Cold Town Beer

Design: Thirst Craft
Photographer: Gordon Burniston
Project Type: Produced, Commercial Work
Client: Cold Town Beer
Location: Glasgow, Scotland
Packaging Contents: Beer
Packaging Substrate / Materials: Aluminium

There was a new craft beer brewery in the notoriously chilly city of Edinburgh, but they didn’t have a name, positioning or brand to speak of – so they turned to Thirst Craft.

With over 2,000 breweries in the UK, the category has never been busier. The shelves and bars are swamped with wild names and intricate illustrations to decode, so much so that consumers who come to the category looking for choice can often end up feeling paralysed by it. Thirst developed a simple positioning to silence this noise – call a beer a beer.

Inspired by a contemporary interpretation of Edinburgh’s ‘Calton’ Hill which literally means ‘Cald Toun’ in old Scots, Cold Town Beer was born. A clean, striking system brought powerful stand out and range navigation, while the snow flake asterisk provided a strong brand device both on and off pack. To continue to keep things simple, the can is two faced, introducing single word beer descriptors at its heart to prompt and help consumer choice.

The brand and tone of voice scaled seamlessly off pack and into the brewery, merchandise, glassware, vehicle livery and beyond. Released in venues across Glasgow and Edinburgh, it has outperformed predicted sales in every unit – consistently outselling big established brands as one of the top two best sellers in the top ten pubs. Plus with a brewpub due to open at the end of 2018, the temperature’s only going to get cooler.

What’s Unique?
Our single-minded positioning looked to silence this noise and prompt choice by calling a beer a beer. A naturally cool name paired with a clean, striking system brought stand out and range navigation in spades, while the snowflake asterisk provided a strong brand device both on and off pack.