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Beverage Roundtable: EXTRA | How to disrupt, with beer

Why I chose Viru for the 'Craft Beermania' episode, and how it informed our own approach to designing a premium microbrew.

Viru: striking structure, minimal labeling, in and out of the four-pack.
Viru: striking structure, minimal labeling, in and out of the four-pack.

For my role as a panelist in Beverage Roundtable Episode Two: Craft Beermania, I chose Viru beer, an ale brewed in Estonia and owned by U.K.-based Baltic Beer Co., Ltd. I chose this product not because the design originated with my firm (it didn't) but because its approach to structure and labeling present a compelling design that disrupts category cues. This package design did, however, inform our own execution of a New York-based microbrew, as you'll see.

In my analysis, the craft beer category seems to follow one of four very specific “visual codes,” or sets of category cues:
•  Employing strong “hand crafted/hand created” graphics (i.e. Magic Hat, see attached),  
• Highlighting a sense of place or origin (i.e. Sierra Nevada, see attached), 
• Using a sense of whimsy, irreverence, fun (i.e. Big Hoppy Monster)
• Evoking a sense of heraldry, as many European and Asian craft beers do, when they rely on crests and shields to imply their heritage (i.e. Beck’s, London Pride, Kirin, etc. )
 
Many of these brands use traditional stock bottles with their heavy, rounded body, pronounced shoulders and short necks. The overall impression is generic; nondescript. These bottles provide no unique “hand feel” or engagement when used. Many of these brands also use highly ornate backgrounds, flourished typefaces and very busy graphics.
 
My guess is that they are all use these strategies as a meaningful differentiation from the strongly iconographic images of mass brands like Bud, Miller, etc. However, what results is a “sea of sameness” on the shelf or on premise. Few craft brands have successfully used structure and graphics to elevate the brand experience and drive a premium or super premium expression. Viru does this well. It disrupts category cues by creating a most relevant and compelling brand message justifying its premium price and targeting is sophisticated and discerning consumer.  
 
Distinctive Structure
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