With fall officially here, Craft Brewing Business took one last look at summer by doing a wrap-up of the hottest industry stories from the season. It’s stories like these that helped inspire our agenda for Craft Beverage Expo this December.
Join us as we continue the conversation from this summer about many of the issues and trends that will impact our industry. Here’s how these summer stories align with our upcoming agenda:
Changing Brand Image Design
As more craft beverage brands appear in the market and differentiation becomes vital, brand design for packaging and collateral becomes a central focus in positioning your craft beverage products in the marketplace.
A brand’s package, graphic and digital design are one of the trends we’ll be assessing during the keynote presentation on Wednesday, December 4. The conversation will be guided by Tom Flanagan, a leading creative, content and business strategy expert, who will help you take advantage of the out-of-the-box designs impacting the beverage industry.
Growth in Craft Beer Production
We’re thrilled to see stories that report rising production in craft beer. Production is up in response to the rising demand.
To capitalize on this demand, producers are looking at scaling up their own production. Scaling up can be extremely valuable, but it’s critical to understand how and when to make these changes. On Tuesday, December 3, we’ll discuss the value of investing in human capital to grow distribution as part of your increased production efforts.
Although it’s easy to focus on the product, it’s the talent behind the product that needs the most attention when expanding operations. The human capital is an essential ingredient in growing your business. We’ll be discussing how to find and win that talent, as well as what skills you need from this human capital.
Enhancing Sales Beyond the Taproom
Another one of the summer’s big industry stories was about how your taproom customer engagement improves sales outside your walls. The experience from your taproom drives customers to look for your brand in other channels. It’s up to you to be seen in those other locations outside of the taproom to extend the customer experience.
On Thursday, December 5, we’ll discuss strategies for how to be seen on- and off-premise. The town hall format will include experts across both retail channels to help you continue this great brand experience in restaurants, bars and stores.
They will explain how to get on the shelf of a chain retailer versus an independent retailer and how to leverage distributor relationships to extend your brand experience with your target customers.
Other Hot Stories
These are just a few examples of the compelling stories that made this summer’s headlines. We’ll be talking about many more over the course of our three-day conference and Women in Craft Forum as well as touching on hot-button issues related to operations, branding, legal requirements, funding and more. There may even be a debate about White Claw’s place now that hard seltzers are outpacing craft beer sales!
Share Your Thoughts with Us!
Join the conversation by attending the Craft Beverage Expo December 3-5, 2019 in Louisville, Kentucky. Register here.
