IT'S A BEER-FUELED BATTLE ZONE OUT HERE!

BEER IS BREAKING ALL THE PACKAGING RULES. Believe it or not, there was a time when all of a brands packaging was supposed to look alike, go together, hold hands and play nice with others. And in many cases retail packaging still adheres to those time-tested ideals. AND THEN THERE’S BEER! Note: for the purposes of this discussion I’m talking strictly about craft beer.

Have you taken a look at the craft beer market lately, I mean really looked? On the surface it looks like a whole lotta crazy! Consistently inconsistent branding, wildly colorful and often in-poor-taste graphics, irreverent naming and slogans, and higher alcohol content seem the order of this near-post-Covid era. So, is this just a trend or is this beer branding phenomenon here to stay? And will it infect other types of branded packaging with its free love, hippy dippy, down with the system mentality?

Well, before we all start gearing up for Lord Of The Beer Flies, I for one am fascinated to see how far the design world has been able to steer the buying habits of the beer consuming public. In fact it is looking more and more like craft beer buyers are setting these wild branding and packaging standards as their expectation. Much like the wine market before it, the beer buying public is now label shopping, looking for something unique and creative. Beer consumers are treating beer releases like collectables and are pre-ordering to make sure they won’t miss out on a highly coveted release. And like-minded beer drinkers are holding home events trading their desirable and collectable beers with one another – almost like trading baseball cards.

We all accept that a lot of this is being driven the “locked-in” feeling people are experiencing in the age of Covid. I mean, if we’re going to be forced to drink at home, at least the packaging can be fun and interesting, right? But I for one am hoping this trend continues into the future and that beer sets a new standard for branded packaging that’s creative and fun has an equal place along side packaging strategies that are, shall we say, more stoic and less adventurous?

So let’s let our freak flags fly and get in on this inarguably whimsical and creative-driven trend! We’ll certainly be tasting some exceptionally brewed craft beers and we might just be setting the stage for a world-wide packaging design revolution! Vive la Révolution!