Austin indie agency Bakery was tapped by Texas’ oldest craft brewery, Shiner, to launch a new look for one of its legacy brands, Shiner Light Blonde.
While Shiner Bock may be the brand’s most famous beer, Shiner Light Blonde is a brew made for the Texas heat, from barbecues to tailgating, and Bakery helped redesign the look of the can and reconnect the beer with its deep Texas roots.
Bakery worked with brand research that found that Texas now has so many expats from other states that many of the brand’s target audience didn’t even realize that Shiner was born and brewed in Texas. Bakery’s brand push included a complete redesign for the brewery’s flagship light beer.
The strategy was to double down on Shiner’s Texas heritage, with a national media buy and increased spending in Texas to help take back its home field advantage. The campaign, “Texas Does Light,” features three 30-second spots made for those who really know how to do Texas.
In “BBQ,” two cases of Shiner Light Blonde float in the air against a blue sky. It cuts to a butcher’s chart of a cow and shows 12 pounds of brisket and a 225 degree grill. With a heat wave in Texas, it’s 112 out and there’s eight hours to go until the suburban Texan can enjoy his BBQ. He opens a 99-calorie Shiner Light Blonde that tastes like Texas.
“Tailgate,” plays up the state’s love for football, while “Shindig” features bedazzled cowgirl boots, two exes from Texas and unwanted mosquitos at a party.
“As Texas continues to add to its historic number of new residents, the percentage of people that know the beer is born, brewed, and true Texan has declined dramatically,” said Micky Ogando, founder and chief creative officer at Bakery. “This relaunch is all about putting forth our native Texan DNA, celebrating our core Shiner fans and inviting a whole lot of new ones to the tailgates, backyard BBQs and house parties where our light beer will be found.”
The campaign highlights the refreshed look for a decades-long fan favorite. It rolls out with a a change for the legacy line, one that aims to appeal to younger consumers that tend to prefer light beers.
Shiner Light Blone’s old can is on the left, with the new design on the right.
“Packed full of flavor yet impossibly light, Shiner Light Blonde is the perfect example of something every Texan understands—we don’t do mediocre,” said Nick Weiland, brand director at Shiner Beer. “This campaign and the new look for the line is overflowing with Texas pride, and we think the work from Bakery does an amazing job celebrating what makes Shiner Light Blonde and Texas so special.”