The branding secrets behind booze-free beer business Heaps Normal

In the simplest terms, Heaps Normal is an alcohol-free beer brand.

It launched last year with its Quiet XPA product — which has alcohol volume of 0.5% — and has recently unveiled its new Isol-Aid Haze IPA, in collaboration with Melbourne bottleshop chain Blackhearts & Sparrows and online music festival Isol-Aid.

But take one look at the ads, the social presence and the community that rallies around this business, and it’s clear this is more than another option for designated drivers.

Chief executive Andy Miller had worked in the beer industry for years, and founded the business along with three buddies: brewer Ben Holdstock, branding whizz Peter Brennan and pro surfer Jordy Smith, who ditched booze as part of his bid to win a world title.

From day one, branding was front of mind for the four co-founders. They were determined that non-alcoholic beer didn’t have to be synonymous with sobriety, and set out to target people who were just like them — craft beer lovers who wanted to reduce their alcohol consumption.

“We wanted to build a brand that was a fun beer brand first and foremost, and a great-tasting beer,” Miller tells SmartCompany Plus.

“Being non-alcoholic was just a feature.”

That starting point has informed everything from naming the business and its flagship brew, to the design of the cans and even its positioning in bottleshops and at events.

It’s the very essence of the brand, and so far it seems to be working. Since December 2020, Heaps Normal has seen more than 200% revenue growth.

The number of new customers making orders has doubled each month since January, and from a standing start in August last year, it now has 600 distribution points throughout the country.

For Miller, there are three key ingredients to Heaps Normal’s success so far. SmartCompany Plus sat down with him to unpack exactly how they take shape in practice, and how the co-founders are slowly weaving alcohol-free options into Australia’s pervasive drinking culture.

The three ingredients

1. The community

   Traction has been made possible by the people who believed in Heaps Normal from day one, Miller says, “from our dreamy investor list to our mates in the beer industry and legendary founding team members”.

2. The product

   “It’s so bloody hard to nail a non-alcoholic beer and our co-founder and head brewer Benny [Holdstock] approached it as a technical challenge and with an open mind,” Miller says.

   “The brand might draw people in, but it’s the beer that keeps them coming back.”

3. Purpose without preaching

   There is good to be done here, Miller notes. But Heaps Normal isn’t about forcing sobriety on anyone, or demonising alcohol at all.

   “We’re stoked if you enjoy the beer and if you want to dig a little deeper, then there’s more to the story,” he says.

The name

The company may be called Heaps Normal but the reference to ‘normality’ is intended to be tongue-in-cheek, Miller explains. 

“There’s no such thing as ‘normal’. We’re all so unique and different and weird in our own ways.”

At the same time, he says the name references the founders’ mission to normalise something that was “very un-normal” — that is, a non-alcoholic beer that tastes good.

It’s also about creating a ‘new normal’ of sorts, inviting people to make more space in their lives for the things they consider to be important.

Those same principles were applied when naming Heaps Normal’s Quiet XPA product.

It’s dialed down, alcohol wise. It references having a quiet beer with a mate, and it’s a quiet achiever, Miller explains.

“It’s an understated-ness,” he says.

“You don’t need to shout about the fact that it’s zero alcohol.”

The packaging

The team always set out to create a beer “we could be proud to take to a barbecue”, Miller says.

In bottleshops and bars it’s often stocked next to boozy craft beers, and it doesn’t look out of place.

That was very deliberately done, Miller explains. The founders didn’t want their drinks “stuck in the dark corner of the cool-room”.

Rather, they wanted something that on trend, yet understated. The idea was to fit in, not stand out.

People can order a Quiet XPA at a pub, a restaurant or a gig, and not face questions on why they’re not drinking.

Again, Miller notes that being alcohol-free is not what their business is about, first and foremost, so it’s not front and centre of the packaging either.

“It wasn’t about conforming to the rules of being a non-alc or the established format of being a non-alc.”

The personality

There’s also something about being a very Aussie brand that resonates with consumers, Miller explains. 

