RETROWURST: Alcopops April 2004

 Eighteen years ago in Germany, you couldn’t switch on the radio or TV without hearing Alcopops and Komasaufen discussed in hysterical, frenzied terms. This would be the ruin of an entire generation! Remember, this was back in the pre-smart phone and social media days, not to mention a certain pandemic, when young people went clubbing and dancing and raving and generally having a wild and crazy time. Retrowurst this month is from April 2004 and chronicles the market at that time.

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There’s a bit of a Sturm brewing in a cocktail glass here in Germany at the moment with lots of talk in high places of dangerous drugs and teenage addiction. It’s probably a bit of a yawn to you in the UK, but the subject is ‘Alcopops’. While the UK and other European countries went through this in the 90s, the subject is only just becoming a matter of hot debate here. The question that is being mooted in the government is whether or not a Strafsteuer (penalty tax) should be applied to Alcopops. The consequence of this would be to double the price and (hope the government) collapse the market, which is exactly what happened in France in 1997. The reasoning behind this is that Alcopops are seen as a dangerous, seemingly innocuous but potent introduction to the slippery slope of alcohol addiction for young people. In an internet survey conducted via www.tageschau.de (one of the main news magazine programmes), 60.3% of the respondents agreed that Alcopops should be subject to a higher tax level.

 

I thought it might be interesting to trace the history of Alcopops’ development here in Germany and to take a look at the range of products currently available (maybe before they disappear for ever!). I think that one of the reasons that Alcopops took rather longer to take off in Germany is that there was never the same tradition of mixed drinks in this heavily beer/wine/schnapps dominated market. While the UK was in a Happy Hour frenzy of cocktails in the 80s, the German fad for ‘long drinks’ in clubs and discos and at Fests was rather more modest. Instead of the exotic concoctions served up in Rumours and the like in London, German ‘long drinks’ were restricted to Asbach Cola (German brandy), Bacardi Kirsch (Bacardi with Cherry) and Wodka Orange. 

 

However, two very interesting developments took place on the back of this, in the late 80s and early 90s. The first of these was Red Bull and its push as a mixer, typically with Vodka. Red Bull Vodka could be said to be the first German Alcopop, with its lurid colour and taste of melted Gummibärchen. The second development is even more interesting and does not show signs of slowing – and this was the development of individual sweet Schnapps bottles.

 

Small (0.02l) bottles of traditional Schnapps, such as Obstler or Korn had long been available, often worryingly (to UK eyes) placed with the sweets at the checkout of the supermarket or (even more worryingly) petrol station – a sort of impulse purchase, one assumes. However, in the late 80s, a trend started at Fests and parties for the social consumption of these little bottles, often accompanied by strange rituals, such as unison banging of the bottles on the beer table before opening, putting the cap on the end of your nose or making a spectacular domino display from the empty bottles. The new Schnapps leading this trend were sweeter in taste and slightly (but only slightly) less alcoholic (around 20% proof) than traditional Schnapps. The brands who led this trend with quirky advertising and very visible marketing campaigns were Kümmerling, Jägermeister and Kleine Feige. Other notable brands are Kober’s Pfläumchen and Berentzen Minis. The latter brand comes in a variety of flavours such as Sour Apple, Plum, Wild Cherry and Apple and are packed just like sweets in a plastic bag of ten little bottles for €4.99. Pfläumchen is packed in boxes of 25x 0.02l which sells at €8.99.

 

These little bottles of Schnapps were the forerunners to Alcopops, which really only arrived on the scene about 3 years ago. The big boys in the market, who seem to set most of the rules, are Bacardi Breezer (4x 0.275l for €6.29; available in full range of strange flavours) and Smirnoff Ice (6x 0.275l for €7.99). Bacardi Rigo (lime mix) is also available at €1.59 for a 0.35l bottle. These are, of course, off prices. Other players include Puschkin Vibe, 5.6% proof at €1.49 for 0.275l. This is a vodka mix and available in flavours called ‘Green’, ‘Black’ and ‘Red’. Caipi is a Cachaca mixed drink with lime and soda and is also €1.49 per bottle. Caipi is 5.4%, produced in the UK and imported by Borco-Marken Import, Hamburg. Another interesting product, which describes itself as a ‘wine cocktail’, with Lemon-Lime and Lemon-Ginger variants, is Viala Carma. This is also 5.4% proof and costs €1.49 for 0.275l.

