by admin | Nov 11, 2016 | Beer Wine Spirits, Food Beverage
When looking to market a craft beer, it’s assumed your beer’s going to be great. You need a different edge.
Working out what that edge is of course, can be a trick. You have to figure out what combination of factors will get people to buy and try your beer.
If you’re anything like me, you’re a sucker for championing the underdog, so some against all odds start up story, or unique background to your passion for great beer-making might be your edge.
For others, it might be a cause. Perhaps you brew to support a favorite charity, or to champion local schools, or give back to society. Or maybe you are a hub of local small businesses, and look to develop more a “local niche”.
Whatever it is, when thinking on these things, you’re trying to find an emotional connection between your beer and your beer customers.
If you don’t think your story is unique enough to hold an entire brand together… you’re right. Today’s market is flooded with micro-breweries, and I’m willing to bet at least 50% of these have a truly remarkable start-up story, or do good with societal impact. So, what else?
THE EXPERIENCE OF YOUR BEER
Brewing a good beer and telling a compelling brand story is the entry cost of a competitive market. However, the experience of your beer is what will keep people coming back, and sharing how great your beer is with others.
So with all the focus on marketing, paying attention to the experience people trying your beer will share with you. This is more controllable if you have a location you sell out of, such as a Brewery, but even if you don’t, pick your distribution partners carefully, and educate them on the experience you want your brand to portray.
BRANDING
If you don’t think your story is unique enough to hold an entire brand together… you’re right. Today’s market is flooded with micro-breweries, and I’m willing to bet at least 50% of these have a truly remarkable start-up story, or do good with societal impact. So, what else?
Distinctive, attractive branding is a great way to distinguish a brewery. Good branding understands how a brand will connect with the audience most likely to buy. It draws people in to pick up your bottle, read your story, and allows you the time to make the connection you have been working for above.
Branding determines how people feel about your company. Everything from your brand name, the colors used, the language chosen to articulate your story, everything builds this brand. Having unique packaging, a great label (goes without saying that we would bring this up), delivery trucks and a great website can work wonders in convincing people to buy your beer.
In 2017, we’ll be discussion one micro-brewery brand from Oregon in depth each month. You won’t want to miss our insights!
by admin | Nov 6, 2016 | Beer Wine Spirits, Food Beverage
Never judge a book by it’s cover we’ve heard time and time again. But we do, at some deeply emotional level, a cover either resonates with us or it doesn’t. The same is true of wine labels.
The market for wine labels is forecast to grow by 2% between 2016 and 2018, but in the Pacific Northwest, we’re pretty sure the growth’s going to be stronger that that.
With an increasingly competitive market, incorporating local producers, those from other parts of the United States, and international producers, wineries have to consider carefully the decisions they make on product marketing in order to maximize profitability for their product.
Consumers, faced with around 750 bottles to choose from (in a US supermarket) consumers will rely on wine labels, rather than looking at wine guides, reviews, advertising, and even above asking employees.
Label design has greatest influence in persuading wine novices than for connoisseurs. However, wine novices represent the vast majority of the wine market, at least by volume. They tend also to be the more price sensitive. This means therefore, that a good label design can help persuade a novice buyer to spend a little more on one wine over another, based on nothing else at all.
Generally, the advice we give out to up and coming wineries is to spend almost the same attention to planning the branding and image for your wines as you do their taste. To read more about good wine label design principles… we’ve shared this great presentation found on LinkedIn.
by admin | Oct 18, 2016 | Beer Wine Spirits, Food Beverage
As we turn the corner into November, the holiday season is just around the bend. If you’re like us, you look forward to the warmth of gatherings of friends and family—and the delicious food and drinks you’ll share.
What better way to kick off the season’s eatings (and drinkings) than at the Northwest Food and Wine Festival? Coming Saturday, November 12 to the Doubletree Hotel at Lloyd Center; this is your chance to sample some of the region’s finest wines and delicious small bites.
Northwest Wine Tasting and More
The event, which offers your choice of general or VIP admission, includes live music and an array of wines from some of Oregon and Washington’s finest vintners. You’ll also find local brewers and distillers showcasing their finest.
Flavors of the Pacific Northwest
This festival isn’t just about wine; you foodies will find plenty to interest you as well. In addition to some flavorful bites to taste, you’ll find some treats available for purchase. For the home chef, look for the latest and greatest in kitchen gear and equipment.
Best of all, if you attend this year’s Northwest Food and Wine Festival, you’ll be in the company of local gourmet food, spirits and wine enthusiasts. What a great way to meet new friends!
by admin | Oct 10, 2016 | Beer Wine Spirits, Customers/Examples
We frequently get asked about the price for a ‘standard’ beer label – but unfortunately, we don’t have a very good answer. When we began printing beer labels for 22 oz. bottles 9 years ago, there was a pretty standard format that most people used, but not anymore. With all these options, beer label price diversity is also on the rise.
Of the last 100 beer labels we printed for our top brewery customers, we used many different sizes, materials, print methods, and extra embellishments. With all this diversity, there really is no way to answer the question about a standard label – there is no ‘standard’. Everyone is fighting to set themselves apart on the crowded shelf, and a ‘standard’ label just won’t work.
In the last 100 orders, we used:
- 29 different diecut label sizes: Our standard 4 x 5 rectangle (once the most popular size) only accounted for 15 of these orders. Now people want bigger labels to cover more of the bottle to show off their graphics and branding.
