For Worthy Brewing, rebranding was something that was needed said Marketing Director, Meghan Hoey.
”After six years, we sort of took a step back and evaluated what was working and what wasn’t working,” she said. “Ultimately, we wanted to build the Worthy Brewing brand versus countless single style brands.
“Not only did we want to make it easier for consumers to find their favorite Worthy beer at retail, but we wanted to make sure we were building equity behind the Worthy Brewing brand/company.”
Before, the cans have been sort of stand-alone brands pointed out owner Roger Worthington in a press release.
“Now, they’re consistent and boldly portray the Worthy logo, making it easier for our customers to find the Worthy six-pack they’re looking for,” he said.
Hoey said that the first thing Worthy did as a staff was look at sales across all channels to determine what SKUs were performing the best. It then researched trends on styles and labeling. It also surveyed its employees to get a better understanding of what they liked and didn’t like about the branding along with adding in consumer input.
”Finally, we evaluated ourselves, our culture,” Hoey said. ”We honed in on what was most important to us as a company, then expanded that out across our culture, and it helped steer us throughout our creative/design phase.”
Before, Worthy cans were merely whimsical and playful, Hoey pointed out. There wasn’t a lot of substance.
“Consumers didn’t really think about what the cans may or may not have meant,” she said. “Now, our cans and their art MEAN something. There’s substance and a story there. And it helps reaffirm and build upon Worthy Brewing’s identity and story.”
Analyzing consumer insights and market trends, Worthy’s leadership team kept three of Worthy’s year-round styles in ongoing production: Worthy IPA, Lights Out Stout and its flagship Strata IPA. Brand new to the core line-up are: Secret Spot Pacific Pale and Sol Power Pilsner.
An example Hoey gives is how the Sol Power Pilsner showcases solar panels with a sun on the can.
“That tells the consumer that Worthy Brewing uses solar/alternative energy,” she said. “Our Lights Out Stout portrays Worthy’s building and our Hopservatory with a dark night filled with stars.
“This shows the consumer that Worthy is committed to science education and reaffirms our commitment to keeping Bend’s night skies dark.”
The ideas started by first defining Worthy’s identity.
“Once we did that, we knew we had to find a way to communicate to and engage with,” Hoey said. “We needed to show people who are versus tell them. From there it just continued.”
Multiple brainstorming sessions, whiteboarding priority messages, attributes and parts of the Worthy story came to life though imagery to names and colors.
“The best part of our new branding is that we now have a sort of ‘template’, which lends itself nicely for future beers to come,” Hoey said. “As we grow and evolve, so will our story. So really it’s endless as to how many cans we’ll have.”
The brewery did a soft launch on March 25, showcasing a new mantra: ‘Earth First. Beer Second.’
Each can portrays that mantra on the label, along with: ‘Worthy donates a % of sales to Earth-friendly non-profits,’ which the brewery said speaks to its dedication to environmental stewardship.
“I’ve always been an advocate for our planet and science education,” Worthington said. “We continue to take baby steps in the right direction. We all believe in it. And it just makes sense to communicate that commitment through our branding and cans.”
In addition to new cans, Worthy’s rebrand also includes new artwork throughout its pubs, noticeable updates to its website, refreshed and aligned marketing collateral, and overall brand strategy.
“Worthy has always been a proponent of green technologies and practices,” Hoey said, “but those efforts weren’t promoted consistently to our guests and community. Now they are and we’ve made it our mission to continue to operate as responsibly and sustainably as we can – and share our learnings and progress with our fellow craft breweries and pubs. It’s not enough that we’re trying our best – we want others to join in too.
”Together we’ll be stronger, and better poised to be responsible, active members of our community.”
The brewery is hosting an Earth Day Celebration this Saturday, April 20 to celebrate the release of its new cans and its mantra, ‘Earth First. Beer Second.’
Worthy is partnering with The Environmental Center to give Bend an entire day’s worth of activities that are focused on Earth Day.
“Our decision to release our cans around Earth Day is intentional,” Hoey said in a release. “This release party is a great way to present our new cans, engage with our community, and enjoy fun and educational activities that connect us back to our land and our home.”
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