 

The small, sweet Schnapps brands also offer Alcopops; for example, ‘Feigling Eyes’, a vodka mix drink from Kleine Feigling. This is 5% proof and only €0.99 a bottle. There is a website under www.feigling-eyes.com

 

Aldi are also never slow to recognise a profitable idea when they see one and offer a range of Alcopops at very reasonable prices. Interestingly, most of these are produced in the UK. There’s Czerwi Fresh, which is Vodka and Lemon, 5.6% proof, 6x0.275l for €4.99 and Czerwi Sunseeker, a vodka mix in more exotic flavours such as Blue Orange, Red Berry and Mango. This sells at only €0.75 for a 0.275l bottle. Aldi also have a rum variant, ‘Old Hopking Whitey’ which is 5.4% proof and sells at €4.59 for 6x0.275l.

 

There’s a whole website dedicated to these drinks if you are interested, under www.szene-drinks.com

 

Whether the government legislation will go through or not remains to be seen but, despite all the talk, the problem of drunken teenagers doesn’t seem quite so visible here as in other countries, such as the UK or certain Scandinavian countries. It may be simply because alcohol is not so ‘prohibited’ at the moment, being available for next-to-nothing at every local Fest or fair, and all hours of the day and night at petrol stations, that there isn’t so much ‘bravado’ attached to drinking by young people here – it’s simply part of life.

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The bubble burst not long after - on 1st July 2004, the Sondersteuer on Alcopops was introduced, putting around an extra €1 on each bottle, and naturally, sales went down as the government’s coffers were filled. I tend to think that Alcopops were never destined to make it quite so big in Germany, as you’re allowed to drink beer and wine here at 16 anyway, and the age limit for Alcopops is 18.

On top of that, Germany, like many other European markets, has seen a decline in alcohol consumption amongst the young. There are many factors at play here, some of which are highlighted in this report from 2018.  

Mixed drink marketing has concentrated more on the slightly older, more sophisticated drinker, with the Aperol revival and both gin and rum taking Germany by storm.

But that’s the official, commercial side. I do notice that those strange little sweet Schnapps bottles still seem to be widely available - and at remarkable prices that wouldn’t have been out of place in 2004: €8.49 for a 25 x 0.2l pack of Pfläumchen. 

And walk into any local yokel Fest and you’ll likely see buckets and watering-cans of Jacky-Cola and various Jägermeister mixes being swilled back as if it’s 2004. Only the age of the drinkers has changed: Alcopops are now officially nostalgia.

Talkin’ ‘bout my generativity

 

Towards the end of the last millennium, at a time when today’s mighty oaks were saplings and I was navigating the first stage of adulthood amid a neon excess of cocktails and heartache, I read The Man who planted trees by Jean Giono. This short story - may the correct term is parable - had been originally published in 1954 and enjoyed a renaissance in the 1980s. The tale starts in 1913, when the young narrator meets a 55-year-old shepherd, Elzéard Bouffier, who has taken it on himself to plant acorns in the Provence countryside over the last three years. 

Even if you haven’t read it, you can probably see where the story is going, and it does, most charmingly, accompanied by beautiful woodcuts. Two World Wars cannot destroy the consequence of one man’s simple act, regenerating a whole community and landscape.

Elzéard Bouffier and his story is the perfect example of generativity, a concept I’ve touched on here and here. Generativity - a concern for establishing and guiding the next generation - is the main focus of the 7th Stage of Life in the psychoanalyst Erik Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development. Interestingly, Erikson extended his stages from the Shakespearean “7 Ages of Man” in that he envisaged eight in total. Maybe this has something to do with increasing life expectancy - more of that later.

The 7th Stage of Life, or second stage of adulthood, typically occurs at what we’d call middle age - 40-64 approximately. Interestingly, once Erikson passed this age (he lived to 91) he reviewed his theory and admitted that generativity continues to play a major role beyond retirement age, too. Even more interestingly, his wife and collaborator Joan later added a 9th Stage of Life to the theory. She was 93 at the time.