- 15 different label materials: Our premium synthetic paper and digital BOPP still account for 54 of these orders, but 46 of them are on a textured stock, a clear or metallic, or a premium paper suitable for embossing.
- 60 Traditional vs. 40 Digital: 9 years ago we didn’t even have digital printing, and now it accounts for 40% of the beer label orders – digital is booming. This is especially true of short run, seasonal, and specialty collaboration beers.
9 years ago, we never would have envisioned 29 different beer label sizes – the creativity and diversity is amazing!
With all these options, it is no wonder beer label price diversity is on the rise. *This is a compilation of the last 5 orders each from our top 20 brewery customers.
More data about these 100 orders:
- Largest quantity was 151,200
- Smallest quantity was 500
- Lowest per label cost was $0.062
- Highest per label cost was $0.69
With all this diverse experience, we have what it takes to meet all your craft beverage label needs. Please call us today. Cheers!
by admin | Sep 30, 2016 | Beer Wine Spirits
High quality hops are the lifeblood of the Craft Beer industry. Without a ready supply, our customers will be in serious trouble. This article from the Wall Street Journal raises a serious issue for the future of the industry as we all continue to drink more and more high quality Craft Beer.
The shortages are contributing to the sudden slowdown in craft beer sales. During the first half of the year, independent brewers’ volumes grew about 8%, ending six years of double-digit growth, according to the Brewers Association, which represents the industry.
We are always looking out for our good customers in the Craft Beer industry – we like to keep on top of issues that affect them so we can be a more responsive supplier. This problem is something that thankfully isn’t hurting out Oregon brewers as much as it is nationally. One of the reasons Oregon Craft beer is booming is that we have a great culture that supports and appreciates Craft, we have smart people that want to work in the industry, and we have great supplies of clean water and local, fresh hops.
Crosby Hop Farm here in Woodburn, OR has a great selection of premium hops available. The photo above shows some of their bounty from the harvest going on right now.
Even though farmers are getting the message and planting more acres, they just can’t keep up!
The problem isn’t lack of hops production. Farmland devoted to the crop has increased 65% during the past five years to about 51,000 acres from 31,000 acres.
Even though 70% of this new planting is the higher demand hops, such as Citra, according to the Wall Street Journal article. Even so, the brewing industry is growing even faster. It’s hard to believe that the demand for Craft Beer isn’t the limiting factor in this industry’s amazing growth – it could a supply constraint. 
Unfortunately label companies like ours can’t do much to help increase the hop supply, but we can help your product stand out on the shelf. As the market gets more competitive and resources are constrained, quality and brand recognition will matter more than ever. Having a great product with premium packaging will help your brewery survive in a difficult business climate.
Another option – diversify! With the rise of digital label printing, it is now possible to create many new small batch SKU’s to diversify your product line. We see more and more special ingredients, different formulas, and barrel aged sour beers entering the market. Most of these products are less dependent on the premium hops as compared to a strong, 100 IBU IPA.
Producing these small batch fruit beers, coffee-infused Stouts, and other niche products are affordable now because shorter runs of labels are less expensive than ever.
- Make your product as good as it can be – quality matters
- Invest in distinctive packaging and branding
- Diversify with small run niche products
With these three things in mind, you can build a successful beer business, even in a tight hop market.
Want more help building your business? Call us today. We are not expert brewers, but we do have some insight to share about the Business of Craft Brewing.
Cheers!
by admin | Sep 24, 2016 | Beer Wine Spirits
Even before you get to the point of printing your amazing wine label, you first need to make sure the label has all the proper government approvals. The most compelling design and the most tasty wine will never be successful if the proper legal steps aren’t taken early in the process. Customers often ask us about the proper approval procedures, and we do try to offer general guidance, but we aren’t regulatory or legal experts. Luckily, we have resources to help you!
Do It Yourself
If you are a small producer, curious about the law, or you have a limited budget, this online resource may be very helpful. Many thanks to our friend and customer, Pattie Bjornson from Bjornson Vineyards for bringing this to our attention. This very detailed 173 page manual was actually a handout from a seminar the TTB did in Portland back in 2010. Since times have changed and the TTB doesn’t come out for seminars very often, Pattie has held onto this book as her ‘bible of wine label rules’ ever since. Luckily, with the help of local Portland regulatory expert Grace Regulatory Consultants, we were able to find the book online. Janene reviewed the book and said most of it should still be current (more on her below). Cider – which wasn’t much of a thing in 2010 – is not fully covered in the online manual, but otherwise, the information is solid.
Remember, Rose City Label doesn’t give legal or regulatory advice, but if you want to do it yourself, this is a great place to start.
Full Service Option
If you are risk averse and want to make 100% sure you are starting on the right foot, contact Grace Regulatory Consultants directly. Janene is an excellent resource, she is passionate about the Craft Beverage industry, and she will give you all the advice you need. She has been a TTB investigator, worked in house a large Craft Beverage companies, and is now on her own serving her clients here in Portland.
Like we mentioned in our previous post – Work with Experts – we know the value of sticking to what we are best at – making it easy for companies of all sizes to get outstanding labels to help promote their products. For things that are adjacent to that, we are happy to refer you to a trusted expert. Being in business more than 85 years has allowed us to build a great list of industry partners. If you need help with your business or your product, we can help. Please call us today.
