BeerMike : The Trouble with Timothy

Earlier this month, Timothy Taylor caused a stir when then unveiled their new branding, the first in nearly a decade. The rebrand includes new pump clips, bottle labels and other paraphernalia, gone are the communist art inspired artworks of old, in its place is a more simplified vista of bold colours and a sea of beards over a buff background, specifically aimed to the appeal to the burgeoning youth market. Unlike the majority of wholesale beer rebrands in recent years, this one has been met with an unprecedented wave of fury, it has been labelled as a disgrace, tatty, tarted up and a barefaced bid to abandon its heritage in order to entice Gen-Z drinkers. A number of major national newspapers like the Daily Mail, Spectator and the Telegraph have run hit-pieces on the brewery’s latest rebrand, crying foul of their sheer tenacity. Some industry luminaries have expressed their anger towards the brewery, John Roof (secretary of the Preservation of Beers in the Wood) took a full-throttled swipe “I doubt whether a superficial tarting up at the expense of a firmly established brand reputation will make much difference and is only likely to lead to more superficial tinkering and a further loss of brand awareness and identity built up over many years.”[1] Fred de Fossard chipped in “rather like the artless rebrand by Jaguar a few years ago, this misunderstands what Landlord's own drinkers are looking for and why they are drinking it. Often, a brand's longevity is the point.”[2] Meanwhile, Henry Jeffrys took a more humorous approach, aiming his guns towards their flagship product Landlord (4.1%), where he states “he now looks like the sort of bearded middle manager who would never order a pint of Landlord. Probably doesn’t drink at all. Gave it up in favour of running and ice water plunges because alcohol is really unhealthy. He looks less like a landlord and more like a beverage solutions manager.”[3] Fossard adds “the latest, with his regulation beard and ersatz lumberjack shirt looks like a tatty facsimile of the Madrí logo.”[2] Many commentators have compared the new logos to Madri Man, the iconic 19^th century character that appears on the popular Spanish lager brand. Andrew Tindall notes “times are tough for cask ale, category has declined year on year, often in double digits, while drinkers have opted for trendier, more modern options such as craft beer or continental lagers like Madri.”[4] What annoys these people is that this rebrand smacks of capitalisation, rather than leading customers away from the global megabrands as it historically has done, instead the brewery has squarely copied the global megabrands that young people flock to, this is a classic case of cashing in on what’s trendy at the moment, appealing to a particular audience, rather like a crusty old uncle trying to get in with the cool kids. It is synonymous of a growing trend among the UK’s major regional brewers to target the Gen-Z market, from developing ersatz craft beers to unveiling low/ no alcohol products as younger drinkers eschew alcohol.

To their defence the brewery has frequently updated their image over the years in order to adapt and survive in the competitive beer industry. Any major rebrand is a risky financial gamble for a brewery, yet in the past it has paid off handsomely for Timothy Taylor’s. Markedly, they are the UK’s most successful independent brewer with sales rising 2.1% to £35.7million last year which has cemented its reputation as the largest cask ale brand in the UK by both volume and value, with the likes of Landlord (4.1%) leading the charge as the highest selling cask ale in the country. The brewery clearly has every right to refresh their successful brand occasionally in order to maintain their pole position on the market. Reflecting on the recent rebrand, Andrew Carter (chief exec at Timothy Taylor), argues the rebrand isn't about changing the recipes of their beers, he stated to the press “it’s about making sure the quality and care that go into every pint are reflected in how Timothy Taylor’s is presented today, so we’re just as relevant to the next generation of drinkers as we’ve been to the last.”[5] The brewery also notes that the changes have been designed to improve visibility in pubs as a means of attracting new drinkers, while retaining historic elements valued by their long-term loyal fans. Moreover, the brewery has a point about appealing to younger consumers, while cask beer sales fell by 7.1% last year according to the NIQ, younger drinkers have increasingly become a prevalent market that offers hope for brewers. The British Guild of Beer Writers note “figures show that 25% of 18 – 24-year-old beer drinkers, the Generation Z demographic, regularly order cask ale at the pub, an increase of more than 50% on the previous year.”[6] In Timothy Taylor’s case this rebrand could work to their favour as it has done in the past with previous makeovers, or it could blow up in their faces by pushing away a portion of their core market. Tindall recently pointed out why would a successful brewery need to update its image, he enquires “the job now is surely to double down on what’s working rather than chase Gen Z while winding up your loyal, hard-won drinkers and losing the very distinctiveness that brought them in.”[4] Instead of chasing a particular market, he enquires further “if there’s cash to spend, why not lean into the quirky Yorkshire history of the brand and dramatize it? Further own what people love about cask ales in the first place.”[4] While he doesn’t think the rebrand is that bad, he believes it could be a potentially poor business decision to drive away the market that was driving growth in the first place. If you cut out the hysteria, the rebrand looks a bit flat and characterless, the brewery has seemed to take an increasingly homogenised view across it brands with its latest facelift, making the pump clips look rather similar in appearance. This is an approach also taken by other Yorkshire breweries in recent times like Black Sheep and Daleside. Daniel John recently noted “I fear the brand has mistaken old-fashioned for unfashionable. Brand heritage is more important than ever in today's world of fleeting design fads and, yes, artificial content.”[7] Those little peculiarities he elucidates, unfashionable colours, old fashioned text and characters is what prevents brands from slipping into homogeny of flat colours and sans serif text that is prevalent in contemporary brands. For years Timothy Taylor has always prided itself on its uniqueness and character, this latest rebrand seems like a large chunk of its heritage and idiosyncratic personality has been chipped away, in an effort to be more corporate and fashionable, in its bid to join the Gen-Z gravy train as a number of the UK’s regional breweries have alighted on in recent years.