I’m not much of a beer drinker, and I never have been. I have started working in a pub and they always have loads of different types of guest beers on that change every week. Recently, I’ve had the chance to try and get more acquainted with different beers (mainly because I hate it when a customer asks me to recommend something and I have to admit I’m not sure, or ask one of my co-workers for help). I’ve found quite a few that I like now, particularly Camden Hells Lager, Rocky Head Zen American Pale Ale and Redhook Longhammer IPA.
Enough about taste, though – I’m sure you know what beers you like. When it comes to marketing beer, it’s quite rare to see branding that is particularly cool or eye-catching, with a lot of brands – particularly mainstream breweries – plumping for classic designs, paired with adverts that are geared towards men. I do find it a little uninspiring that there isn’t a beer that has been successfully, but subtly, marketed towards women. Not because I feel incensed that women are being ignored, but just because it seems like a bit of a no-brainer to me – men already enjoy beer, why wouldn’t you want to increase your profits by selling your product to women as well? I suppose that most attempts have been pretty weak, with breweries attempting to repackage their beers as girly alternatives to sparkling wine, making them fruitier and sweeter. That’s why this project for a fictitious brand of beer, Bitches’ Brew, is pretty great. I love the modern gothic design and I’d probably try and like Bitches’ Brew even if it tasted awful! It reinforces beer as a choice of drink for a woman who is cool and maybe a little bit tough – after all, it is a drink for ‘bitches’.
The design was done by Wedge & Lever, a California-based design studio. Unless they decide to actually start conjuring up this Bitches’ Brew, I suppose I’ll just stick to drinking spirits. However, if a brand were to take quite a dark, sophisticated approach to marketing beer to women, I reckon it could be hugely successful. Unfortunately, I have already found something called ‘Chick Beer’ which used Curlz MT as the font, with an emphasis on the lower calorie content of the product. Bitch, please…
