to be known as Evil Horse, because she was just ornery, and the farm was named Evil Horse Farm. As a home brewer, I made beer and wine in my basement and sold the eggs that the chickens laid by the dozens. A friend of mine from church created a logo for Evil Horse Farm and made a beautiful sign for me, which is still hanging on my dining room wall. That sign was the inspiration for Evil Horse Brewing Company’s name and logo. We brought that original logo and story to Mixdesign, a local branding, marketing and interiors firm. They helped us refine our logo, define our brand story and create a unified look across all areas, from the interior of the tap room, to the marketing materials, and the labels for our beer.
head is what we want to be ingrained into consumer’s minds. Whether they see it in our tap room, on a tee shirt that a beer fest attendee is wearing, on our tap handle at a bar or restaurant, or on a six-pack of beer that’s on their local liquor store’s shelf, that’s what we want them to see and immediately think “Evil Horse. Great beer.”
What's the biggest issue today related to the marketing/sales side of the craft beer business? I think right now it’s the volume of breweries that are opening and the volume of breweries that are already in the marketplace. I believe that we’re at a point where there is going to start to be some fallout. A branding and marketing plan is very important to the success of a brewery, as is the quality of the beer. You can have a brewery that makes incredible beer, but doesn’t have a plan in place to consistently brand and market it, thus it doesn’t progress. On the flip side, you can have a brewery that makes okay beer, but has an awesome brand and markets itself incredibly well, and they’ll be a success. The breweries that have both the branding and marketing down pat and make great beer are the ones that are going to stay around for the long haul.
What is the secret to creating a branding story that consumers can buy in to? Walk us through your branding strategy. Our strategy from the beginning was to make our brand relatable, welcoming, compelling and memorable. Our motto is Dutch in origin (quite a few of us on the Evil Horse team are Dutch) and literally means, “Coziness knows no time.” “Gezelligheid kent geen tijd” translated into English means, “Time spent together is time well spent.” That’s how we want our customers to feel – that time spent at our tap room or simply drinking our beer with good friends, is time well spent. We also wanted to be consistent in our branding. The horse
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JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018
It needs to be real. It needs to be relatable. It needs to be fun. We think that we hit all of those marks when we defined our brand story. It’s based on a true story that people can relate to. Who hasn’t had something obstinate in their lives? Sure, it’s not a horse for most people, but I think they can relate to the general idea. And I think it’s a great story, one that I tell at most of the events we do. It never fails to get a laugh out of the crowd.
What is the one thing that every craft beer brand should be doing in the way of marketing? Intentional relational marketing. Putting a face to their brand. Taking the time to go out and
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