For as trendy as Espresso Martinis are, this ready-to-drink cocktail wasn’t just another drip in the pan riding the coffee-ish flavored wave. It’s a premium cocktail using the absolute best ingredients, and nothing extra. So we crafted a label that reflects that elevated confidence while standing modern and clean on shelf.
Tasked with bringing to life the concept of an ARCO “Straight Up Gas Institute”, I developed a wry voice for a no-frills place of fuel-related financial wisdom . Integrated campaign featured outdoor, print, radio, & digital.
This “Field Test” won gold from the Outdoor Advertising Awards.
(No nickels were harmed in the making of this billboard.)
Revamped entire product portfolio to bring packaging under one umbrella for stronger brand blocking on shelf.
In the first year, 6pack can sales grew overall, plus Maximus IPA growth up by 50% and Hoppy Refresher volume doubling in first year of rollout. Whoa.
With increasingly crowded shelves (many with increasingly busy designs), we developed a strong, consistent framework to stand out from the competition.
A big part of this was giving the dog a consistent role in packaging: in short “dog is your copilot” throughout the Lagunitasphere. Helping tell the story of each beer you experience.
With 14 years of experience writing for Lagunitas I was the primary voice on everything from coasters to labels and website to radio.
On this packaging redesign I defined all the stories from the visual concept direction to writing all the copy … the stories on the side, the flavor descriptors, the accompanying sales materials, and even the tiny easter eggs hidden on the labels that surprise and reward the curious.
Ya know when the breeze is just right, that band playing way across the cove sounds like they’re right next-door? Same goes for these citrus flavors tasting like freshly-squeezed pineapples, mango, and passion fruit—only they’re all notes carried just by hops. Juicy & light, not bitter. These beats just hit different.
Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your dog ears. Your insatiable quest for hops has led you here to our Colossal take on a Double IPA. With a towering dry-hop bill full of hop aromas to the max, all balanced against tons of rich malted barley, you are facing the titan. Are you not entertained? Life is uncertain, don’t sip.
You are holding the gold standard of our hop-forward approach to brewing. Our flagship IPA. Dreamed in California 30-odd years ago amongst the redwoods, rugged coastline, and rolling hills of Sonoma County. Now brewed from Petaluma to Chicago and beyond. Yet, somehow, this particular can found its way into your reality at this very moment. Whoa. Life is uncertain, don’t sip!
Partly sunny or partly cloudy? Half empty or halfway to another? Best to just go with the flow. At only 4.0% ABV, and just 98 calories and 3 carbs, this kinda frees up a lotta space in the ol’ schedule for bigger fish to fry. Head out for a hike or just chill and watch the grass grow … You’ve got plenty of DayTime.
This’ll float your boat any time of day. Zero alc, zero cals, zero carbs … with a big wave of flavor that’s crisp, zingy, and hoppily refreshing. What’s in a name? Nothing and everything. Dive in.
What fresh freak of nature is this?! Hazy flavors without the haze? West Coast hopping without mega bitterness? Quite the contrary kaiju towering before you. Double dry-hopped with a fruity blast of Citra & Mosaic, yet finishes super smooth. This beast is truly the best of both worlds … Release the hound!
::
KEY INSIGHT: 2020 SUCKED
To capture the zeitgeist of a horrible year, I pitched the idea of bringing back the cult fave “Sucks” Ale out of retirement. And marketing it as commentary on the year we all were in the dumps.
SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT: PIN TRADE
In a time where there was minimal human contact, we offered fans a chance to make a tangible connection with the brewery—through real-life snail mail. They send in any pin of their own and we’d mail them back this ‘commemorative’ 2020 Sucks pin.
MERCH: 2020 SUCKS SHIRT
These shirts were the top seller of the Lagunitas Schwag Shop—selling out within the first week.
Lagunitas’ love affair with cannabis is as long and tangled as its relationship with beer & music.
And since combining hops and cannabis—in a zero-calorie beverage—was as revelatory as going from mono to stereo, I named it Hi-Fi Hops. And yes, the ‘high’ inference was purely a bonus track.
I wanted to treat this like we were really releasing an entirely new liquid. To feel like something out of a surreal music video. Only more ‘elevated’.
We launched with teasers showing a floating, alien-like sparkling liquid; vaguely shaped like the Lagunitas “splotch” on the label. Then dove into more of the music side of the brand.
Promo Item & Social Content: Zoetrope Turntable Slipmats
I enlisted the talented Drew Tetz to create a set of turntable slipmats that “animate” on your iPhone (thanks to the wonders of framerates! whoa).
Website
ONWARD & UPWARD
When we ‘released’ this liquid in Colorado, we made our surreal introduction by floating through some notable locales.
The mad scientist brewers at Lagunitas dreamed up a brand new style of IPA: a hybrid of New England hazy and clear West Coast IPAs.
I named it The Beast of Both Worlds and developed a modern kaiju visual concept to bring this Bi-Coastal story to life. Leveling up the Lagunitas dog with a big new persona, helping communicate the towering 8% alcohol content.
^launch email
^social content
And the first book in history to hone in on hirsute beer labels.
(Yes, a helluva claim to fame.)250+ pages. 100+ breweries. 1 burly book.
In 2010 I noticed two things in popular culture were, um, growing at an explosive pace: craft beer and facial hair. There was moustache-emblazened t-shirts, competitive bearding reality shows, and more breweries than any other time in American history, so the two were bound to tangle eventually. Turns out it was happening on the beers themselves.
Since no one had done a book on all the killer label art coming out of this burly moment in time, we did it ourselves. Cheers!
I grouped the book into themed chapters and we shot respectively-styled beards for each one. The classics (moustaches, sideburns, etc) and thematics (royalty, music, etc).
This wasn’t just eye candy … I included notes from the label artists and other interesting tidbits for beer geeks to geek out on.
I was honored to write these TV scripts and work on set with director Darren Aronofsky. Career highlight for sure.
::
Teens are naturally curious. They think they know everything. Often misinformation from peers; like, “is meth really that addictive?”.
Our strategy was that the more informed you are, the smarter your decisions will be—so just ask.
For research I listened to countless interviews with teen meth addicts. All heartbreaking. Most with recurring themes of betraying family members, selling your body, and generally losing control. The one I heard most often? Regret.
^Billboards and digital banners all helped drive to [ask] …
THE QUESTIONS ARE THE WEBSITE. THE CONTENT IS THE TRUTH.
Anchoring the entire campaign was a website front-loaded with all the questions you could imagine, answered by clinical facts as well as animated stories using audio of real addict testimonials.
::
