Feral Brewing has revealed a major rebrand and packaging overhaul, set to roll out over the coming months and continue a period of significant change for the Western Australian brewery.
The rebrand sets out to pay homage to Feral’s complex history while acknowledging its evolution through an interactive brand storyline based on ‘rewilding’, deliberately designed to adapt to its environment over time.
This follows the July announcement of Charlotte Freeston as Head Brewer and marks more than a year since the brand returned to independent ownership after its sale from Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP).
Under independent ownership once again, Freeston said that renegade spirit is surging back through the business.
“That ambition to give drinkers something new is back, filling the halls at Feral,” he said.
Honing into the idea of ‘rewilding’, the new look draws on classic B-grade monster movie and schlock horror to set up Feral as its own ‘villainous state-controlled entity’.
Darcy White, Head of Marketing at Feral, told Beer & Brewer the idea was born from a genuine love for classic films and characters.
“This started from an idea around Creature Features and this idea of Feral’s experimentation in the beers we make. Plus, we just love old movie posters.”
White said it’s all about introducing a wild, exciting new version of Feral to the beer market.
“Like a species being reintroduced into the wild, we wanted to reintroduce Feral back into the craft beer landscape. It’s just a little bit more twisted this time.”
New sub-departments and programs (such as the Feral Department of Heavy Brewing, the Feral Department of Experimental Brewing, the Feral Re-Integration Program, and the Feral Department of Information and Propaganda), are a creative take on the brewery’s organisational structures.
“It’s all a bit of fun, but it speaks to what Feral has been through,” stated White.
“From the tiny brewery in the valley, to being owned by CCEP, to being back independent; the departments are just us being really comfortable with the journey and finally being able to have a laugh about it all. Let’s just say we are stoked to be back independent.”
Going the whole hog
The updated brand also resurrects the Feral hog in the logo which dates to 2002.
White said this was an idea that the team had been looking forward to, as the hog symbol will play an important role across the brand.
“With a change this big, we looked at all assets that make up our brand and the old hog felt like it had fallen away a bit. That original iconic logo takes you back to the valley and early Feral so there is a lot of love for it – to give it some new life has been awesome.”
Each can in the core range will now feature a custom hog, indicating the strength of the beer and the nature of its origin at the hands of the Feral Department of Heavy Brewing.
White said the packaging is key to the brand’s storytelling and creative output.
“For as crazy as beer packaging has gotten, it’s also become formulaic and predictable. That’s not us, and it’s not our drinkers.”
Western Australian creative agency DDDDDDD has worked on the Feral brand since its earliest days and has been a part of this rebrand, adding an understanding and respect for the beers, the brand, and the people.
The result, White said, is a balanced look between nostalgia and modernity for drinkers across generations.
“We think it looks bloody cool – the way it blends themes older drinkers will recognise, with a modern aesthetic younger drinkers can get around – we’re excited by the flexibility it gives us moving forward.”
He added: “Drinkers have a real love for the good times Feral has delivered over the years… We know we can’t recreate that exactly, so we just tried to tap into what made Feral, Feral, and build from there.
So far, customer feedback towards the changes has been generally positive.
“Mostly people are surprised how big the change is, but they understand why we are doing it. But once they start to see all the different parts, they seem really excited. Honestly, I think people are just happy to see Feral back swinging punches.”
White further reiterated that the change signals to customers a necessary new era for the brand.
“We understand a change like this may be jarring for some drinkers, but people need to know things have changed at Feral. We aren’t owned by Coke anymore. Charlotte is making beers that will blow people away. The brand lets us have a heap more fun. It’s a big change, but it’s all about us trying to deliver something that feels like an evolved version of Feral.”