Summit Brewing
REIGNITING THE RELEVANCE OF A REGIONAL LEGACY BRAND
In a crowded craft beer market, Agency Squid helped Summit Brewing reclaim share and cultural relevance by repositioning its flagship beers with a bold brand voice, Midwest-centric messaging, and omni-channel storytelling. From trade advocacy to digital campaigns, our strategy combined local insight, retail activation, and distinctive creative to drive measurable growth and remind beer drinkers why Summit is the Original Craft of the North.
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Deliverables
Marketing & Brand Strategy
Branding & Art Direction
Copywriting & Brand Voice
Videography & Photography
Website Design & Development
Social Media Strategy
Integrated Brand Campaign
Shopper Marketing
The Challenge
The craft beer boom that once drove explosive growth had stalled. A saturated category, fickle trends, and brand fatigue had made it difficult for legacy brewers to stand out—especially with a younger audience. For Summit, a brand with nearly four decades of heritage, the challenge was clear: How do you stay relevant in a market that’s forgotten what made you great?
We needed to modernize Summit’s message, reintroduce its Lager & Light Lager SKUs, and deepen loyalty without diluting its DNA.
The Solution
Agency Squid took Summit Brewing back to its roots—being a legacy icon of the Midwest. Trends were showing that audiences were starting to see choice fatigue and wanted to get back to the experiences and products they trusted. Summit Brewing was positioned to be right in that conversation with products that have stood the test of time. The real need was to make the brand relevant again but inserting itself in the cultural conversation and showing it was, in fact, one of the brands consumers have grown to love and trust.
By leaning into if-ya-know-ya-know cultural cues and regional rituals, we helped Summit own a distinctive emotional space—and earn its spot in the fridge again.
Research
Trends & Competitors
Consumer behavior had shifted:
Drinkers were exploring more categories but drinking less.
NA beer, wellness, and hybrid formats were stealing attention.
Brand fatigue was real. Loyalty needed to be earned—and kept simple.
Craft beer had become too loud, too technical, and too showy. The space between mass-produced and overly precious left a gap for brands that could be familiar without being boring.
Summit filled that gap. It wasn’t the beer yelling for attention. It was the one you reached for because it always showed up.
Audience
Meet the Good Neighbor—Summit’s core consumer.
This consumer doesn’t chase trends. They’re intentional, steady, lighthearted, and proud of where they’re from. Summit isn’t just what they drink; it’s part of how they show up for others.
Key Traits:
Age: 27–48
Income: $150k+
Mindset: Socially present, habit-driven, grounded in ritual
Motivations: Shared experiences, local loyalty, and reliable quality
Behavior: Prioritize hosting, stocking beer for connection, and supporting brands with history
Summit’s voice became theirs: dry, dependable, and always invited—even if the invite was unspoken.
Branding
Strategy
We defined Summit’s role as the everyday cultural anchor—not the hero of the story, but the presence that makes it feel complete. The brand essence, “Rooted in Real. Raised on Ritual.”, became a north star.
Unified Platform Goals:
Drive emotional connection through cultural truths
Reinforce approachability and simplicity in a noisy market
Celebrate Midwestern rituals without parody or platitude
Make Summit the easy, thoughtful choice in any occasion
The brand wasn’t reinvented. It was clarified. It was made visible, again.
Identity
Everything from color palette to copy was designed to feel familiar, lived-in, and intentional. The visual and verbal system elevated what Minnesotans already knew about the brand.
Design & Messaging Touchpoints:
Vintage-style illustrations and photo compositions rooted in local moments
Tone of voice: dry, observational, neighborly—not trying too hard
Product lockups: simple, direct, emphasizing “Beer of the North”
Language guardrails: no clichés, no exaggerations—just real talk
Result: A brand voice that sounds like a friend who brought the beer and didn’t need to announce it.
The Work
Concept
Two core ideas drove the work:
“Beer for Here”
An equity-driven platform connecting Summit to everyday Midwestern culture. It wasn’t about monuments or mascots—it was about garage fridges, meat raffles, rain-soaked chairs, and late goodbyes.
Messaging Examples:
“We raffle our meat.”
“Good beer doesn’t need explaining.”
“Cold. Crisp. Been in the fridge longer than most leftovers.”
“Beer of the North”
A product-specific lens for Summit Lager & Light Lager, focused on seasonal behaviors, lake rituals, and familiar patterns.
Messaging Examples:
“Fishing in the same spot Grandpa showed us.”
“It’s nothing fancy. But it’s what feels right.”
“The cooler’s old. The beer’s not. That’s the right order.”
Omnichannel Campaign
The creative wasn’t just clever—it was comprehensive.
Connected TV/OTT: Creative refreshes every 2 months kept the brand seasonal and top of mind, inserting itself into timly cultural moments where attention was clearly captured
Digital & Social: Targeted content aligned to seasonal behaviors (shoveling, grilling, opening day fishing)
Trade & Retail: Storytelling-rich POS kits including coasters, stackers, fridge wraps, and shelf talkers for in-store interruption
Experiential: Integrations with the St. Paul Saints and other micr0-moments gave Summit the right to be in cultural conversations but with a memorable twist
Each channel was part of a system that helped the brand move from memory to momentum.
Agency Squid launched SixSip Hard Refreshers with a bold brand strategy and culturally-charged creative that redefined the RTD category.
In a crowded market, Summit understood the assignment and met the people where they were in an authentically Minnesotan manner.
Results
GROWTH FOR THE FIRST TIME IN OVER 5 YEARS
Summit Brewing became the only Minnesota-based craft brewery to post production growth from 2024 into 2025—a year that saw category-wide declines.
Performance Highlights:
Double-digit growth in early reorders of Lager & Light Lager across key Midwest accounts
Improved brand perception with younger drinkers—especially the “Tradition Rewriters” segment
Increased trade confidence, leading to wider placements and deeper support from distributors and bars
Earned media buzz around cultural fluency and “reverse innovation” in beer (i.e., doing less, better)