Increasingly, people like to know they’re buying local and supporting a small Australian business. But he believes it goes further than this.

“Being an Australian brand allows us to connect on a more genuine level with our audience,” he says.

This comes down to the language used in their social media messaging, the kinds of situations they show Heaps Normal beers being cracked open and the kinds of events and businesses they’re partnering with.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Heaps Normal (@heapsnormal)

The above Instagram post centres Heaps Normal as part of the classic Australian barbecue. Think snags, chips, foldout chairs, grilled onions, and cubed cheddar cheese with cured meats.

“All of that combines to demonstrate that we get it,” Miller says.

“We’re young Australians who share the same world as the people who are drinking the product.”

The partnerships

Which brings us on to brand partnerships. Now that parts of Australia are opening up for large live music events again, the team has been pouring Heaps Normal at music festivals all over the country.

They were serving at Summer Sounds in Brisbane, Sounds of Summer in Inverloch, the OK Motels series and the Small Town Big Sound tour throughout Victoria.

These are exactly the kind of situations in which the co-founders would typically enjoy a beer or two.

“They have also been the first point of call for us to enjoy a non-alcoholic beer, to demonstrate how the products can be woven into those situations,” Miller explains.

The culture

Much of Heaps Normal’s branding is about tapping into the Australian drinking culture — a culture that, especially when it comes to beer, appears rock solid.

But, as Miller explains, if you look back at how Australian beer culture has evolved, it wasn’t long ago that mid-strength beers entered the market.

Just 20 or 30 years ago, these lower-alcohol options would have been frowned upon or scoffed at, he notes. Now, they’re widely accepted.

“All the blokiest blokes of bloke town … they’re all about the mid-strength now,” Miller says.

“We’re now having the same conversation around non-alc,” he adds.

“They’re seeing that it’s not a threat to their way of life, or a particular kind of relationship they might have with their mates.”

Rather, alcohol-free beer is simply another option.

“No matter what your habits and your lifestyle are, it’s an option that will be relevant to you at some point, if you enjoy the taste of beer.”

The product

There is, of course, an aspect of Heaps Normal that’s not exactly branding, but is inextricably linked to it: the strength of the product itself.

The main thing that makes this product viable is the flavour. For Miller, the measure of success is whether people can forget they’re sipping on a booze-free option.

“Non-alcoholic beer is such a bloody hard thing to get right,” he says.

“Benny [Holdstock] has just really nailed our Quiet XPA and made it a really enjoyable beer, regardless of whether you’re sober or not.

“That’s the thing that has garnered quite a lot of respect from trade and from other beer companies.”

This brings credibility to the brand. After all, you can have all the uber-trendy branding you want, but if the product isn’t right people just won’t buy it. 

“It definitely is part of what has given us the traction so far.”

The fans

Heaps Normal has picked up some fairly high-profile investors along the way, including Koala founder Dany Milham, Adore Beauty founder Kate Morris, Linktree’s Alex Zaccaria and Nick Humphreys and former Essendon and Sydney Swans AFL player Ted Richards. 

The list goes on and on, and includes a mix of entrepreneurs, angel investors and influential members of the music industry.

Having also taken part in the Startmate accelerator program, Heaps Normal has accumulated a vocal army of entrepreneurial supporters too.

All of this “definitely helps” spread the word, Miller says.

A quick search on Twitter also unearths reams of Tweets from consumers with absolutely no connection to the business recommending the brews.

Fuck yeah Heaps Normal is good, I had one last night

— aspiring sword lesbian (@tallgaytay) June 9, 2021

well this is tasty! @heapsnormal special @isolaidfestival co-production alcohol-free IPA, def putting on high rotation while available pic.twitter.com/Ej4CC60PJX

— Jed Wesley-Smith (@jedws) May 25, 2021

“We haven’t ever set out to try and align ourselves with the most popular people or the people with the most followers,” the co-founder explains.

“All of our relationships have come really organically … they’ve discovered Heaps Normal for themselves and it’s a genuine recommendation,” he adds.

“There’s no more powerful recommendation or word-of-mouth than that.”