SARANAC BEER

SARANAC - PRESERVING A BRANDS AUTHENTICITY

Saranac Beer — The Product Was Strong. The Story Wasn't.

The nation's second-oldest brewery had created a world-class premium beer, but launched it under the generic name Freeport Ale, built around a geographic marketing concept with little connection to the brewery itself. Despite the quality of the product, sales were virtually nonexistent.

I recognized that the problem wasn't the beer—it was the story. Freeport gave consumers no compelling reason to understand, remember or value what made the product special. The brewery was sitting on something far more powerful: generations of authentic brewing heritage in New York's Adirondack Mountains.

I led the brand strategy and repositioning, renaming the beer Saranac 1888 All-Malt Lager after the brewery's Adirondack heritage and founding year. I then designed the packaging and helped launch the introduction campaign, making provenance, craftsmanship and authenticity the reasons to choose the brand.

The packaging won the International CLIO Award for Best Beer Packaging, but the bigger result was what happened to the business: Saranac became the brewery's flagship brand.

We didn't change the product. We changed why it mattered.