Leading independent brewer Badger Beers is launching characterful new designs for its range of premium bottled ales (PBAs), with packs set to appear on shelf from August. Initially, seven of Badger’s top-selling PBAs will feature the new design, including newly-launched coffee stout, Master Stoat, with more to follow, including two multi-packs.
The redesign aims to help revitalise the PBA category, and present Badger as a unique and innovative brand within it. It follows a comprehensive review of the Badger portfolio and in-depth consumer research by IGD, which also led to the launch earlier this year of Outland, a sub-brand of canned craft beers.
The new designs feature an illustration of a wildlife character – including a mouse, ferret and hare, among others – above a clear, brief taste description. Vibrant, memorable and unlike anything else in the PBA sector, the new bottles tackle head on the main obstacles for the category, namely its homogeneity, old-fashioned image, lack of clear taste guidance and difficulty to navigate.
Giles Mountford, drinks marketing manager at Badger Beers, said: “One of the takeouts from our research was that the PBA shelf was a sea of similar looking bottles. Our new bottles feature a harvest mouse in a tracksuit, a boxing hare and a stoat pouring coffee, so we’re certainly adding distinctiveness, innovation and interest!
“Importantly, the designs are unique to Badger, rooted in our Dorset brewing heritage, but with a contemporary twist. So, while we’ve gone more vibrant and quirky to meet the expectations of the new generation of ale drinker we’re aiming to attract, we also have real authenticity underpinning the new look. Research on the new designs showed that current Badger drinkers are also delighted with them as they breathe new life into the beers they know and love.”
In research, 83% of consumers showed interest in buying the new bottles, which scored especially highly on ‘captures attention’, ‘memorable’ ‘easy to understand’ and ‘worth trying’. Greater cohesion in design across the beers has created a stronger Badger brand, encouraging consumers to drink across the range.
The most recent addition to the Badger portfolio is Master Stout, a 5% coffee stout launched earlier this year. With dark, caramelised biscuity notes and a smooth, lasting coffee finish, Master Stout is set to ride the wave of growing consumer demand for stouts.
Mountford added: “Making dramatic changes to a brand of Badger’s size and popularity is not without risk. However, with the PBA category in decline, now feels like the right time for bold action and as one of the leading players in the category, we’re leading the charge! By reshaping the Badger PBA brand, we hope to not only increase our sales, but to transform the category, particularly if other brewers follow our example and evolve their own brands to offer something that attracts new drinkers from across the beer market.”
The seven Badger PBAs initially featuring the new design are: Master Stout, Hopping Hare, Blandford Fly, Cranborne Poacher, Fursty Ferret, Golden Champion and Tangle Foot.
Premium bottled ales: key facts
- 23% of premium ale drinkers are drinking more craft beer than 12 months ago (source: IGD consumer research June 2022: 1046 respondents)
- Ale drinkers and craft beer drinkers regularly drink across the two categories: craft drinkers are the second-biggest ale drinkers (24%) and ale drinkers the second-biggest craft drinkers (8%) (source: Nielsen Homescan, March 2022).
- Craft beer is now a bigger category than PBA
- PBAs tend to appeal more to older, less affluent drinkers, while craft beers appeal to younger and more affluent drinkers
- PBA drinkers don’t currently have an upgrade path within PBA : it’s all one price.
For more information see www.badgerbeers.com/our-beers/
