Andy & Karen share: "Our Craft Brewing Identity Crisis"

Topic: "Our Craft Brewery Identity Crisis"

A growing craft brewery tries to trademark its company name and is DENIED! WTF?! We’ll tell the story of how Last Name Brewing (formerly Dale Bros Brewery) weathered this identity crisis and turned it into a marketing opportunity.

In 2014, after 11 years as a growing craft brewery, Dale Bros Brewery decided it was time to trademark their name. But their application was denied by the Trademark Office – there was already a Dale in craft beer, and he had trademarked his name long before Dale Bros came into being. After multiple trips through the stages of grief, some self-flagellation and a whole bunch of hand-wringing, Dale Bros crafted a strategy to change its name and turn the whole experience into a net-positive. This talk will tell the story of this transition, visiting all the various bumps along the road, and sharing lessons learned along the way.

Bio: Andy Dale and Karen McMillen are two of the three owners of Last Name Brewing (formerly Dale Bros Brewery) in Upland. Last Name Brewing started life as Dale Bros Brewery in 2003 and was one of the founding breweries in the LA Craft Beer movement. Andy and Karen are a husband and wife team; Andy oversees Sales & Distribution, Operations and Business Development, and Karen oversees Marketing, Administration and Tap Room operations for the brewery.

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