Moosehead Breweries is getting a design refresh that aims to make its colour scheme and iconic moose pop more for consumers.
Canada’s oldest independent brewery has undertaken a brand redesign that includes new packaging for its core family of brands (Moosehead Lager, Moosehead Light and Moosehead Radler), the first visual identity update in five years.
“It all centres around the moose,” says Trevor Grant, VP of marketing and sales at Moosehead Breweries. “We went really deep on this, and even talked to biologists.”
The idea, Grant explains, is to make the beast a bit more modern and approachable, but doing so with contemporary takes on historical elements that returns to Moosehead’s “roots, but with an eye towards the future.” That includes the typography and the use of emerald green and premium gold, to reflect more modern sensibilities.
What continues to be an on-pack is a call out is the space given to “Canadian lager.”
“We are proud of our history and our heritage and the longevity we’ve had as a family-owned business,” Grant says. “Over the years, there has been a Canadian callout and we wanted to make sure it was clear and that it was prominent.”
The new packaging design work was led by Conflict, the brewery’s creative AOR.
The redesign is debuting in a new campaign by Conflict that builds on last year’s “Beer With Your Name On It,” which aimed to reward people for small accomplishments with a free beer in personalized packaging.
While the campaign generated thousands of submissions – and is “one of the strongest we’ve done in the past 15 or 20 years,” Grant says – the idea was initially met with incredulity by consumers who doubted they actually would get a free beer with their name on it. The update to the campaign leans into that, appearing under the title “We Were Serious,” with campaign assets featuring “interviews” with people that had been previously rewarded and OOH with messages like “a task done is a beer won.”
According to Grant, it had to reprise the campaign idea to make it “bigger and better,” which is also reflected in a heightened ad spend. The brand is leaning more into digital, social and connected TV than traditional television, as well as “dabbling more in Pinterest.”
Moosehead’s new packaging is currently rolling out across Canada.
“The [beer] category has not always been as healthy as we would like, but we have been able to grow our market share and our share of the business,” Grant says. Beer will always be something people turn to for celebrations he says, and that there is no better reward for work well done than a cold beer, but that Moosehead has to continue to innovate and keep up with preferences.
Craft is providing PR support while Media Experts managed the media for the launch.
