Burial Beer Co.

*Live Client* CBM Independent Study - Brand Extension / Brand Architecture

Design assistance from Carli Aldape (AD) and Gabrielle Loughlin (AD)

Fun Fact: Discovering Burial years ago is part of what helped me solidify my passion for great brands. Getting to work with them on this project was the perfect full circle moment.

Independent Study takes place in the final semester for CBM students and offers the opportunity to manage the entire creative process. Students select their own clients, work with them to identify a brand challenge, and coordinate the entire project from research to strategy and concepting.

Working with Burial was a dream and I would’ve been happy with whatever challenge we identified, but getting to pair my love of beer with my love of music while doing something that helped my favorite brewery was incredibly rewarding.

Burial has become a cornerstone of the Asheville brewery community over the last decade.

With inspiration from New Orleans jazz funerals by way of the PNW, Doug and Jess Reiser along with Tim Gormley started Burial Beer Co. on Asheville’s South Slope in 2013 and haven’t looked back since.

They’ve carefully crafted a distinct brand identity, known for their vivid David Paul Seymour can art and flowery, stream-of-consciousness-esque beer names/descriptions. Think Anecdotal Evidence of Purposeless Premonitions and All The Little Things That Destroy Us.

It’s not just a pretty exterior though – Burial’s beer has built a loyal following that propelled them to #1 on Craft Beer & Brewing’s Readers’ Choice List in 2021/2022.

While the original South Slope taproom remains the purest distillation of Burial’s identity, they’ve also been fortunate to expand to additional Asheville locations and taprooms in Charlotte and Raleigh. The other experiences maintain Burial’s vision/values and reverence for storytelling, but put that core identity through a new lens.

Burial’s newest Asheville expansion, Eulogy, is intended to build on the brewery’s meaningful relationship with music and amplify the local artist community.

Burnpile Festival at Forestry Camp

The Mothlight’s closing has left a void

Eulogy’s incredible organ tap system

“Smooth Jazz, Fried Fish, Cold Beer”

Some breweries treat music as background or an afterthought, but Burial has always infused the storytelling of their products and experiences with music. The most notable example is Burial’s Burnpile Festival at their Forestry Camp location. Larger concerts and events will still be held there, but Eulogy now gives Burial a more consistent musical outlet.

Eulogy aims to fill the void left in Asheville by the once beloved Mothlight that fostered local talent and gave a platform to indie and experimental artistry. The Burial team also wants to reflect the intentional, high quality curation their brand is known for by bringing a diverse lineup of boundary-pushing talent on a weekly basis.

The venue may carry the experimental spirit of Mothlight, but the look and feel is much more upscale. Eulogy’s space was designed to be highly transportative according its designer, leaning heavily into postmodern influence from the 70’s and 80’s with a constant interplay of art/sound/light. The theme of high quality curation extends to the design of the space as well as its beer/wine/cocktail programs, key differentiators from other venues.

The property is located next to Burial’s original South Slope location and the venue won’t be alone there. Eulogy shares the main level with an old school fish fry concept called Good Hot Fish from a James Beard-nominated chef. The building’s rooftop is also the soon-to-be home of Burial’s natural wine program, VISUALS.

THE ASK

Help bring Eulogy to life within the Burial brand universe to establish the venue as a regionally respected indie tastemaker and steward of the Asheville music scene.

Research Objectives + Activities

1) Gauging perceptions of Burial fans broadly about what draws them to the brand, what expectations they would have going to Eulogy, and Burial’s relationship with music.

 2) Developing a deeper understanding of Burial’s vision for the Eulogy expansion and how that stacks up to the experiences of those who have attended Eulogy events thus far.

3) Assessing how Eulogy can appeal to modern indie fans and their core Asheville audience to establish themselves as a respected tastemaker.

    • 60 total respondents – sourced from my personal network and relevant Reddit communities (r/craftbeer, r/Asheville, r/Raleigh, r/Charlotte)

    • 5 questions with a mix of multiple choice, select all, and open-ended questions

    • 117 total respondents – sourced from Eulogy’s database of emails for their newsletter

    • 8 questions with a mix of multiple choice, select all, open-ended, and scaled (1-10 on likelihood of return)

    • 5 interviewees who self-identified as fans of both craft beer and indie music

    • 9 questions with interviews taking roughly 30-60 minutes

  • 4 interviewees:

    • Phil Cassella, Head of Marketing

    • Bryce Franich, Music Manager

    • Kristen Oxtoby, Head of Art & Design

    • Doug Reiser, Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer

    • Reading through all of the venue’s Instagram posts from the beginning along with articles/profiles covering the launch to better understand Burial’s vision

    • Checking the local Reddit community (r/Asheville) for commentary around experiences at Eulogy

    • Researching legendary tastemaker venues to better understand how they established themselves

Research Narrative

Taking Cues From Legendary Venues

The Burial team wants Eulogy to be seen on par with renowned tastemakers like Saint Vitus, Zebulon, and 9:30 Club. These venues made their names by putting fans + artists first, having a distinct POV, and serving as gracious caretakers of their communities.

