Let Sleeping Dogs Lie: Was the BrewDog Rebranding a Mistake?

Hey, craft beer lovers! Have you heard the news about the BrewDog rebranding? I almost fell off my barstool before I’d even had my first sip when I saw the new look. Their refreshed can style is seriously and divisively different. For those of us who fell in love with the punk flair of the old school design, the more “grown-up'” branding is hard to swallow. 

For better or worse, the new BrewDog can is part of a total brand overhaul. While I was baffled by the BrewDog rebranding at first blush, I diligently kept drinking while I scoured the internet for details on why they’d toss their street cred for this modern, clean branding. Their original design was distinctive and evocative. If it ain’t broken, why fix it?

Apparently, the new BrewDog can is a symbol of a “new dawn” for the UK’s fastest-growing brand. Part of their BrewDog Tomorrow brand strategy, this is one aspect of a six-point charter focused on sustainability. The more I’ve read about the BrewDog rebranding and the reasoning behind it, the more I’ve gotten into it. They aren’t just slapping on a new logo. A bit like that friend who still has a punk mentality but got bored with the blue hair dye, their look is growing and evolving with them. While I wish they’d kept some of their anarchic nature in the packaging and not gone all-in on current design trends, it’s earned my stamp of approval. Sticking with a style that no longer reflects who you are is far from authentic. The brand has changed and their look needs to follow. 

People often ask me what makes good design. The truth is that good design isn’t universal. One company’s sexy, eye-catching style is another company’s branding mistake. It’s all about capturing the essence of the brand. While the new BrewDog can isn’t the exact packaging design we would have conjured up in our Design-Hungry brains, it represents the brand’s present and future. Kudos to Made Thought and BrewDog’s in-house team.

After 13 years, BrewDog is moving into its not-so-rebellious teen phase. With an eco-friendly future ahead of them, less is more for BrewDog and they know it. Co-founder James Watt literally wrote the book on marketing (it’s called Business for Punks!) and this guy knows what he’s doing. He’s got a success rate that is impossible to argue. 

One other very cool part of the rebrand is Cans for Equity. You can swap 50 empty beer cans for a stake in the company and official status as a BrewDog Equity Punk.
Cheers to that!