Branding Your Brew: Why You Need Custom Keg Wraps
Whether you’re just starting out or you’ve been in the beer biz a while, you know how important it is to keep costs down where you can. This includes things like ingredients, marketing, cans and bottles, and of course, kegs.
For many, kegs are the unlikely hero in the world of brewing. They are a cost-effective way to get your beverages into bars and restaurants, can be recycled, and are great marketing tools.
However, kegs are not cheap, and ensuring you don’t lose them, or people don’t send them elsewhere is imperative. While you will lose a few here and there, one way to improve keg management is through branding.
Custom keg wraps help avoid keg mix-ups, improve brand recognition, and reduce overhead costs. That’s not all though! Let’s take a look at the benefits of keg wraps in the world of brewing.
Save Money with Faster Returns and Fewer Losses
Keg management is an integral part of the brewery business. Understanding how many kegs you need, where they are, and when you’ll get them back is important. It can also be a logistics nightmare!
When it comes to knowing how many kegs to have on hand, most breweries start with a 3:1 ratio and expand to 4:1 as their distribution network expands. Additionally, the average brewery can expect to lose roughly 10% of its keg inventory. With a full-size, half-barrel 15.5-gallon keg costing hundreds of dollars and breweries needing anywhere from 8-12 kegs per tap handle, you can see why getting these babies back is so important!
Keg wraps can help get your kegs back to you faster.
Keg wraps make it clear where the keg belongs and that it needs to be returned. Think about it -- in a truck or backroom full of empty kegs, the keg with the custom wrap will stand out like a beacon of light in a sea of non-descript casks, improving the odds of it being returned to the brewery. Sounds like a good thing, right?
Drive Brand Awareness & Sales
When it comes to marketing, it's all about getting your name out there. Just like your beer labels can be used to get people talking (not always in a good way), keg wraps can also improve brand awareness and brewery identity.
[Top 6 Things You Need on Your Beer Label]
Aside from the general visibility a keg wrap may offer when being toted across the bar, think about how your kegs can make a statement or attract visitors to your brewery.
One example we love is the Keg Christmas Tree: a festive pyramid of kegs put out for the holiday season.
This display makes a statement by itself, but when each of those kegs has your logo wrapped around it, it becomes an effective marketing tactic that gets people talking!
The display also gets customers to engage with your business directly. In the example above, the keg Christmas tree was accompanied by a photo booth and a tasting station. Use the branded kegs to draw the crowd’s attention and then hook them with a taste and a social opportunity once they’re pulled in.
Branding is the key factor here. A sculpture made of unmarked kegs in a public place will draw attention, but you won’t get the full marketing benefits. A sculpture of your kegs, decorated with branded keg wraps, supported by friendly salespeople in a branded booth is sure to draw attention and generate buzz. Custom keg wraps are an inexpensive solution that brings an excellent return for your marketing dollar.
How Stomp Can Help Your Keg Wraps Stand Out from the Rest
Don’t hesitate to make the modest investment in custom keg wraps. You will quickly recoup the cost of the wraps in brand recognition alone and having more of your kegs returned (and returned sooner), means you won’t need to buy as many, to begin with. Effective marketing, faster returns, and less shrinkage work together to make your bottom line happier. That’s what we like to see!
- Marketing Team