It’s Been A Largely Successful Debut…

Response from Eulogy attendees has been overwhelmingly positive, and the main reasons they’ve enjoyed the venue are the same reasons Burial fans have always loved the core brand – compelling design, consistent quality, & wide variety.

…But A Broader Disconnect Exists.

The majority of attendees (84%) are locals who are closer to the origin of Burial’s storytelling and Eulogy’s development. But among Burial fans broadly, awareness and appreciation of Eulogy and the breadth of Burial’s music taste are not as high.

Even though this project was centered around Eulogy, that last point about the broader disconnect felt like it was hitting on a deeper brand architecture issue for Burial.

Burial has expanded a lot in the last five years and while the inner workings make sense to the internal team, there’s concern over how well fans understand each of the concepts and how they fit together. This lead to the development of…

The Universe of Burial - a one-pager that more clearly outlines Burial’s brand architecture and how each concept puts the core Burial identity through a new lens.

Centered around the analogy of The Head (Forestry Camp), The Heart (South Slope), and The Hands (Charlotte + Raleigh), this framework allows fans and newcomers alike to quickly digest all of the Burial experiences and the threads connecting them.

Brand architecture was just the opener, but I made sure to give Burial the headliners too.

Eulogy Strategy + Positioning

THE STRATEGY

Consistently demonstrating Eulogy’s deep level of investment in the artist and fan experience to establish an authentic community that reverberates beyond the local scene.

Regionally Revered. Locally Loved.

THE INTERNAL NORTH STAR

  • Asheville has a rich history of experimental artistry that the community embraces, but there’s a void in the scene after The Mothlight closed.

  • Burial has always infused music with its products and experiences, but needs a more clear, consistent outlet that can build on its reputation as a respected tastemaker.

  • Eulogy brings together a highly curated, diverse array of talent with highly curated food & beverage programs in an immersive space with best-in-class production quality.

  • Eulogy symbiotically bridges Asheville’s and Burial’s passion for experimental artistry while extending the brand’s expert curation into nightlife, further establishing Burial’s regional reputation as a cultural storyteller.

THE MESSAGING PILLARS

  • No corners cut - ever. The Burial team brings the same attention to detail to the design, quality, and variety of the Eulogy experience that longtime fans have come to love from other Burial products + experiences.

  • Elevating a wide spectrum of boundary-pushing artistry from Asheville and beyond. Every visit is a chance to fan out with kindred musical spirits or find a connection with something totally new.

  • Made for and by music fans, somewhere every artist will feel like they’re on home turf. From ticketing to the end of the show and beyond, fans and artists alike can expect the highest level of hospitality from Eulogy.

  • Experimental artistry complemented by food from the James Beard-nominated Chef Ashleigh Shanti and Burial’s legendary beverage curation. Beer, wine, cider, cocktails, and more - a drink for every palate and occasion.

Summary of Recommendations

Featured Executions

Eulogy Forever - A photo booth that captures Eulogy’s diverse array of patrons. Pictures feed into a website extension that creates an avenue to memorialize (eulogize) each event with pictures and written reviews from fans.

Night Swim - A late night concept that allows Good Hot Fish to adopt a new brand alias and offer a new menu with more concert-friendly items during Eulogy events.

One Night Only - Creating ephemeral, multi-sensory experiences that bond kindred musical spirits together forever. One Night Only is a branded program that Eulogy can wrap around any one-off collabs to give them an elevated look/feel when offering limited edition collectible items or recording shows to be pressed on vinyl.

Record Store Posters - Connecting with popular indie record stores neighboring Burial taproom locations in Charlotte (Lunchbox Records) and Raleigh (Sorry State Records) will be key. Along with cross promotional events to boost engagement in these indie music communities, posters will be put up in both stores to pique curiosity and drive discovery for Eulogy.

Debriefing

After a successful first decade of growth and development, Burial is stepping into its second decade with a new theme - uninvention. The Burial team has referenced wanting to get back to the core of what the brand is after a period of expansion and storytelling through new lenses. Dialing in the Eulogy identity/positioning along with the rest of Burial’s brand architecture are essential first steps to telling the Burial story the way it deserves to be told.