SAMUEL ADAMS TAP HANDLE FOR BOSTON BEERSamuel Adams Tap Handle for Boston Beer

A distinctive tap handle ups brand presence and performance

  • Project Date: 2004

Samuel Adams Tap Handle

Bar tap handles are good for only one thing—pouring draft beer—right? Wrong. Their true purpose is to entice the customer in the bar to imbibe a particular brand of beer. Samuel Adams' handle has been an icon of quality, authenticity, and reliably since the mid 1980s, but last year the company decided its tap needed a more contemporary design. IDEO help them create a definitive handle that would move their brand image into the future.

The new Samuel Adams draft handle is a head above the rest, sticking out over similar units so that people can see it from the far corners of the bar. A blue glass panel allows for a large branding area, thereby stimulating brand recognition. The glow of the glass and shine of the handle surface further capture customers' attention and convey a sense of class and luxury. A user-friendly, ergonomic shape invites the bartender's hands and recalls traditional tap handle forms, yet the look and feel express a new and younger brand. The entire presentation speaks to a more youthful, outgoing, and diverse clientele while subtly reinforcing Sam Adams' image of tradition and elegance.

More than 40,000 handles were installed in a massive changeover that began in April 2003 and continued through June 2004. Since then, the company has reversed a long-time negative monthly draft trend with a two percent increase in draft sales over its first six months.