Branding & Rebranding
Rare Bird Craft Beer www.rarebirdbeer.com
From this
2005 - 2020
The Business Problem to Solve:
Authentic Seacoast was no longer seeing the sales it once did for its Rare Bird Craft Beer, established in 2005 (1 of the first 4 craft breweries ever in Nova Scotia!). With the craft beer market absolutely exploding in Nova Scotia in 2018, and many newer breweries offering colourful and spunky can designs - Rare Bird needed a revamp to stay relevant to audiences in 2022 and beyond.
While the notion of a person's 'rare' character, (especially the charismatic seafaring folks of Nova Scotia) spoke to beer drinkers when the brand first launched, the portrait of an aged fisherman front and center on the can was no longer resonating with consumers the way it once did. It was time for a change!
The Ask?
Give Rare Bird Craft Beer a total facelift! Make the brand stand out in a now crowded market, have the pzzaz to attract a younger audience while still connecting with its loyal customers, and keep it grounded in meaningful, thoughtful story built for longevity in a super competitive category.
To this!
2020-2025
The Answer:
While a blank canvas can be intimidating, I knew the brand already had a strong foundation with lots of potential for a new direction.
1. Flip the Script: First we spun the name on its head, and found new meaning for the brand. To move away from the outdated brand personality symbolized by the fisherman character and toward a more captivating brand image, it was time to lean in to the 'bird' part of the Rare Bird name - and commit hard. Go big or go home baby!
2. Ground it in Meaningful Story: People want more than a beer, they want to feel connected to a story when they open a can. That they are supporting something or standing for something beyond the liquid. And that's exactly what Rare Bird offers. As a team of birdwatchers, we poured so much thought into the bird species for each beer, that it was essential we highlight that. Throughout the new website I designed with our web developer (www.rarebirdbeer.com), info sheets and at beer festivals - we take the opportunity to educate consumers on rare bird species, with the hope to protect and care for our wildlife. We also partnered with Ecology Action Center to bring more attention to this aspect of our new branding.
3. Make it Cool, Sexy & Fun! So that when shoppers are feeling adventurous and willing to try a new product, they reach for us over others. For most projects, the big question here is ok, how? But for Rare Bird, it was all about character and visuals, two of my favourite things.
After doing thorough competitive research, and being inspired by the graphics on Collective Arts beer cans - I know this was the direction we needed to go. Leveraging my background in performance and character study, I created a unique personality for each beer, which then informed that illustration of eeach bird. I also infused the personality of each bird into the copy on the back oof the can, which we still hear people love! Why put words on a can, if it's not a fun story to read?
The Result:
In addition to positive consumer feedback, we also saw immediate sales growth, making our main wholesale customer, the NSLC pleased. While they didn't carry all 8 of our new cans off the top, step by step they added another sku as customers became more engaged.
Ultimately, I believe the captivating can art is what led to the sales increase. Sometimes you need to shake up your look to appeal to modern customers. That's what we did and it worked.
This was a branding success.