The customer always wins in the end….

I like a pint. Mind you I mean a proper pint. None of your same tasting over advertised heavliy branded yet ersatz lagers. I mean a real ale -conditioned in the cask no less.It has just been announced  that sales of  cask conditioned ales sales have risen year on year for the first time for many a year. This growth has been fuelled by a growth in micro breweries ( there  are now over 700 of them )  serving their local area and beyond, encouraged all the while by a die hard group of customers organised through CAMRA. Of course there are some national/ regional brands like Fullers London Pride, Courage Best , Timothy Taylor Landlord and Sharps Doombar. Only a couple of which have received a modicum of media support, both of which are on the take… ‘pride’ or ‘courage’!

The big 4 breweries, driven by the simplified demands of the highly geared national pub groups, with the notable exception of  Witherspoons,  have marketed to the hilt their lager ranges.  Yet it is real ale that is growing  even whilst many  pubs are closing. Is this a triumph of PRODUCT over BRAND?

Yes is the answer but it is also, and more so, the triumph of the CUSTOMER.

For at the heart and the start of MARKETING is recognising what the customer wants and giving it to them.

So customer satisfaction should always drive the brand not distribution savings and reductive retailer demands.

Look more closely and you will find that the local breweries themselves are almost playing around with branding through strange and ever strange names ( dogbolter springs to mind) as well as quirky font bages.  Fulfilling some of the needs of brands RECOGNITION  and DIFFERENTIATION. Whilst not being able to afford other mainstream marketing activity other methods are being used remarkably well.

Take for instance my local brewer Rebellion in Marlow… they operate a club which allows members to bring 3 guests 4 times a year to drink free.

SAMPLING, RECOMMENDATION and WORD OF MOUTH to satisfy the most stringent marketer as well as they use the events to drive home quality by giving tours and presentations too.

So top quality marketing and a great night out for many increasingly LOYAL CUSTOMERS.   I am sure that all the words in capital letters would have appeared in the planning for any of the national brands yet by combining great prodcuts with local marketing and the basic elements of branding it is the micro breweries that are winning.

But the big breweries could so easly raise their game with the power of the internet. For instance to drive sampling and sessions. Just ask Pizza Hut and Zizzis! Full restaurants thanks to  ever changing on line vouchers.

We all need reminding that marketing starts and ends with the customer.

So let’s be happy to celebate a victory for customers all round. Oh your round? I’d like a pint!

Related posts:

1. Branding at the weekend