Starting The Branding Process – Building A Brand, Episode 1
Starting a Business
In this section, we learn about the challenges of starting a business and how to stand out in a crowded marketplace.
Standing Out in a Crowded Marketplace
- Packaging and marketing are crucial to standing out on shelves.
- Hitting retail means competing with everyone else, making it important to redesign brand identity and reposition the business properly.
Building a Brand
This section introduces Blind, a brand strategy design consultancy based in Santa Monica, California. We also meet the team that will lead Hamilton Family Brewery through the branding process.
Introducing Blind
- Blind is a brand strategy design consultancy that helps diverse clients reach their customers and stand out in the marketplace.
- Ben Burns and Matthew Ensign are leading the team at Blind as they help Hamilton Family Brewery rebrand.
Meeting the Team
- Ben Burns is Digital Director and Brand Strategist at Blind.
- Matthew Ensign is Creative Director at Blind.
Rebranding Hamilton Family Brewery
In this section, we learn about Hamilton Family Brewery's philosophy and goals. We also discuss what a rebrand is and why it's important.
About Hamilton Family Brewery
- Josh and Kristin have operated Hamilton Family Brewery for almost five years with one simple philosophy - "good beer to good people."
- They want to scale their business by hitting retail shelves but need help redesigning their brand identity to stand out in the market.
What is a Rebrand?
- A rebrand is an adjustment of the customer touchpoints that affect the impact of the overall experience.
- It's important to redesign brand identity and reposition the business properly to stand out in a crowded marketplace.
Understanding Hamilton Family Brewery
In this section, we sit down with Josh and Kristin to understand their brand, customers, and goals.
Meet Hamilton Family Brewery
- Josh and Kristin are co-owners of Hamilton Family Brewery in Rancho Cucamonga, California.
- They got into brewing because they fell in love with it and want to share good beer with good people.
Starting a Brewery
In this section, the speaker talks about how he and his wife sold their house to start a brewery. They found a spot and opened it in seven months, which was faster than most breweries.
Selling the House
- The speaker had an idea to sell their house and start a brewery.
- They sold the house in three days and moved in with his wife's folks.
- They found a spot for the brewery and opened it in seven months.
Opening Day
- On opening day, they were down to zero dollars in their bank account.
- The speaker's wife was worried that no one would show up.
- Luckily, they opened 15 minutes early, and there was already a line of people waiting.
Creating Original Flavors
In this section, the speaker talks about how they come up with original flavors for their craft beer. He mentions that inspiration can come from anywhere, such as shopping at the grocery store or barbecuing in the backyard.
Mango Beer
- The idea for mango beer came from seeing mangoes on sale at Stater Brothers while shopping with friends.
- They decided to try putting them in a batch of beer they were brewing.
- Over time, they refined the recipe into an IPA and then into a double IPA.
Rule of Thumb
- The speaker has a personal rule that he only brews beers that he would want to drink another pint of.
Love People Love Beer Logo
In this section, the speaker talks about the importance of a good logo for a company. He discusses how he initially struggled with designing their logo but eventually found inspiration in the history and heritage of their city.
Initial Struggles
- The speaker was not confident in his design skills when creating their logo.
- He wanted to include a lot of meaning in the logo, but it ended up being cluttered and difficult to read.
Hidden Meaning
- The speaker later learned that there was a lot of hidden meaning behind every element of their logo.
- They were trying to create a sense of history and heritage with their brand.
Good Logo Design
- A good logo should be appropriate for the context, memorable, and simple.
- Hamilton Family Brewery is planning on redoing their logo and packaging templates to better reflect their brand.
Hamilton's Branding
In this section, the team discusses Hamilton's branding and how they plan to refine it.
Refining Hamilton's Identity
- The team uses a discovery process to help clients refine their identity and target audience.
- Packaging and marketing are crucial for making a good product known.
- Style scapes will be used to define the look and feel of Hamilton's new identity.
- The style scapes will be used for logo work, website design, and branding.
Deliverables
- The team discusses what deliverables are expected from the project.