Generativity, in its human/social meaning, has a lot of nuances as an idea. There’s a strong sense of altruism, but the “self” is not absent from the concept. It encompasses an inner desire for immortality in the form of leaving something of value as a legacy, making one’s life count for something. And there’s a strong component of responsibility to others, both now and in the future.

The language of generativity has been much used in sustainability communications. “For future generations” has become a cliche, usually accompanied by stock photos of carefree cute children running through sun-kissed meadows or fields of wheat. But maybe there’s an opportunity for companies and brands to use the generativity of their (ageing) co-workers to positive effect beyond tired sustainability tropes. 

The idea of “purpose” has been criticised due to its association with short-term activism and “cause of the moment”. It should be less about “high(er) and mighty” and more about the long-term. Passing on values, skills and knowledge. Mentoring within the company. Keeping the culture alive. Creating something new taking into account both what the brand and company does well and new human needs arising from our changing world.

The opposite pole to generativity is stagnation - and that’s not healthy for brands or people. 

Reinventing the past

 

My dad used to annoy me something rotten when we were watching something like Colditz or The Great Escape by pointing out inaccuracies in anything from the pilots not wearing masks through to how many stripes a colonel should or shouldn’t have on their uniform.

Now that I’ve reached a certain age, I find myself doing exactly the same when it comes to advertising. When some bright spark starts talking about how such and such a campaign has revolutionalised, disrupted or utterly transformed the category’s communication, it’s usually to be taken with a pinch of salt.

Yes, I know - people want simple stories of from:to, of heroes turning things on their heads, of creatives taking humungous leaps. Short attention span and all that. The vogue for storytelling has a lot to answer for.

Still, it’s sometimes worth putting the record straight.

Recently, in Campaign, I read an article from a chief strategy officer from a major international agency praising Persil’s Dirt is Good campaign. Now, I also admire this campaign, despite its occasional forays into false directions. The campaign has been running for 17 years, which is pretty good going. The chief strategy officer makes plenty of good points about the campaign, yet dismisses all pre-2005 detergent advertising with a sweeping generalisation:

"Historically, the casting and scenarios for washing powder ads were dreadfully homogenous, typically oppressive portrayals of perfect Stepford mums beaming at a neat stack of clean clothing.”

I wonder if he ever saw this Ariel ad from 1997 as a lad? Can you spot any of these:

    - Mum’s perfect kitchen?

    - perfectly folded piles of clothing?

    - oppression?

    - Stepford mums?

No, me neither. All I can see is a brilliant piece of communication, based on a universal human truth: the younger generation think they invented the world.

Sigh.

RETROWURST: Tea March 2005

 

In marketing as well as my life here in Germany, I sometimes find the things that don’t change more thought-provoking than those that do. In this month’s Retrowurst, I’ve rummaged in the antique tea caddy and found an article on that very subject - tea - written back in March 2005. 

It could have been written yesterday, or at least, the day before yesterday.

So sit down, make yourself a cuppa, and read on:

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It’s tea-time! 

 

Tea may not be one of the things that one immediately associates with Germany; sausages, beer and bad footballer haircuts come more readily to mind to most people. However, anyone who has spent any length of time in a German supermarket will probably confirm that the tea fixture is one of the brightest and most bizarre of the entire store. British ex-pats who venture out in their first week of living here to buy some provisions are regularly overwhelmed by the array that confronts them and often need a strong cup of one of the many brews on offer to recover from the shock.

 

Anyone looking for Tetley, PG Tips or anything remotely familiar on the tea fixture is likely to be out of luck. You may find Twinings (with varieties such as English Breakfast, Earl Grey or Ceylon Orange Pekoe) tucked away in a separate exotic food and drink section, nestling uncomfortably between Paul Newman’s Salad Dressing and Green Tabasco but the tea fixture itself will only offer the false security a couple of obscure sub-brands with vaguely British-sounding names, such as “Sir Winston”. The majority of the fixture is likely to be made up of brand names and tea varieties that most of us would never have let out of the first, wildest phase of brainstorming.

