Billson’s Case Study | Cowan

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BILLSON'S BREWERY AND DISTILLERY

Walking the talk with a booming brewery brand.

When a run-down brewery and cordials business went up for sale in the Aussie town of Beechworth, our founder, Mark Cowan, saw the potential behind the abandoned facade. He uncovered an opportunity to bring back a vital part of the community, so he bought the brewery, while his son Nathan and daughter-in-law Felicity took over operations.

Bringing back the magic.

What better way to walk the talk than by taking ourselves on as a client? Just as we would with any other brand, we started right at the root.

What we discovered was a provenance story that needed to be surfaced. So we rebranded the business – bringing back the iconic name of Billson’s.

Embracing regeneration, we dove into the archives and found inspiration in vintage labels. The new Billson’s brand is a wondrous mix of nostalgia, magic and flavour. We’re proud of building a tight-knit community around Billson’s, fostering unprecedented social engagement, and creating weird and wonderful brand activations that have become synonymous with the brand.

Raising the bar.

With the rebrand, Billson’s commanded a 21% higher price and an 89% premium over the market leader. With a growth rate of over 107% in the first year, Billson’s expanded into two new cordial-based ranges.

Sales soared from $160k to $7.6M in three years – and our work was recognised with a Gold in the Design Effectiveness Awards, and a win in the Grand Prix.

Billson’s success opened the gates for multiple new product ranges. Most importantly, Billson’s has become a beloved part of the community – ranking among the top three businesses in Beechworth for turnover, top three employers, and the number one visitor attraction.