It’s been said that outward appearances are not a reliable indication of true character. We disagree! We believe you can rightfully judge a book by its cover, by its plot, where it sits on the shelf and what it’s sitting next to on that shelf. That cover won’t tell you everything of course, but it should be enough to get Joey Buysmoore to pull out his wallet and take it home for further inspection. A similar logic could be applied to things people actually still buy, like craft beer.
Successful craft brewers have realized that when it comes to selling beer in a marketplace with one zillion competitors, what’s on the bottle is just as important as what’s in the bottle. So how can your brand rise above all that noise? Consider pressure-sensitive beer labels as a possible differentiator in a predominantly glue-applied label market. They could help convey your brand essence — that wide collection of surrounding ideas that directly informs customers about your brand, including identity design, responsive website, marketing materials and (yes) your rad set of labels.
Harvey Shepard, a graphic designer, blogger and beer fan out of Seattle, has actually written a book about it called Oh Beautiful Beer: The Evolution of Craft Beer and Design. It’s a classy hardback that celebrates the innovative label designs that the global brewing industry is producing today. The amazing art in the book is a testament to the creative brand minds that are battling for popularity in the stiff, competitive market of craft beer.
“We have over 4,000 craft breweries in the United States now,” explained Shepard. “So, it’s not like in the 1980s where there were just a handful of craft breweries. If you were a craft beer then, that was enough for somebody to take you home. Now, I’m sure we’ve all been to that big mega beer store where craft beer is just pouring over the shelves. So, what do brewers have to do to get their brand to pop off the shelf and into a customer’s hands? On a shelf, that beer label really becomes the voice for the brewery.”
Shepard, who consults for label-maven Avery Dennison, first established the Oh Beautiful Beer website, which, like the book, houses excellent editorial and imagery of beer labels and design work. Avery Dennison, of course, is a global manufacturer and distributor of pressure-sensitive adhesive materials. You probably immediately recognize the name from your computer printer’s sticker-applied labels at home, but Avery Dennison is also an aggressive innovator in the beer and beverage label branding business.
Visit Avery Dennison’s website and you’ll see a ton of innovative products to help craft brewers brand items to customers. In the world of beer, bottles, cans, signage and promotional items like coasters and stickers are no-brainers, but what about keg wraps, keg collars and shelf talkers?
“We launched our first craft beer portfolio back in 2013,” explained Jeff Greenlief, craft beer product and business development manager at Avery Dennison. “We’ve now taken a different approach and revamped that portfolio — not only to include bottle labeling, but materials for cans, growlers, crowlers, tap handles and promotional materials. So across the board there are nine different touchpoints within a brewery that could use labeling material, specifically pressure sensitive. The reason I keep saying pressure sensitive is that right now, in craft beer, 70 to 80 percent of the breweries are using glue-applied label solutions. Our material is the one where the adhesive is already on the material along with the facestock material you’ve chosen to help your brand stand out. It’s all together, just like a postage stamp or a label you would use within your office.”
Why does pressure sensitive matter?
Let’s talk specifically about bottle labels. One of the first questions facing a craft brewer regarding labels: Do you want glue-applied, pressure sensitive or shrink sleeve (read up on shrink sleeves here)? Glue-applied labels are still the most widely used option in this particular segment of the market often because of the individual unit costs, which has its pros and cons. Glue-applied labels typically come with a limited range of rectangular papers. Glue-applied labels can be applied at a pretty high speed too, up to about 1,500 bottles per minute, with either hot or cold glue.
But there are other big considerations. First, the sizable downside here is the front-end capital expenditure for implementing a glue-applied labeling system. Why is pressure sensitive a better mousetrap?
“Glue applied is a very costly setup,” Greenlief said. “It’s quite capital intensive. You’re talking tens of thousands of dollars up-front plus change parts. Even on the aftermarket in terms of purchasing, you may get into $20,000 or $30,000, and for a small brewpub that’s a lot of money because whether you sell beer or not, the bank is going to want their check every month.”
Pressure-sensitive increases color, imagery, textures and shapes and is much lighter on the wallet from a total cost standpoint. You can get into a smaller unit, even aftermarket equipment, for a fraction of what a glue-applied line would cost, and pressure-sensitive increases line up-time, reduces rework costs and the changeover doesn’t involve a big cleanup — nothing more than changing the roll in the machine. Plus, you get different shapes, a highlighted appearance on the bottle or different embossments, which you cannot even touch with glue-applied labels.
Click Next below to learn the pros to pressure-sensitive labels and to learn design ideas from the pros.
Greenlief is quick to note other big pros to pressure-sensitive labels:
- The versatility of pressure-sensitive labels in terms of color, imagery, texture and shapes. You can use different graphic treatments on the label.
- Pressure-sensitive labels give designers more options. They can take advantage of custom die cuts (rather than typical rectangular labels) to create a bolder, more exciting appearance on the shelf. These aren’t possible with glue-applied labels. Some designers have started using negative space of a custom PS label to add depth to their designs (e.g. Evans Brewing, Alias).