 

Even ten years ago the tea fixture offered a startling variety with many ‘traditional’ herb and fruit-based variants in addition to Schwarztee, or black tea. In the last two or three years, however, the NPD departments of the tea brands seem to have gone onto overdrive (or have been on some rather strange tea themselves) as the number of lines offered seems to have almost doubled! Interestingly, many of the new varieties are reflections of trends seen in other markets so maybe we can use the tea fixture here as a sort of trend barometer into what’s the average German’s cup of tea, figuratively speaking, at the moment!

 

Tea is not just drunk at teatime in Germany or, rather, any time of the day or night seems to be teatime. Tea is very much a beverage in its own right rather than an accompaniment to food, be it breakfast or a few biscuits. Tea is normally drunk without milk but maybe with the addition of lemon, sugar or honey.

 

The little German starts on tea very early on in life. In fact, there are special teas for nursing mothers to encourage the milk flow. These are called Stilltees and consist of a whole dried herb garden including aniseed, fennel, caraway, melissa and basil. It’s probably no wonder that many new mothers prefer the alternative traditional method to encourage the milk; namely, a little bottle of Sekt in the evening! The teas for babies and young children come from the baby food manufacturers such as Hipp and Alete and include Baby’s erste Tee- Baby’s First Tea, a fennel tea to be given from the first week onwards. Other variants include Apple & Melissa (4 months +), Peach tea (8 months +) and Fruit Tea (8 months +). Special bottles and teats are also available for these teas, which are thought to help with everything from colic to hyper-activity.

 

As well as helping new mothers and babies with little health problems, there really is a tea for all ills in Germany. Many minor complaints are treated as a first step with tea, which can be bought from the Apotheke or even from the Supermarket. One well-known Supermarket brand, Bad Heilbrunner, offers a range of teas for colds, stomach and intestinal problems, kidney and bladder complaints, sleep and nerve problems, coughs and bronchial conditions and even something called Blutreinigungs Tee- literally, blood-cleansing tea, which promises to be entwässernd und entschlakend (diuretic and purifying). If the brand name isn’t enough to put you off, the taste of these teas is generally so unpleasant that the minor ailment normally conveniently clears itself up in no time to prevent further ingestion of these potions.

 

Aside from this medicinal niche, there is a vast range of interesting and drinkable teas in Germany. The basis of the market is black tea and then herbal and fruit teas. The basic herbal teas include peppermint, chamomile and nettle, while fruit teas include rosehip, forest fruits and citrus combinations. Green tea is also popular in Germany and the well-known brands often offer “English” varieties such as Earl Grey under British-sounding sub-brand names such as Sir Winston.

 

Of the innovations mentioned earlier, most of these play with weird and wonderful new flavour combinations rather than the UK obsession with tinkering with the shape of the teabag and packaging. Three of the more interesting directions that I’ve spotted recently are as follows:

 

The eastern Wellness kick

Germany is still obsessed with Wellness with just about everything from socks to bed sheets commanding a few Euros more if it has the “Wellness” description slapped on it. Examples of this direction in the tea market include Meßmer’s Quelle (Source) range; Quelle der Erholung (rest/recovery), claiming to be ausgleichend und wöhltuend (balancing and well-doing) with chamomile and linden petal, Quelle der Erfrischung (refreshment), said to be belebend und erfrischend (invigorating and refreshing) with Lemon Grass and Honey bush. Teekanne have a couple of ranges in this direction: Harmonie für Körper und Seele (Harmony for Body and Soul), with varieties Träume Schön (Sweet Dreams, relaxing), Hol dir Kraft (Give you strength, invigorating) and Einfach Schön (Simply nice, purifying) and another range with more of an Eastern positioning, Zeit für Wellness (Time for Wellness), including Honeybush & Hibiscus, Peppermint & Lemongrass and Orange Lapacho tea.

 

Around the World in 80 Teas

Meßmer in particular seem to be on a bit of an Atlas of the Tea World exploration at the moment with a large range of teas from around the world, including Masir tea, with mint and honey, described as “fresh and sweet” and Ovambo tea, with red bush and vanilla, described as “sweet and mild”. More varieties can be found on the website www.messmer.deor in any German supermarket.

