It seems unimaginable when you first open your distillery, but eventually there may come a time to overhaul the brand that you’ve worked hard to build.
Added impetus can come from a variety of sources, such as trademark disputes, leadership changes, a change of location, product switches, and more. Yet even without that kind of motivation, drinking trends shift and evolve faster than ever—and depending on your distillery and its current messaging, the change of times may be what warrants a rebrand.
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Before embarking on such a project, it’s vital to consider whether a rebrand is truly necessary, says Matt McGinnis, founder and CEO of Big Thirst, a marketing company for distilleries. The rebranding process will involve more work than you expect, and you want to be sure that your brand will benefit from the results.
“Branding and consistency [are] really important,” McGinnis says. “People recognizing your brand over time and associating it with good thoughts is what we’re striving for. A rebrand shouldn’t be taken lightly or done frequently.”
With that in mind, what makes a rebrand worthwhile or necessary? Here are a few possibilities, according to McGinnis:
- If your brand has stopped gaining traffic in the market, a refresh could be the cure.
- Structural changes in the company may bring in new visions from new people.
- A rebrand may fit with a shift in the kinds of products you’re creating.
- Your distillery might be shifting gears—for example, from hyperlocal to regional, national, or international.
Why Rebrand?
For Tayport Distillery in Tayport, Scotland, founder Kecia McDougall says a rebrand was the only way to address their product changes and create cohesiveness. They’d started out in 2017 with eau de vie, and the label design featured an intricate pattern with personal meanings for the McDougall family.
“The look and product name didn’t convey anything to the customer but was something I was passionate about, so we went with it,” she says.
They started making other products with local fruits and grains, such as liqueurs—then COVID-19 hit. Without the opportunity to walk people through tastings, McDougall says, the eau de vie was almost impossible to sell online. So, Tayport switched to gin and vodka.
Photo: Courtesy Tayport Distillery
As the McDougalls added more products, many labels had their own distinctive looks. “It was disjointed because we’d grown organically and brought on new products as needed,” McDougall says.
Their rebrand set out to simplify and streamline. Now, it’s bound all the products more closely together, so they are clearly from the same brand and instantly recognizable. The update also cut out the clutter from labels so they could highlight only the most important information.
Photo: Courtesy Barnstormer Distillery
In Rockford, Illinois, a trademark dispute is what pushed Grant View Distillery to become Barnstormer. It would prove to be a happy accident that connected the brand more closely to cofounders Timothy and Addie Ford and the local community. The Fords had trademarked Barnstormer Distillery in 2017 with the intention of setting up shop in a former airport, tying into Timothy’s aviation background. Instead, they ended up on a rural property called Grant View Heights, overlooking the World War II training base Camp Grant, now part of Chicago Rockford International Airport (RFD). They named the distillery Grant View and called their vodka line RFD. Then came a cease-and-desist from Grant’s Whisky in Scotland, and the Fords reverted to Barnstormer since they already had the trademark.
“I was out there doing the marketing for the Grant View name, so the rebrand was painful,” Addie says. “You spend so much time getting your name out there, doing the marketing, getting the labels created—then it all has to change.”
In the long run, however, both Fords have been happier with the Barnstormer brand. The boundary-pushing derring-do of the old barnstormer pilots inspires the Fords, and Tim says he tries to take that test-pilot mentality into his distilling—as with experimental vodkas cold-distilled under vacuum with dill pickles or horseradish. While there were Grant View products on shelves when they had to change the name, their tasting room wasn’t open yet, so they were able to model the location on the Barnstormer brand—designed like an airplane hangar with a small plane out front. They also host themed events.
Photo: Courtesy Pilot House Distilling
In Astoria, Oregon, Pilot House Distilling overhauled its look and labels in 2021 ahead of a location move and expanded distribution. Marketing manager Christina Cary says the rebrand came with two goals: to celebrate the history of the distillery’s location and to have labels that grab attention on crowded shelves.
“We were the very first [distillery] in Oregon to put a canned cocktail on the market,” Cary says, “so we wanted to make sure we were standing out for that.”
In Roscoe, New York, Prohibition Distillery became Do Good Spirits for personal reasons. Founder and head distiller Brian Facquet was moved by the final words said to him by a close friend and fellow veteran, emphasizing the need “to do good.”
The rebrand “wasn’t a cosmetic thing; it’s about our message,” Facquet says. He wanted the distillery to pay homage to his friend, and he also felt the name better reflected their commitment to charitable causes, such as the hand sanitizer he made during the pandemic. At that time, Prohibition had lost its distributor and didn’t have product on the market, making a rebrand possible before Facquet could secure a new distributor.
As with Barnstormer, Do Good’s new branding positioned the business to be more in line with Facquet’s original vision.
“When we started the company, Prohibition was something [I] and an old partner thought was cool,” Facquet says. “Over time, I realized none of the things that the Prohibition or bootlegging represented made sense for who I am, or the people that work for me, or what we’re making.”
What to Know Before Starting
Ahead of any potential rebranding process, McGinnis says, there are four things you need to know—beginning with yourself and the distillery.
“The very first thing you should do is a self-audit,” he says. “You need to know who you are and your purpose. … If a distillery understands what motivates their choices, that informs the messaging it communicates to the world and will resonate with potential customers.”