- You could use clear-on-clear labels (NOTE: it is because it is paper and the fact that glue isn’t transparent).
- When it comes to production, pressure-sensitive labels offer quicker changeovers, and there’s less mess than glue.
- Printed graphics are web fed (as opposed to sheet fed) with multiple technologies in-line.
- Production speeds range from low- to high-speed applicators.
Of course, the unit cost for pressure-sensitive labels vs. glue-applied labels is greater, but that cost includes a unique color, texture, and, perhaps, shaped facestock, along with an adhesive and a liner to ease application.
“It’s a little more expensive for the label itself but far less from a total cost standpoint ” Greenlief explained. “With pressure sensitive, you’re getting everything together from the label facestock to the adhesive, and you’re more efficient in your line because you don’t have big costly changeovers. You just replace the label material on the applicator and off you go.”
Design and label advice from the pros
Through the lens of an increasingly crowded craft beer market, it’s fair to say that cementing a brand’s position will become more and more difficult to achieve solely based on the taste of the beer alone. It’s a fantastic and unfortunate fact: There are a lot of breweries making a lot of great beer. Today and in the future, craft brands will need to differentiate themselves with branding and marketing. You will need to answer questions like:
- How does your customer experience differ from other breweries?
- What’s the coolest thing about your brand?
- Describe your beer. Who will drink your beer? Who do you want drinking it?
- What role should your brewery play in your customers’ lives?
- What emotions should your branding evoke?
Now, how do you fit all of those answers onto a beer label?
“I’ve always found it hard to put an exact equation together,” Shepard said. “But I think the successful brands are the ones that really embrace not just their labels but their whole brand as their voice. They have a story to tell, regardless of where they come from or what kind of beer they make. There are a lot of factors in there. So, if they can really use their labels to show their personality, I think that’s something that consumers lock in on.”
Shelf impact is a major concern for all brand owners — especially within a growing and crowded industry like craft beer. Craft brewers have unique, compelling narratives of how their breweries, recipes and processes bring the best product to thirsty consumers. By using eye-catching labels, branding and graphics, brewers can tell the story — their story — and connect with consumers and influence purchase decisions.
“There are different scenarios that a printer encounters when we first walk into an interested brewpub,” Greenlief said. “One is they’re not yet in business, so they haven’t made a decision on the label itself, who is going to design it for them and what type of equipment will apply it, so they’re kind of an open book. That’s an opportunity to offer some high quality consulting there. Use your designer. Use your local printer [a.k.a. converter]. There are lots of good resources.”
But Greenlief suggests being cautious about glue-applied and minimum orders. Make sure that you have a good commitment concerning minimum orders from your distributor before you make a commitment on glue-applied equipment because if you don’t cover your fixed costs, then it’s going to come out of your profits.
Also, definitely consider digital printing, whether that be electro-photography (HP Indigo) or UV or water-based (WB) Inkjet capability. The quality from digital printing is amazing, and while it’s pretty cost neutral, it allows for smaller runs that keep your cash from being tied up. Plus, the print capabilities of a digital press are often greater than what you will find in an analog press. Your eyes will pick up smaller details on the digital press. So, remember to ask your local printer about the availability of digital technology and minimum run sizes.
“Another scenario is somebody who is already using pressure-sensitive, and they’re just looking for a way to move more beer and perhaps expand their capacity,” Greenlief said. “They’re looking to stand out. Perhaps they want to tell a new story in terms of their branding or change materials to promote a limited release beer or seasonal brew. Those are all scenarios that we encounter, and there’s a different set of tools depending on the situation and need. We can definitely assist our printer and designers in terms of helping craft brewers.”
There are tons of options for label materials — paper, matte film, white gloss film, metallic, wood veneer and clear printed. Craft beer label decisions go well beyond the graphics. The material, the finish, the cut, the adhesive and the adhesion method all need to be considered for utility, look and cost. Labels are that rare piece of advertisement seen 100 percent of the time. Try to bring innovation into play, and tie it into your branding. Also, design to the container. Too often, Greenlief says, he sees art designed flat and not to the vessel.
RELATED: Ten seconds to grab attention: Craft beer label design trends
“Just in terms of the label stock, what I’ve seen is people are getting more exotic,” he said. “They want to stand out, so metalized papers are quite popular. We’re getting a lot of requests for digitally printed wood veneers. Those are hot. Very white, white papers are very big, and then papers with micro-textures.
“Those little details that people look for — the embossing and the foils,” said Shepard. “Those little things are going to help show off the artwork.”
That’s key to remember — the variety of labels avilable for your branding and marketing. Avery Dennison alone offers pressure-sensitive labels for bottles, crowlers, cans, growlers, keg wraps and collars, pony kegs, shelf talkers, tap handles and all sorts of other promotional materials. These new technologies and applications are engaging both old and new customers with a product. If the label catches your eye, you’ll be more inclined to buy it. Always remember that presentation is king when trying new things.