  

Sex and the Citea

This is one of the more amusing new trends and one that all the brands have leapt on. Rather than using characters from Sex and the City (rather inappropriately) in the TV advertising as in the UK, German tea brands are trying to bring romance and passion into the product itself. Messmer have a “Moments” range including Moment der Liebe (with Cherry and Rose petals, said to be full-mouthed and fruity) and Moment des Glücks (with banana and clover blossom, described as sweet and fruity). Milford have a range including Süße Affäire, Süße Verführung and Süße Romanze (Sweet Affair, Sweet Seduction and Sweet Romance) while Teekanne really get steamy over the kettle with Pure Lust (Strawberry and Rhubarb-Cream), Sweet Kiss (Cherry and Strawberry) and Heiße Liebe (Hot Love, with Raspberry and Vanilla). More details about the Teekanne range can be found on www.teekanne.de – but you’ll probably have to take a cold shower afterwards!

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A revisit of all those tea websites has shown that the tea merchants are still playing the same (presumably successful) games, seventeen years later. Yes, there have been a few new market entrants, of the Yogi Tee ilk, their business further accelerated by the pandemic, by the self-care obsession and the cosiness trend, no doubt. 

Maybe the most interesting development is our own rather charming tea merchant in downtown Bruchköbel. This emporium is going from strength to strength it seems, despite lockdown. A quick glimpse at the website will tell you all you need to know when it comes to why: authenticity, storytelling, digital and physical channels well-used to their best advantage, great choice and a pretty unique offer. 

But ... PG Tips is still almost impossible to find outside the internet. We did have an “international food store” here until a couple of weeks ago, but sadly it has had to close. Some teas simply remain elusive.

Slave to the algorithm

 

I was a latecomer to Wordle, and snuck in just before the puzzle was taken on by The New York Times. It has kept me amused for a couple of weeks, even if I’ve been kicking myself for breaking my winning streak due to US English spelling (not-twigging-of) a little while ago.

Yesterday, though, I was completely bemused. I put in a five letter word, nothing obscure, and was told that this word was not on Wordle’s list. 

The word in question: “slave.” I genuinely wondered if this was a hiccough in the software, so tried on another device. Same result. Intrigued, I searched for an explanation and found news articles to the effect that there are various words that the new owners of Wordle don’t allow - the word for a female dog, for example, or “words associated with racism” such as “slave”. 

There were, no doubt, words for the idea of “slave” long before the English language evolved. When I think of the word, yes, the Atlantic slave trade comes to mind, but I also have associations with earlier history, Roman times, and the present day - I’ve often been asked to sign documents assuring potential project partners that my little one-woman show does not involve slavery in any part of the value chain.

Then there are the more abstract uses of the word - as in that glorious 1980s anthem by Grace Jones. Metaphorical uses, figures of speech, analogies, word-plays. It’s a word with many uses, meanings, nuanaces, contexts.

I’m a writer, and I’ve commented before about the homogenisation of language, as well as the cultural poverty (am I allowed to say poverty?) society is walking into with predictive text and suggested words and phrases. It’s bad enough when suggestions come as to which words you might like to use, but when words themselves disappear from lists and dictionaries? I know language changes all the time, but I am not talking about weird obscure historical words that have had no application for the last five hundred years here.

It’s just a game. OK, it is. But if it’s a game where I have to question every five-letter word and wonder whether it could offend someone, effectively censoring my own vocabularly, then I think I’d rather go back to the Internot and find my ancient Scrabble board game where I can use whatever words I see fit.

Whose money is it anyway?

 

One of the areas where I’m pretty sure my age is showing is my sadness in the decline of bricks and mortar financial and related services. I’ve written about some of my experiences involving my UK bank here and here, and I fear the situation is going to get worse before it gets better.

The pandemic has provided a perfect hatching ground for yet more fraudsters and dodgy schemes intent on getting their grubby mitts on unsuspecting people’s money. I heard recently about an acquaintance who very nearly parted with a huge sum in the direction of fraudsters doing a very good impersonation of the Allianz. 

The sad fact of the matter is that it’s difficult to trust any organisation when you can’t see their offices, or the people working there. The internet is smoke and mirrors in digital.

