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Mar 14, 2024

Big Beer Brands Embrace Heritage in new Packaging Designs

Three big beer brands employ packaging designs that capitalize on those characteristics drawing millennials to craft beer brands—authenticity, flavor, and history—to bring them into the fold. Craft

Three big beer brands employ packaging designs that capitalize on those characteristics drawing millennials to craft beer brands—authenticity, flavor, and history—to bring them into the fold.

Craft beer has been a thorn in the side of big brand breweries for some time, with the category taking a 13.2% bite out of the market in 2022. Furthermore, the craft beer segment is attracting the younger generation—50% of millennials aged 25 to 34 versus 36% of U.S. consumers overall, according to a report in Marketing Science. So how can commercial brewers tap into this demographic?

While big beer brands may be inclined to adopt the whimsy and eccentricity of craft beer package design to attract younger consumers, it’s important to remember what attracts millennials to craft beer—authenticity, flavor, and history—and that’s something larger commercial brands offer in spades. Over the past year, a number of established beer brands have redesigned their packaging with graphics that tap into the heritage of their brews, emphasizing their long and storied histories. This strategy not only brings the authenticity sought by younger beer consumers, but it also provides familiarity to its existing base, oftentimes the Baby Boomers.

With Coors Banquet beer dating back to 1873, “the history of Coors Banquet is the history of American beer.” That’s according to parent company, Molson Coors, which in April of last year launched a limited-edition line of packaging to pay homage to the brand and its inextricable link with American beer history.

Coors Brewing Company was established in 1873 in Golden, Colo., by immigrant Adolph Coors, who developed a recipe using 100% natural Rocky Mountain water. For years, Coors Banquet was a favorite among local gold and silver miners. When prohibition hit Colorado in 1916, the brewer was ordered to drain 516 barrels of beer, only starting production back up again after the repeal of the law in 1933. For years after, until 1991, the beer was available only in a handful of western states, leading fans of Coors Banquet—“The Coveted Lager”—to smuggle it across state lines. And, in 1959, the brand pioneered the use of the two-piece recyclable aluminum can, a development that revolutionized the beverage industry.

With these colorful stories to draw from, Coors Banquet created a number of Heritage Collections over the years. However, the 2022 line was reimagined. “In the past, this promo would be, ‘Let’s redo a can from 10 years ago and release it into the market,’” says Aaron Funke, senior creative director for Equator, the packaging and brand design agency that worked with the Coors Banquet on the limited-edition line. “But Coors wanted it to be something different, something that appealed to longtime fans of the brand and also a new consumer target.”

Equator began the design process for the collection a year before its launch, in spring 2021, collaborating closely with the company’s design team—in particular Candace Walters, U.S. Design & Graphics team manager, and Stephanie Clanfield, global marketing manager for Coors Banquet.

According to Funke, the Coors Banquet team writes design briefs that are “second to none.” He adds, “When we start a project with them, they give us a good background on the brand, where it’s going and why, as well as some thought starters on where we could go and positioning. So, they’re great on giving us a steer.”

For the 2022 Coors Banquet Legacy Collection, Funke shares that the brand was looking for something that appealed to millennials and would have An important element of the packaging design for the limited-edition Coors Banquet collection was the secondary packaging, which was used to create ‘visual theatre’ on-shelf.greater stopping power when put together in-store. “It wasn’t just about the cans but also the secondary packaging; creating visual theatre, so when it’s all stacked together, it creates a greater story,” he says. “It was as much about the impact as it was about the heritage.”

In developing the design strategy, Equator began with how to match the Coors Banquet legacy with the millennial consumer in terms of what the brand stands for and what millennials are seeking and tried to find a link between the two. “This led to creative pathways, which eventually led to can designs,” says Funke. “We came to the idea of the outdoors and, specifically, the concept of the golden hour.”

Research for the design was done at Coors’ archives center in Golden, where Equator was given access to the brand’s past devices and cans. “They have this big warehouse where all of this stuff exists, as well as a pretty substantial archive of vector files, or usable art, that we could download and then use on the cans,” shares Funke. “So we used assets that were given to us, a lot of them historical, but then we also needed to bring impact to this as something different.”

The difference was a bold can design with a reflective gold color on the top half. On the bottom were the heritage pieces: information on where the beer is made, where it’s from, the year the brewery was founded, and more. The collection included three cans, each of which harkened back to a different era of Coors Banquet’s past, one reading, “Brewed Only in Golden, Colo.,” another, “The Coveted Lager,” and the third, “Quality and Tradition Worth Keeping.”

The half-and-half aesthetic of dark gold on top and the copy against a Coors Banquet yellow on the bottom tied the collection together. Graphic elements from the standard can that were retained included the logo and Coors Banquet colors. “We wanted consumers to recognize that it’s Coors as quickly as possible when they’re in the store,” Funke says. “They know that Coors Banquet is an iconic, buff-yellow color and that the brand mark is usually blue, so we tried to keep a lot of those things consistent, as well as the familiar ‘Banquet’ badge.’”

