Designer brew pulls international award

Macarthur Grange Brewery has won Bronze for Best Packaging at the 2014 Australian International Beer Awards for its new product, Stockade Gold.

It was a great kick off for a beer and a design agency that both launched last year: it was Macarthur Grange brewery’s first beer, and Jam&Co was asked to design the branding and the packaging.

The agency built the new beer on its being Australian born and linked it by name to the uprising at the historic Eureka Stockade. Stockade stands for freedom and rebellion, traits that “run through the veins” of the Australian owned brewery.

The beer is handcrafted and its taste comes from the use of only natural ingredients. The new identity is strong, manly and sophisticated, supported by an illustration of the guns used in the era of the Stockade in 1854. The freedom and rebellion theme is created by the lone horseman and brumby featured on top of the mountain.

The mountain has been represented by a die cut on the label, which gives the brand a unique and eye-catching feature on shelf, as does the use of gold on the label. Its white substrate underlines the purity and crispness of the beer.

“We were thrilled to be involved in the branding strategy for Macarthur Grange Brewery’s new range. When we were briefed to design both brand strategy and packaging for the new range, we knew it was important to develop a brand that had emotional connection with consumers, which is paramount in building a strong and successful brand,” said Jennifer O’Callaghan, managing director of Jam&Co.

“Consumers who are emotionally connected to a brand are known to be three times more likely to recommend, three times more likely to repurchase, less likely to shop around and choose another brand and are less price sensitive. Hence our client was eager to embrace the power of emotional connection from the onset.”

Daryl MacGraw, head of sales & marketing for Macarthur Grange Brewery, said: “Being such a newcomer to this well established segment of the market dominated by the majors, we are thrilled that Stockade Gold had been recognised with a Bronze award for Best Reduced or Low Alcohol Beer along with a Bronze award for Best Packaging.

“This has been a wonderful start to our first year on the market and has been a great journey working with our branding agency, Jam&Co to achieve this goal.

Jam&Co's Jennifer O'Callaghan will be a panelist at the Food and Drink Business Live: Industry of the Future Forum.