Image: Craft has seen a major industry boom over recent years. Image: courtesy of MaxyM

From The Great British Bake Off to BrewDog, Craft has, in recent years, become increasingly prevalent in popular culture, and as a set of values and ideas, ever more visible in both brand DNA and marketing. The appeal of Craft is clear – it taps into consumers’ desire for individuality, authenticity, attention to detail and tangibility.

Craft also doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon – the final of last year’s Great British Bake Off had one of the biggest TV audiences of the year with a staggering 14.5m viewers at its peak, beating the likes of Britain’s Got Talent and X Factor. In addition, it has spawned many imitators, from The Great British Sewing Bee to The Great Pottery Throw Down. From Christmas 2013, Craft has also excelled in a commercial sense; with sales of adult colouring books alone, growing by 300% in the first year.

This Christmas saw craft excel in a commercial sense, with 300% year on year increase in adult coloring books at Waterstones. Between 2013 and 2015, there is a noticeable increase in the trend that’s hard to ignore.

Craft brews offer a wide range of alternative drafts

"The UK Craft beer marketplace is particularly complex, with no formal definitions."

Given its populist appeal, there is naturally a very strong commercial appetite to connect with Craft, but brands must tread carefully. Consumers can spot the Emperor’s new clothes from a mile away (if they’re not really hand stitched by a true artisan), and even where claims are credible, does Craft’s omnipresence now reduce its potency for brands? The current momentum of Craft in popular culture suggests there is plenty of mileage left as long as over mining does not reduce credibility and creative usage is kept fresh.

The drinks industry is a frontrunner in harnessing the power of Craft – successfully using its values for both product development and brand positioning. Single malt whiskies, artisan gins and of course Craft beers are all testament to the power of Craft in helping shape customer desire. The explosion of Craft brewing in the UK is another indicator of the scale of the phenomenon; London alone now has over 75 commercial breweries: a five-fold increase on 2010.  Last year Camden Brewery was bought out by the multi-national AB inBev for a deal worth an estimated £85m.

The UK Craft beer marketplace is particularly complex, with no formal definitions (unlike the US and Germany) meaning that a wide variety of products from both multi-nationals and micro-breweries can compete head to head in the Craft arena. The success of the sector is clearly illustrated by recent takeovers, for example. Meantime by SAB Miller, and also by the reference to Craft in some big brewery campaigns, many of which are understandably, and in some cases justifiably, trying to get in on the action.

One of Theakston’s Old Peculiar ads features copy, which reads: “Fancy a pint of that craft beer that was a craft beer before there were any craft beers?” In addition, we seem to be seeing a wider range of beers on the high street, with direct reference to Craft. Mainstream pubs are keen to categories some of their offering and in doing so are fully leveraging the boom – who else has noticed a recent growth in street level blackboards proffering ‘a wide range of craft ales served here’?

Artisan flavours: the creative flair of craft

"The drinks industry is a frontrunner in harnessing the power of Craft."

This complexity is only set to deepen as the multi-nationals start to flex their muscles even more. It’s not so much their ownership that is the issue, but rather what they do with the brands they acquire. When is a craft beer not a craft beer? BrewDog stated recently when ‘Nailing their colours to the mother***ing mast’ that there is an inevitable drop in quality even though the name remains the same – driven by the need for increased scale and profit. The multinationals I’m sure will disagree. Only time and taste will tell, but in the interim the definition of ‘Craft beer’ will inevitably get cloudier.

Flavour is often cited as the primary common denominator for Craft beer, as seen in both a pint of Camden Pale and the ‘Find Flavour’ advertising for Fullers Frontier, but this is not the end of the story. In fact there are a number of established Craft codes (themes and values) operating in a cultural context, which have been used to a greater or lesser degree by brands over the years. We’ve commissioned a semiotics study that has identified a range of existing dominant Craft codes, including localism, passion and obsession, rebels, English eccentrics, plus magic and fairytale – all very familiar when you start to think about it.

"Flavour is often cited as the primary common denominator for Craft beer."

Over familiar in fact, as the study found that many of the dominant codes could now be a bit tired or even a little clichéd. Of great interest to both us and our clients, are the emerging codes we also identified, as these have the potential to weave Craft into branding in a relevant and fresh way.

Maintaining the brewing heritage

This is of importance to both mainstream breweries who can’t claim to be tiny back-room artisans, but may want to ‘walk the walk’ of Craft, and smaller craft breweries who are either looking to build their brands or refresh existing brand values, while not losing their Craft heritage. With a broad range from experimentation to techno artisan, the new codes provide fantastic potential for drinks brands to leverage Craft in the years to come.

If the drinks industry is going to make the most of Craft, there needs to be an understanding of how its relevant language and dominant codes are likely to evolve over time. Brands that capture this have the potential to shine, whilst others could be in danger of being seen as a little old fashioned – and I don’t mean a small whiskey-based cocktail.