Rounding out the collection was a culminating Coors Banquet stubby bottle design, with a story on the label summarizing the stories on the cans. Says Funke, the same graphic language was used on the bottle, just adapted to the smaller space. On the opposite end of the spectrum was the secondary packaging. There, the graphic language was expanded to fit. It was also there that The Legacy Collection moniker was used.

The 2022 Coors Banquet Legacy Collection was launched on April 7 of last year, fittingly on National Beer Day, and was available through the end of June 2022. A QR code on the secondary packaging gave consumers the opportunity to win exclusive merchandise in collaboration with premium American apparel brand Huckberry.

One of Scotland’s oldest beer brands, Belhaven Best, has unveiled a new look that celebrates its 300-century-plus brewing history. The design, by specialist creative agency Thirst, showcases the authentic provenance of the beer, which has been produced in the borough of Dunbar, Scotland, since 1719.

“Belhaven’s success over the past 300 years is built on creating exceptional quality beers, but also on our ability to respond to the changing tastes of modern drinkers,” says Belhaven Brand Manager Fiona Matheson. “Best is as popular as ever and is currently gaining in market share, but we felt that it deserved better when it came to its presentation. We also wanted to challenge the old-fashioned image of ale and communicate its freshness.”

Needing to appeal to the next generation while not polarizing Belhaven Best’s existing loyal drinkers, Thirst says it identified a new target audience that appreciates “tradition, celebrates progression, and seeks real easygoing moments.” It adds, “As a beer that champions effortless moments together, we needed to inject refreshing confidence, natural simplicity, and unmissable vibrancy.”

The centerpiece of the new design is a barley sheaf with outstretched bristles doubling as sunbeams framed by the two famous chimneys of the original Belhaven brewery. Says Thirst, “The image is a nod to the ancient malting process that goes into creating the brewery’s ale, as well as a reference to its coastal home, known colloquially as ‘sunny Danny.’”

The base color is an ownable deep blue that captures the Scottish element of the brand and was selected, Thirst says, to distinguish Best from other category competitors as well as open the door to the color becoming emblematic of the ale brand. The dark blue color is part of a three-tone palette that also includes a lighter blue and gold.

The Belhaven Best brand icon of a rampant lion also has undergone an evolution. The “rampant lion” is a design that harkens back to the reign of King Richard and comprises the profile of a lion on its hind legs. The revised Belhaven Best icon is said by Thirst to offer a bolder depth and detail visible at both large and small scale and is designed to amplify the brand’s sense of craft. In addition, the lion’s face has been reworked to reflect a prouder stature.

Central to the new packaging design for Belhaven Best are the barley sheaf/sunbeam design, an ownable deep-blue color, and a reworked, prouder-looking rampant lion icon.“Our aim was to put the heart and soul back into Belhaven Best,” explains Thirst Executive Creative Director Matt Burns. “Belhaven is determined to reach new audiences, and particularly those who appreciate tradition while celebrating progress. That’s why it was so important for the visual identity to play a role in telling the brand story—from the pride in the elevated lion brand icon to the optimistic outlook in the sunshine and heritage in the barley and brewery.

“We have created a design that is now unmistakably Belhaven, and truly brings out the best in a brand at the heart of Scotland’s brewing heritage.”

The new can designs were unveiled in May 2023 and are being backed by a launch campaign across all media types through this year.

Not all commercial beer brands have a history that spans several centuries, but many have a good story to tell nonetheless. Such is the case with Natural Light, or “Natty Light,” an American-style light lager introduced by Anheuser-Busch in 1977 that soon became a college-party staple due to its low price point.

In a case of what’s old is new again, in February, the beer brand replaced the existing packaging design for its flagship All American Wheat Ale with one that harkens back to 1979. The vintage graphics, which the company says are a permanent replacement for its previous packaging, include a throwback logo and crest, and the brand’s classic color scheme of red, gold, and blue.

Natural Light’s new vintage can packaging design is an ode to one of the brand’s first designs from 1979.Before the vintage can was rolled out nationwide, Natural Light conducted two limited-edition runs to gauge consumers’ reaction to the “old is new” design. As the brand shares, over the course of 12 months, the Natural Light vintage design improved share-of-category trends and had the best rate of sale in more than a year. In addition, the retro graphics performed very well with the brand’s 21- to 29-year-old demographic compared with the previous can design. The pilots also confirmed Natural Light’s popularity in coastal regions of the east and south, where consumers affectionately refer to the beer as “Shore Champagne.”

The vintage can design was introduced alongside a full brand refresh that includes the return of Natural Light’s Act Natural campaign, which reminds consumers to “confidently pursue a life you want and remain unabashedly true to yourself.”

Said Krystyn Stowe, head of marketing, Natural Family & Busch Family, at the time of the national launch, “Today is a historic day for Natural Light—the start of our refresh to embrace a broader fan base and introduce the entire country to a new can design. The cans are undoubtedly sleek, and will pop on shelves and make people stop in their tracks. From beach hangs to clambakes, cases of the new vintage-inspired cans will be everywhere friends gather to Act Natural and just be themselves.” PW