Notes IPA
SingleCut Beersmiths
Issue 61 | January 2022
Agency
Zulu Alpha Kilo
Creative Team
Creative Director Zak Mroueh Head of Design Stephanie Yung Associate Creative Director, Art Director Kevin Sato Associate Creative Director, Writer Vinay Parmar Art Director Philippe Visaya Writer Victoria Lee Designers Zoe Kim, Kevin Sato
Production Team
Producers Houng Ngui, Kathryn Brown, Jackie Pal, Lauren Schell Directors of Interactive Production Ece Inan, Ola Stodulska Production Company Zulubot, Table of Content
Other Credits
Account Team Erin McManus Strategy Team Spencer MacEachern, Shaunagh Farrelly Client Founder and Head Brewer Rich Buceta General Manager Dan Bronson Publicity Director Danielle Palermo
Date
June 2021
Background
Notes IPA was the latest brew to be released by SingleCut Beersmiths, an NYC craft brewery that was inspired by rock ’n’ roll. Every craft beer the brewery produced paid homage in some way to rock music.
For Notes, SingleCut Beersmiths wanted an idea that celebrated the brand’s rock ’n’ roll roots.
Idea
Notes IPA was the first beer crafted to teach its drinkers guitar. The fully integrated campaign brought the beer across a 360° span, from product naming, branding, package and product designs, posters and digital extensions. Each beer in a four-pack came with a distinct label, displaying a foundational guitar chord: C, D, G, or E minor. By gripping the can like they would a guitar, drinkers could learn the finger positions for each chord and get a feel for the strings through the label’s tactile finish.
Every can of Notes also came with an injection-moulded guitar pick that fitted onto the pull-tab. Custom tubes were designed to look like guitar necks and these were sent to some of the greatest guitar players in Canada and the US along with a handwritten note from SingleCut’s founder Rich Buceta for their contributions to rock music.
Results
Notes IPA sold out twice as fast as an average SingleCut release. And in addition to being the brand’s most successful social initiative, the AR lens also performed 500% above the average engagement rates for Snapchat. The project was featured on Dieline, the Branding & Packaging Inspiration site, as well as on major guitar blogs.
Our Thoughts
Most markets are dominated by a couple of giants. In the US beer market, Anheuser Busch and Miller-Coors walked tall. But recently they have been losing share to craft beers such as SingleCut Beersmiths, which is one among 8,764 craft breweries in the USA as of 2020.
What’s good is that drinkers are becoming more discerning. What’s less good is that beer consumption is declining and every craft brewery is in a fight for survival.
Unless it becomes a brand. SingleCut Beersmiths has always had the obsession with music thing. And it has always had amazing designs on its cans. Thanks to its agency, the brand is carving out a distinctive territory for itself. Just a pity we can’t get hold of the product here in the UK.