Inventing a category should come with a trophy. For Hoplark, it came with a problem — the brand had built something new in craft beverages, but the recognition hadn’t caught up.
Enter Gus, the independent creative strategy company, which has developed a new brand platform for Hoplark that drives a full rebrand, a packaging refresh and a new brand tone. The goal: position Hoplark not as the maker of one product, but as the company steering the future of the category it helped create.
A different question
Most briefs start with some version of “sell more stuff.” Gus started somewhere else.
“It’s not often you can say your client invented an entirely new beverage category,” said Graham Douglas, Co-Founder and CEO at Gus. “Rather than asking ‘How do we help sell more product?’, we asked ‘How do we position Hoplark as the company shaping the future of craft beverages?’ and giving an amazing product the story and POV it deserved.”
Three words, two audiences
The platform is “Try New Things.” It’s a simple mantra with a double duty.
Inside Hoplark, it’s a reminder to keep breaking rules and tossing out the playbook for how products get developed and brands get built. Outside, it’s an invitation for drinkers to challenge their routines and step outside their comfort zones — in what they pour and how they live.
“At its core, ‘Try New Things’ is a simple but impactful mantra for both the brand and its consumers, encouraging them to stop resting on their laurels and get outside their comfort zones, whether that’s in the drinks they choose or the lives they lead,” said Spencer LaVallee, Co-Founder and CCO at Gus.
Built to stretch
A platform tied to a single can has a short shelf life. LaVallee said the team built this one around a core truth about the brand instead, “giving it the flexibility to stretch across the whole portfolio.”
That thinking shows up in the new visual identity and design system. It puts Hoplark’s experimental spirit front and center while staying consistent across a growing lineup — useful room to have as the non-alcoholic beverage market keeps climbing.
Lines with a wink
The new brand has rolled out across social, in-store, OOH and digital. The copy does what the platform promises, nudging people toward something unfamiliar with a grin.
“Your new cup of tea is in a can.”
“Water for those who prefer hops.”
Both lines take a comfortable habit and swap in something unexpected. That’s the whole idea in a sentence.
Room to keep moving
For Douglas, the work isn’t a snapshot of Hoplark today. It’s an identity “designed not just to represent what Hoplark makes today, but to give the brand room to keep disrupting a noisy category.”
In a crowded cooler, that room matters. The brand that started the category now has a story big enough to keep leading it.
Credits
Cofounder/CCO: Spencer LaVallee
Cofounder/CEO: Graham Douglas
Head of Accounts: Maxie Etess
Creative: Nick Garfield
Creative: Sam Moore
Design: Sarah Dexin
Design: Zack Davenport
Design: Trackmeet
Learn more
Gus
Graham Douglas LinkedIn
Spencer LaVallee LinkedIn
Gus LinkedIn Hoplark
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