in the first 30 seconds?
• What does the can or bottle look like in a guest's hand?
• What is on the merch wall? Would you wear it?
• What do the tap handles or the tap list look like?
• How do you feel when it is finished?
• What has to happen before you call it a success?

Read the answers aloud. Where they agree, you have a direction. Where they clash, you have found a decision the team needs to make before a designer is paid to guess.

Your first step is a one-page goal sheet

Writing goals is the easy half. Judging whether a can design will actually move those numbers takes practice. An outside eye with advertising experience helps there.

Your first step this week: write a single page with your 3 to 5 SMART goals, 2 or 3 qualitative goals, the baseline figure for each and the return you expect. Share it with the people who will approve the budget, which is the subject of the next stage: who to involve and what to budget. That page is also the first thing you hand any design firm.

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 does SMART stand for in a rebrand?

Specific, measurable, action-oriented, realistic and time-limited. Write three to five goals this way.

How do we measure whether a rebrand worked?

Record a baseline before launch (cases sold, on-trade accounts, taproom footfall and social following) and compare the same months after launch. Add two or three qualitative goals you check with staff and regulars.

How do we know if the spend will pay back?

Work out how many extra cases or accounts would cover the cost on margin. If that number looks unrealistic, cut the budget or rethink the goals before you start.