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How your local community should shape your craft brewery’s branding

May 4, 2015Cody Fague and Isaac Arthur

CODO_CommunityNeeds
What is your community missing? What can you offer that your community actually needs?

Working through your branding and positioning is an invigorating, challenging and aspirational process. While a lot of the work involves looking in toward yourself and your partners, you need to remember to consider one of the most important aspects of any business — who are your customers and what problems do they have?

This sounds strange when you’re talking about brewing beer, but think about your potential customers and consider how your concept can best fit into their lives. What does your community lack? Is there no local brewpub where people can congregate? How about a great pizza and beer joint? Is there a respected production brewery in your area? Maybe there’s no live music venue that supports smaller acts?

In our city, there’s a wildly successful production brewery. They opened six years ago and have, in a lot of ways, shaped every other brewery that’s opened in Indiana since. Over that time, we’ve met with two or three different start-up breweries in the area that have said, “We want to be like that brewery.” And we always ask them why. Aside from genuine concerns about how many production breweries one area can support, you need to understand your community’s needs.

What purpose do you serve? How are you different from your competition? What role do you play in peoples’ lives? Getting this nailed down will give you a solid foundation to build your brand and brew great beer for the right people.

This column was provided by the folks at CODO Design, a five-man branding firm based in Indianapolis, IN. They’ve spent years working with startup craft breweries on naming, branding and positioning, responsive web design, and package design. They’ve gathered their experience into a comprehensive Craft Beer Branding Guide to help startup breweries navigate the entire branding process. Check it out at www.craftbeerbrandingguide.com.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. KevinWColeman says

    May 8, 2015 at 2:30 pm

    How local community should shape your craft brewery’s brand – http://t.co/rNTwvUZie8 #craftbeer

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  2. mrbrewreview says

    May 8, 2015 at 1:50 pm

    How local community should shape your craft brewery’s brand http://t.co/rFIrPR461l via @craftbrewingbiz

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  3. LizardLabels says

    May 7, 2015 at 1:50 pm

    RT @BlueLabelPress: The role a community plays in shaping a brewery’s brand http://t.co/d1a919SE8M via @craftbrewingbiz @BrewStuds http://t…

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  4. Brian Phipps says

    May 7, 2015 at 1:36 pm

    I really enjoy this piece! Although it seems obvious, many businesses do not take a full step back to look at what their geographical surroundings are offering/lacking. There’s opportunity everywhere, just look at what the community needs and use it to your advantage. Besides some of the typical ideas like music venues or pizza as you mention, breweries can also look to community issues that are not being solved and finding ways to incorporate beer to helping solve/fight against an issue. Do something different or more efficient than others and you can start finding a real advantage (http://goo.gl/ftdYmv).

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    • Isaac Arthur says

      May 11, 2015 at 10:29 am

      Absolutely. There’s a long history of community involvement / investment among many of the bigger craft breweries. And we’re happy to see this trend among many of the startup breweries we’re woking with as well.

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  5. Todd Parker says

    May 6, 2015 at 6:36 pm

    Todd Parker liked this on Facebook.

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  6. Isaac Arthur says

    May 6, 2015 at 6:36 pm

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  7. MeasuredMethods says

    May 6, 2015 at 4:49 pm

    How local community should shape your craft brewery’s #brand http://t.co/zPO2XUxqG6 #branding #craftbeer

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  8. Robert Lloyd Moreland says

    May 5, 2015 at 6:21 pm

    Robert Lloyd Moreland liked this on Facebook.

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  9. Ohio_Digital says

    May 5, 2015 at 2:13 pm

    RT @BrewStuds: #CraftBeer #Branding Advice: The role a community plays in shaping a brewery’s brand http://t.co/8WMsot4vuu http://t.co/OUu5…

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  10. BrewStudNo1 says

    May 5, 2015 at 11:50 am

    RT @BrewStuds: #CraftBeer #Branding Advice: The role a community plays in shaping a brewery’s brand http://t.co/8WMsot4vuu http://t.co/OUu5…

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  11. carlu_fra says

    May 5, 2015 at 10:58 am

    RT @BrewStuds: #CraftBeer #Branding Advice: The role a community plays in shaping a brewery’s brand http://t.co/8WMsot4vuu http://t.co/OUu5…

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  12. BlueLabelPress says

    May 5, 2015 at 10:53 am

    The role a community plays in shaping a brewery’s brand http://t.co/d1a919SE8M via @craftbrewingbiz @BrewStuds http://t.co/GXCErM6ffu

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  13. TrottaPizza says

    May 5, 2015 at 10:53 am

    RT @BrewStuds: #CraftBeer #Branding Advice: The role a community plays in shaping a brewery’s brand http://t.co/8WMsot4vuu http://t.co/OUu5…

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  14. pourtastic says

    May 5, 2015 at 10:48 am

    RT @BrewStuds: #CraftBeer #Branding Advice: The role a community plays in shaping a brewery’s brand http://t.co/8WMsot4vuu http://t.co/OUu5…

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  15. NikkieEdmonds says

    May 5, 2015 at 10:48 am

    RT @BrewStuds: #CraftBeer #Branding Advice: The role a community plays in shaping a brewery’s brand http://t.co/8WMsot4vuu http://t.co/OUu5…

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  16. Jim Danger Fisher says

    May 4, 2015 at 9:52 pm

    Jim Danger Fisher liked this on Facebook.

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  17. Nate Fochtman says

    May 4, 2015 at 9:52 pm

    Nate Fochtman liked this on Facebook.

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  18. BLINDTIGERdsgn says

    May 4, 2015 at 9:30 pm

    How does your #branding help set you apart from the rest? How does your branding help you fit with your #community?
    http://t.co/59ouhYaE30

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  19. Brian Phipps says

    May 4, 2015 at 5:52 pm

    Brian Phipps liked this on Facebook.

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  20. Dan Choiniere says

    May 4, 2015 at 5:52 pm

    Dan Choiniere liked this on Facebook.

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  21. Brian Phipps says

    May 4, 2015 at 1:36 pm

    Brian Phipps liked this on Facebook.

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  22. crsimp01 says

    May 4, 2015 at 1:28 pm

    How local community should shape your craft brewery’s brand http://t.co/1B6jr03oCm via @craftbrewingbiz

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  23. CODODesign says

    May 4, 2015 at 1:16 pm

    RT @CraftBrewingBiz: How can your local community should shape your craft brewery’s branding? We ask @CODODesign http://t.co/huuC4EPZZQ

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  24. BrewandCovered says

    May 4, 2015 at 12:51 pm

    who are your customers and what problems do they have?… http://t.co/nxYudb0Pz1

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