In 1987, Asahi created the world’s first super dry beer. Today, the Japanese beer brand has announced the global roll-out of a new range of packaging, the most significant design update in almost 37 years. Dry and crisp with a quick, clean finish, Asahi Super Dry is Japan’s No.1 beer, but the super-premium brand can also be found in many bars, restaurants, music venues and sports arenas globally.
Alice Garton, Asahi Europe & International Senior Brand Manager, explained the strategy behind the launch: “Our existing Asahi Super Dry packaging has helped us become an icon of Japaneseness around the world, but at Asahi we never want to stand still, we want to continually look forward, to make our brand even more premium and distinctive”.
The NEW Asahi Super Dry global packaging evolution will help drive differentiation and create consistency across the brand’s growing global portfolio through three key changes.
1. PREMIUMISE - Simplify, modernise and premiumise the Asahi Super Dry packaging.
2. SUPER DRY - Elevate the unique ‘Super Dry’ taste message more clearly on the packaging.
3. SILVER - Adopt a modern, silver colour palette on primary and secondary packaging to create a unified global brand image.
The project was completed in collaboration between the Asahi teams in Tokyo and Asahi Europe & International (AEI), with Purple Creative, London driving the global design project. Gary Westlake, Purple’s Creative Director, said: “The traditional Japanese aesthetic is synonymous with precision, harmony, and mastery, but for Asahi that is juxtaposed by a mindset of curiosity, reinvention and discovery”.
Alice Garton, Asahi Europe & International Global Senior Brand Manager added: “Building on the great work done by the Japanese teams, we have evolved a design system that honors what has gone before but equips Asahi Super Dry to move forward and innovate in the beer category. Our beer is just one of the many unique Japanese experiences we want consumers to explore and discover.”
Małgorzata Lubelska, Category and Global Brand Director, Asahi Europe & International, summed up the brand’s confidence in the new packaging: “At Asahi Super Dry, our ambition is to become a globally famous, super-premium, top 10 beer brand by 2030. We are confident this new global consistency will help define and differentiate Asahi Super Dry in the minds of our consumers and create real super-premium appeal. From the first glance on shelf, to the first sip of our Super Dry taste”.
The new product has already launched across the Asia region. The new packaging will be launched across the EMEA region from Q3 2024 and from ANZ in 2025. There is no change to the barcode/EAN across any of materials. The brewing team have reiterated that there has been no change to the liquid alongside the packaging change.
