A digital experience as dynamic as its borough
Local flavor transforms Brooklyn Brewery’s web presence with culture, deep content and e-commerce.
INTRODUCTION
Can a beverage capture a borough? Especially one as vivacious, as eclectic as Brooklyn? Maybe not a single drink, but the offerings of Brooklyn Brewery are as close as you can get to the diversity and liveliness of the New York neighborhood. Brooklyn (as we came to call them) partnered with Traina to overhaul their web presence with a new feel and smooth functionality that reflected their flavor, their vibe, the spirit of their city and the craft of their brew.
ADVANTAGE
Hello, Brooklyn
Brooklyn has a rich history, a legendary locale and a deep culture working to their advantage. Their logo is untouchable, designed by the renowned Milton Glaser, and their packaging and product design was winning awards. But their digital experience had fallen far behind—a text-heavy, static website that did little to evoke their dynamic character.
They had an advantage in Traina—rooted in craft beer’s nerve center of San Diego, having supported the meteoric success of Ballast Point along with unique beer collabs like Moto Sonora. We’ve long known how much community is a part of a successful craft enterprise, and how creativity needs to flow not only from the cans and bottles, but from every part of the brand.
MARKET CONDITIONS
And yes, the craft beer space is getting crowded, just like any bar on Saturday night. Brewers can no longer rely solely on a slick logo or labels, not even novel recipes. Today one can find more flavors of more drinks than any tongue could ever taste. The way to stand out now is to be unique in experience—one that crosses digital, social, merchandising, as well as brick and mortar.
APPROACH
The Brooklyn way
A digital experience that captures both the brewery and the borough had to be inviting at first sight—welcoming you to the heart of Brooklyn, and spotlighting their spirit with vibrant imagery and a come-as-you-are invitation.
Get personal
From the first page load, the Brooklyn site invites self-expression and connection on a personal level—it even takes an interest in you. We developed a custom beer-finding tool to help users discover the ideal beer for their personality. Offbeat questions like “What kind of dog would you be?” make finding your new favorite beer as fun as drinking it, while a custom backend offers room for creative expansion with new questions and new products.
Go local, show global
Local pride has fueled the craft boom across cities, as people are most proud of the beer that comes from their own backyard. The cultural recognition of Brooklyn gives it a near-universal appeal with the potential to be everyone’s city: the home of unapologetic individuality.
This informs our product pages—each with its own identity, personality and look and feel, but with an underlying visual system tying it together. The backend supports this with ease, as each beer can have its own color palette, custom photography, and even food pairings, recipes and stories from their legendary brewmaster. This is how the local heart of each brew becomes accessible from anywhere in the world.
We’re seeing a much lower bounce rate, which was our goal. The website offers a richer experience that keeps users on the site for longer.”
Tim Rozmus, digital marketing manager
CAMPAIGN ACTIVATION
Create space for community
Even after the site launch, we helped Brooklyn add to the experience with the Create Space initiative—a web experience devoted to amplifying voices from the LGBTQIA+ community. Traina created a structure for the content Brooklyn assembled, and developed a system to share stories, provide resources and revenue, and literally create a space within their website magnifying the support and impact of LGBTQIA+ activism.
RESULTS
Brooklyn’s own
In a crowded market, lots of breweries are hyper-creative behind their brewing, but miss opportunities for engagement with their digital identity. Brooklyn’s investment into their digital experience not only sets them up for the long-term, but brought swift accolades in the form of industry awards and a sharp uptick in customer engagement.
New users in 60 days
Page views in 60 days
ACCOLADES/PRESS
The One Show – Digital silver award
CSS REEL – Site of the Day
CSS Design Awards – Special Kudos
awwwards. – Honorable Mention
