Loyalty is created by understanding what customers expect and then meeting – or preferably exceeding – those expectations.
There’s this English expression, “Coals to Newcastle.” It refers to the city of Newcastle, famous for its coal mines and, more importantly for our purposes, famous for having so much coal that sending more there would be a complete waste of time. So, when someone says, “That’s like carrying coals to Newcastle,” they mean you’re taking something to a place that already has plenty of it.
Over the years, other versions have emerged. “Bread to a bakery.” “Ice to the Arctic.” “Sand to the Sahara.” Back in 2022 Brand Keys added the phrase, “Pizza to Pisa” to that illustrious roster of phrase and fable.
The phrase dates back to 1661, when Thomas Fuller wrote in The History of the Worthies of England, “To carry Coals to Newcastle, that is to busy oneself in a needless employment.” (And if you’re wondering where I find this stuff, the book is available on Amazon. Of course it is.) Oh, and, while I have used the phrase before, in this instance, it was achingly appropriate!
Well, now I’d like to add another.
“Bud to Bavaria.”
It’s alliterative. It’s intuitive. And after reading about Budweiser’s continuing struggle to win over German beer drinkers, it seems entirely appropriate. Particularly, right now, since the highest volume of beer is consumed globally during the summer months, driven by warm weather, longer daylight hours, and more outdoor gatherings. Global consumption historically spikes between June and August, and not for nothing, Germans consume 22.5 gallons (85.17 liters) of beer per capita.
Now before anyone accuses me of taking a shot at Budweiser, or being anti-American, let me point out that Bud has been a pretty successful beer brand. It’s America’s best-selling beer. It’s available in more than 80 countries. It’s backed by one of the largest brewing companies on the planet. They spent generations convincing Americans that this Bud’s for them. They sponsor sports, concerts, and enough events to make you think beer is an Olympic sport. In fact, Anheuser-Busch InBev is an official worldwide sponsor of the Olympics. (Although to be totally accurate, it is now a Belgium/Brazilian-owned company. But, I suppose, that’s neither here nor there.)
In the United States, Budweiser is an icon. But that’s the United States.
Not so much in Germany.
Germany has approximately 1,500 breweries and thousands of beer varieties. Some breweries have been around for hundreds of years. A few have been around since before Columbus accidentally discovered America. German beer halls are cultural institutions. Their beer festivals attract millions. Germans don’t merely drink beer; they have relationships with it. Long-term relationships. The kind where they feel like it’s family. Local beer glassware is a point of immense regional pride. Glassware, for God’s sake! That’s loyalty! The kind that is challenging to shift in any category.
And it’s not just because they have the Reinheitsgebot, Germany’s Beer Purity Law, dating back to 1516. That’s not a typo. Fifteen-sixteen. When Henry VIII was still married to Catherine of Aragon and Leonardo da Vinci was still making people feel inadequate. So, yeah, they know their beer in Germany.
So somewhere, somebody apparently looked at all this and thought: “You know what Germany needs? And somebody else said, “American beer.” And they all nodded. It probably sounded like a terrific idea in a conference room. After all, Budweiser is enormously successful. Germany is one of the world’s great beer markets. Connect Point A to Point B and watch the profits flow. What could possibly go wrong?
Well. . . Germany. That’s what could go wrong.
The challenge wasn’t distribution. It wasn’t awareness. It wasn’t advertising. Germans know who Budweiser is. The challenge is that German consumers already have beer. Lots of it. Good beer. Local beer. The neighborhood brewery is right down the road. They have regional beer made by breweries that have been perfecting recipes for generations and are the people who came up with the maxim, “Am morgen ein bier und der tag gehört dir.” (A beer in the morning and the day is yours!)
And all that results in expectations. Very high expectations.
BTW, the same thing happened when Domino’s decided Italy needed pizza. Someone looked at the second-largest pizza market in the world and concluded Italians were suffering from a shortage of pizza options. Apparently, nobody stopped to ask Italians what they thought about that. Or considered pizza was part of their national identity! Pizza to Pisa! Likewise, it seems nobody paused long enough to ask Germans whether they felt a pressing need for an American lager.
The answer appears to have been: “Nein.” And not a tentative nein. A German nein. A strident nein. The kind of nein that arrives fully engineered, quality-tested, and built to last.
The thing is, this isn’t really about beer.
It never is.
It’s always about customer expectations.
Brands frequently confuse market size with market opportunity. They see millions of consumers and assume millions of potential customers. What they often overlook is that those consumers are already loyal to something else. More importantly, they’re loyal because those existing brands have spent years (and in the instance of some German beers sometimes centuries) meeting expectations.
Customer loyalty isn’t created by just showing up. And it isn’t created by advertising. Even lots of it. And it certainly isn’t created by assuming consumers have been waiting patiently for you to arrive and improve their lives, whatever the category.
Loyalty is created by understanding what customers expect and then meeting – or preferably exceeding – those expectations. The stronger the existing expectations, the harder that becomes. If you’re entering a market that practically invented the category you’re selling, you’d better bring something more compelling than, “We’re very popular somewhere else.”
At this point, I think it’s fair to ask, “Was haben sie sich dabei gedacht?“ (What were they thinking?)
Because if your strategy is to convince Germans they need better beer, you should probably first make sure you really understand what Germans expect when it comes to beer.
Under the circumstances, it seems equally fair to ask, “Bud nach Bayern? Habt ihr wirklich ein anderes Ergebnis erwartet?” (Bud to Bavaria? Did you really expect a different outcome?)
So, as you plan for your brand, mind those expectations and, as they also say in Germany, “Hab einen tollen Sommer!” (Have a great Summer.)
