The Bionade story part 2 / From eco-hippie to hip eco
Following the success story of the organic soda Bionade, the favourite drink of German Lohas, more lessons will be learned in the close future. As Bionade plans to expand not only in Europe but also in the US and Asia, it will be an interesting business case to follow: According to a leading political magazine, Spiegel, “perhaps Bionade will be the first German company to prove that organic doesn’t necessarily mean small”. However, the company is self-confident. It announced to increase the price by 20 % per bottle. The explanation is fairly unusual, they don’t mention rising energy and ingredient costs, but declare it a strategic measure to maintain its premium brand positioning. Bionade simply wants to be recognised as the innovator and the original. The brand wants to differentiate itself from big German breweries that copied the organic soda success story and are now competing heavily with Bionade.
The new print ad campaign to justify higher pricing
“The biggest achievement of our competitors is that they copied us even before the Chinese did.”
How you can impressively fail shows another important German green-player: The eco-supermarket chain Basic recently faced massive losses when the discounter Lidl bought 23% of the eco-chain. Sales decreased by 20% when this was announced and Basic lost loyal eco suppliers and customers which nowadays seems to be the biggest threat for eco-brands, as journalists declare a shift from “boycott” to “strategic consumption”. Meaning, Lohas won’t boycott since they love consumption, they will simply swap brand loyalty. So once you loose a Loha, he will find himself a new green brand fast. And you might have lost him forever.
At the same time Lohas have all the potential to become the most loyal consumers: They are not only “strategic” but also highly “emotional consumers” – as they are consuming for a better eco-ego. So the Zeigeist of the new German eco generation would no longer ask brands: “Are you green?” but “Do you make me feel green?” which is a by far more self-focussed approach than the community loving eco-hippies used to have in the 70ies and 80ies. Bionade might answer the question shortly whether internationally expanding eco-brands will still make Lohas feel green. We will be following the roll-out in the U.S. with interest.