Designing for Transition: How Thoughtful Branding Can Be Your Lifeline in a Rapidly Shifting Market

In a rapidly shifting market, breweries face the challenge of adapting to survive. This talk explores how thoughtful, strategic branding and package design can be a lifeline, helping breweries make the right moves to reach their target audience. We’ll discuss the value of brand audits to leverage existing equity, identify smart improvement areas, and make informed decisions on hiring the right designer. Discover how investing in design—even when budgets are tight—can strengthen brand presence, foster connections, and ultimately help breweries thrive in the new economy.

Key Takeaways:

• Harness Brand Equity Through Audits: Learn how a brand audit can uncover hidden value, helping you make strategic, equity-driven decisions for cost-effective growth.

• Identify Smart Improvement Areas: Discover ways to prioritize brand elements that deliver the most impact, ensuring every design choice maximizes value in a tight market.

• Select the Right Design Partner: Gain insight into what to look for when hiring a designer, ensuring they understand your brand’s goals and can create targeted, audience-focused designs.

• Design as an Investment, Not an Expense: Understand how thoughtful, strategic design can become a powerful tool for connection and longevity, positioning your brand to thrive through market transitions.

Elbongurk Design is a boutique branding and package design agency focused on the food and beverage space. Elbongurk is dedicated to helping brands make a lasting impression through standout, compliant, and market-ready packaging.

Elbongurk's founder, Jillian, brings a unique blend of real-world and academic expertise. Before launching Elbongürk, she spent nine years as a tenured professor at a NASAD-accredited university, where she taught brand and package design, product systems, and brand identity. With a background in designing for well-known retail brands like Pottery Barn, Target, and West Elm, she understands the demands of bringing a vision to life in the competitive retail environment. Jillian has also shared her insights at the Craft Brewers Association conference and on industry podcasts, covering topics from beer branding to impactful packaging design.

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Join us in-person for CBP Connects

Half workshop, half networking

Charlotte, NC | June 9-11, 2025

Register now: ⁠https://tickets.beertrail.com/e/cbp-connects-charlotte⁠