Knowing your own business and goals is essential before contacting a branding agency and/or graphic designer to strategize, McGinnis says. As well as you can, you should understand:
- how your new name, logo, packaging, web presence, and so on will differ from your current aesthetic;
- why that change is necessary;
- and what it will accomplish.
Remember, this will affect everything your brand touches—not just bottle labels and social-media profiles, but also tasting room menus, napkins, merchandise, and more. (At Do Good, Facquet says he thought their rebranding was complete—until he realized his delivery van still said Prohibition.) Once you’re confident in your rebrand’s goals, an agency can help you on details such as colors and fonts.
Secondly, McGinnis says, know your customer.
“You have to design for them more than for yourself,” he says. “The brand has to be motivated by your purpose, but it needs to resonate with the consumer.”
McGinnis says he’s worked with clients in the past who don’t look beyond their own interests, even when those interests don’t align with what’s happening in the marketplace. Your new brand should be on-trend, likable, and relatable. If you don’t know where to start with this, an agency can help with focus groups, research, and polling data.
At Tayport in Scotland, that was a hard lesson to learn for McDougall because the labels were meaningful to her. However, she says she came to see how it was more important for consumers to recognize the brand on shelves and understand the product. The design firm Hart & Jones came to Tayport and helped the McDougalls identify a local lighthouse for their new logo; this successfully represents Tayport and speaks to the community with a special landmark.
At Do Good and Barnstormer, meanwhile, the rebrands happened to reflect the owners’ personal values but were also done with the community in mind. Facquet wanted his distillery to be a force of positivity, and Barnstormer’s storytelling intrigues locals, many of whom work in aviation.
The third thing, McGinnis says, is to know your own product.
“What sets it apart, what features make it different?” he says. “How do you convey that with design?”
For example, if your product is made with sustainability in mind, can you use sustainable packaging?
McDougall’s advice is to think about what the rebrand can say about your product in the three seconds it takes before the consumer’s attention moves on to the next thing. Tayport’s tall bottles, elevated-label paper stock, and waxed seals express the spirits’ premium positioning, while the lighthouse conveys a focus on local ingredients. The streamlined branding creates cohesiveness for Tayport, so that different products look like they belong together in gift boxes and cocktail kits.
At Oregon’s Pilot House, the launch of canned RTD cocktails prompted the rebrand, aiming for a fleeting chance to make an impression on shelves. The new look had to instantly represent their location and identity while conveying what was in the can and why it was special.
Photo: Courtesy Pilot House Distilling
Finally, McGinnis says, know your competitor.
“How are you similar, and how are you different?” he says. “What do you like about them, what don’t you like about them? There are brands that find success as copycats, and that’s fine, but it’s better in the long term to figure out how to differentiate yourself and be seen on the shelf.”
This is where to weigh current trends and longstanding category hallmarks versus your own messaging. McGinnis cites brands trying to capture Jack Daniels’s success by choosing blacks and browns for bourbon labels. Considering how all-encompassing a rebrand will be, it’s more important to represent what’s unique about your brand than what is similar to every other producer.
Realizing Rebrand Success
With the heavy lifting of their rebrands behind them, Barnstormer, Do Good, Pilot House, and Tayport have been able to take stock of their positive gains. They also have takeaways to share with fellow distillers who are considering whether to start down this path.
At Barnstormer, the Fords say it’s hard to quantify a direct change in sales because their tasting room opened early in the pandemic. However, they’ve noticed a significant increase in reach as people have latched onto the aviation theme and barnstormer story (see image at top). One of the most crucial elements of their rebrand’s success, Addie says, was a close relationship with their distributor. She strongly recommends being in constant communication with your distributor when you rebrand. Go out into the field with them, especially in the beginning, to establish your story, as that is the story they’ll be telling potential accounts when they’re representing you.
At Pilot House, Cary says their new look has boosted sales of their RTDs and won them some packaging awards—a direct validation of their new identity. A key part of the distillery’s process was asking customers for feedback and taking it to heart. “It isn’t all about what you think your brand should look like,” she says. “You have to keep an open mind on these things.”
Photo: Courtesy Tayport Distillery
At Tayport, McDougall says she has seen the benefits of increased reach. The new, tied-together look has helped to encourage return customers, who can immediately recognize the brand. In turn, that’s led to bigger buyers and the distillery’s first export contract. Now, Tayport may be able to bring back its first passion project—eau de vie.
For other distillers ready for a rebrand, McDougall offers several pieces of advice:
- Convey your unique message in the simplest manner possible.
- Take outside advice, and don’t get lost in your own interests.
- Consider sustainability. (She decided against foiled lettering on Tayport’s labels for this reason.)
- Always be conscious of cost.
“In an ideal world, you’d have a different spectacular bottle for every product you make, but you can’t do that as a small distillery with a limited budget,” she says. “Look for off-the-shelf bottles that are still striking. Think about a cohesive label that instantly transfers from product to product with just an update of what’s inside the bottle. Don’t get caught up in what looks amazing on your designer’s screen.”
Instead, she says, think about how it will look on paper, what that will cost—and what will best lead to your brand being both seen and remembered.
