Tsingtao Creates Far-Reaching
Campaign Built on New Designs

Spurred on by the desire to expand Tsingtao's brand appeal with a broader consumer base, the Tsingtao Brewery and Crown Imports felt the time was right to mount a comprehensive and ambitious package redesign and merchandising campaign for the Chinese beer brand Tsingtao. Tom Willett, Tsingtao (pronounced "ching-dow") brand manager at Crown Imports, explained that the brewery had asked for a full diagnostic brand review to explore the possibilities to expand the direction of the brand.

The new Tsingtao campaign began with higher quality printing on the cartons, moved on to modern label redesigns, and is now in full merchandising stride as "Year of the Boar" artwork graces beer stores and billboards. Designer Michael Gournoe, who has worked with Crown Imports on several beer brand updates over the years, gave new polish to the bottle and can labels. Gournoe explains that the quick acceptance of the new branding effort in China by the brewery, the brand owner, and the Chinese spurred them to make an even bigger push in the U.S. "China was the quickest on the uptake, and the least reluctant," recalls Gournoe.

Following the trends

Tsingtao was already in 40 international markets when the brand owner decided that the brand had great untapped potential. Willett explains that strong evolving trends in pan-Asian restaurants and Asia-influenced design encouraged a bold new approach to the Tsingtao brand. The goal was to appeal to 25-to 49-year-old male beer drinkers with experiences and references that would be relevant to them, and to appeal to their "partners" in distribution channels."The future of the brand will be based on casting a wider net in order to attract new Tsingtao users," says Willett.

Gournoe worked with Crown Imports to make the pagoda-over-water logo, or "medallion," the keystone of the new labels and secondary packaging. The U.S. effort began, though, with a debate about the best color combinations to catch U.S. consumers' attention. The China delegation wanted the emerald green to dominate, and Gournoe felt very strongly that the red had to define the brand."We sure didn't want to lose the color equities," says Gournoe.

Gournoe refined the pagoda medallion, brought the branding way up, and isolated the logo on a field of red. In so many words, Gournoe stressed to Crown Imports: "Tsingtao has to be identified." The all-capital logo letters, blocky with subtle serif points, are shaded with black and gold. Crown Imports wanted to "refresh the foundation" but not move too far away from the existing label design. "We didn't want to create the impression that this was a new product," says Willett. One major element that remains from the previous label design is the"racetrack" outside border of the label.

Around the same time, Tsingtao was also introducing a new variety to expand the reach of the brand. Their silver-labeled Tsingtao Pure Draft beer in a bottle is a lighter tasting, more sophisticated entry into the category. For the Pure Draft label, however, the Tsingtao brand was played down to emphasize the substantial difference in the product. In the final round of design for Pure Draft, Gournoe and Crown Imports constructed a workable hierarchy and removed excessive Chinese words that once cluttered the label design.

Engaging merchandising

Integrated brand communications by MNA Creative successfully link the packaging through to point of sale retail merchandising by stretching the strengths of the brand and bottles.

The next step of Tsingtao's conquest was to take the new direction of the brand into every merchandising avenue. Philip Congello, managing director at MNA Creative in Danbury, CT, was in charge of carrying the brand message through to point-of-purchase retail displays. Congello thinks of the new Tsingtao brand as "Asian cool," or the fusion between time-honored traditions and the cool aspirational culture of the Western world.

"We wanted to communicate directly," Congello says of the merchandising campaign. A successful aspect of effort was getting wholesale partners to devote more time and attention to the brand. The distributors took quickly to the vibrant POP displays, bamboo calendars, Chinese-style lanterns, and vertical silk banners posters. "All the elements are working together in lock step," says Congello. Congello explains that January and February are busy months for Tsingtao merchandising, to coincide with the Chinese New Year. Congello believes the brand message is one of celebration, simple and vibrant with a broader Asian appeal. "It's a brand that's very much in tune to today," says Willett. "There's one message, one voice. It's today and for the future."

The brand update effort of Tsingtao began with an upgrade of the carton printing, moved to dramatic label redesigns, then extended to a comprehensive and targeted U.S. retail campaign.

The summer merchandising efforts focus on cross-promotions and recommended food/beer pairings. Coupon booklets in supermarkets offer rebates on Asian foods, and restaurant merchandising recommends that you "Enjoy It All Together" with Tsingtao. "That foundation is really the core focus of our summer program," says Willett. "There's an involvement with the brand beyond just imagery."

Gournoe recommends that brands be more aggressive for the U.S. markets. He warns that no brand owner–no matter how nice the packaging is–should try to market a brand by just bringing it over "as is." Some brand owners believe that they will find their place as niche brands, but the fact is that these niches run together for 30 feet in U.S. retail settings, and it is easy to lose position.

Is important to keep brand expectations open, because, as Gournoe emphasizes: "The packaging is becoming the brand-builder in a lot of ways."