The Challenge
Developing the brand communication strategy for JBBCo. was a critical first step towards ensuring a consistent and relevant brand experience – and achieving the management team’s longer-term business objectives. The second step was to help JBBCo. bring all of its brand assets in line with the new positioning – ‘a beautiful place to be’. At the top of that list was graphic design and packaging for the redesign of its 375mL beer cans.
In the early days of the business, JBBCo. needed a can design that was flexible enough for small production runs. However, as the trade took on ever-greater wholesale volumes, we were engaged to develop an all-new can design structure that would work seamlessly across JBBCo. core varieties, as well as future launches, seasonal brews and special releases. From a brand perspective, we needed to ensure the new designs reflected our strategy and brought the brand essence to life on the cans – one of the most visible brand touchpoints for any craft brewer.
Design Thinking for Beer Packaging
The Strategy
Working closely with the JBBCo. management team, we reviewed the current JBBCo. can designs, and conducted a detailed audit of competitor can designs from the wider category. We then explored a variety of refreshing new approaches to our own designs, in keeping with the new JBBCo. brand strategy. In particular, we wanted to create a meaningful connection to ‘Jervis Bay’ that went far beyond merely our brand logo. The strategy was to build on the storytelling used on the original JBBCo. cans. It was also essential to create a consistent way for the design, messaging and storytelling to work across the many different beer varieties – whilst using a simple colour strategy to differentiate each beer in a way that was uniquely ‘Jervis Bay’.
Design Consistency, Colour Strategy, Tell the Story
The Creative
The creative process actually began with logistics. Our first step was to ensure all stakeholders were aware of the production process, colours, mandatories and restrictions for short-run production as well as long-run canning. Only once the new JBBCo. brand guidelines were in place and the production process was understood by all, did we brief our design team. The result was a unique – and 100% achievable – design approach that told different Jervis Bay stories relating to each of the names of the different beers. At the same time, it also ensured the JBBCo. brand personality came through strongly at every level including the copy, design, colour palette and, most importantly, bespoke illustrations that were developed specifically for the JBBCo. varieties.
Initially, we worked closely with local illustrator Peter Costello to develop an evolution of the existing illustration work for 375mL cans such as the Bright Idea XPA. We then executed a series of completely new illustrations to visualise additional beer variety ‘stories’ including 11 Days Pale Ale, Cow and Calf Tropical Pale Ale, Bay of Plenty IPA and Point Perpendicular Pilsner. The unique hand-illustrated styling that was created for the brand also provided an excellent opportunity for branded merchandise and other point of sale material
The Results
JBBCo. now has a unique and highly-recognisable new design language at its disposal. Beyond setting up a consistent style for its core range of beers, it also ensures the real estate on JBBCo. cans can be used to ensure clarity and presence on shelf in the busy craft beer category. The core designs are also now being translated into point-of-sale materials on premise, such as tap talkers to ensure recognition and consistency.
“Award-winning beers deserve packaging to match. TMC has been a key partner in helping us make that happen.”
Paul Walker, Jervis Bay Brewing Co.