The situation in Germany is nearly as bad, although I do at least have an advisor/contact person assigned to my account who I’ve met in person, although I suspect that’s a rare privilege as I’m self-employed. Less cheering is the knowledge that, due to Automatic Exchange of Information, UK institutions are passing all sorts of info about me to to the German tax authorities, which would be all well and good if there was some way of finding out which information was being passed over, and a way of checking if this information was correct and relevant - clue: it isn’t always, as I have found out to my cost. 

I know it’s not easy for the banks. The high street branches are a huge cost drain, and they are kind of trapped between security on the one hand and providing good custmer service on the other. But surely this is the kind of challenge that, if you get it right, you’ll really rise above the others and profit?

My experience of banking is that there are more and more hoops for me to jump through now to get anywhere near my own money, yet it’s also increasingly difficult to get to talk to a human being when I really need to - and no, I don’t want to chat on Facebook about financial matters. With the advances in technology, this makes no sense whatsoever.

I’ve got used to the tangle of user names, passwords and memorable information to get me past Go. I am even coming to accept that every second time I want to bank online I’ll have to utter a four digit code at a machine (and that worryingly often, it’s not accepted). But yesterday, I encountered something new. I wanted to move some money from my bank account to the NS&I, where I have Premium Bonds and a couple of other savings bits and pieces.

As I attempted to do this, a grid with about nine little icons flashed up at me.

"Why are you doing this?” demanded the grid.

I was quite taken aback and had a quick look through the options. “Moving my money” seemed to answer the question. Immediately another pop-up in red told me that the bank would never ask me to move money, which was odd as it was nothing to do with the bank, rather my own free will. But choosing this option resulted in not being able to get any further.

I wish I’d done a screen shot of all this as I can’t remember what else there was, but eventually I picked “Savings and investment” which seemed quite safe, but also came with dire warnings about fraud, and had I checked out the company I was investing with, and so on and so forth. I did think briefly about the guy and the Allianz-masquerade, but really. NS&I?

All in all, what should have taken a few seconds took considerably longer and left me irritated and almost as if I’d tried to do something illegal, or ill-advised, or naughty. 

And, strangely, I wasn’t asked to “rate my experience” on this occasion. I wonder why. 

 

RETROWURST: Armani meets Aldi February 2005

 

It’s difficult to believe that the - some would say game-changing -  collaboration between Karl Lagerfeld and H&M was 18 years ago. In February 2005, I wrote about the phenomenon, variously known at the time as “Armani meets Aldi” or “Prada meets Zara” - the growth of luxury and discount at the expense of the poor squeezed middle, be it fashion, retail, cars or even yoghurts.

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This month, I’m going to write about a general trend that I’m sure is prevalent in other markets too, but I thought you might like to hear how this is affecting the German market in particular. It’s the trend variously called “Armani meets Aldi” or “Prada and Zara”, which is best symbolized by legendary designer Karl Lagerfeld putting out a collection for H&M last summer. Now, the collection will probably never be repeated (apparently Lagerfeld was upset that H&M produced his designs in sizes a little bit bigger than those to fit the average stick insect, which is rich coming from him as he used to be quite a porker himself!) but what the whole action represented was an important milestone in the development of this trend.

 

The trend itself is characterized by the growth of the luxury and discount sectors of many markets and the consequent shrinking of the middle. It’s estimated that in 1980, the middle-price segment represented 49% of sales but it is predicted that this will fall to 20% by 2010 at the expense of growth from the luxury and discount sectors. In contrast, discounters are estimated to have accounted for 38% of sales in 2003. Companies such as Porsche and Gucci on the one hand and Aldi and Lidl on the other are enjoying growth, while the traditional middle segment, such as retailer Karstadt-Quelle or car manufacturer Opel is suffering here in Germany.

 

The consumer behaviour that is fuelling this trend can be variously described as “trading up/trading down” or “mixing”. Instead of spending our cash on the ‘safe’ middle, we are ploughing what we’ve saved at the discounter into the new luxury segment. This behaviour can be traced back to a number of factors in Germany; shopping at the discounter was a necessity for many, including new groups of people hit by the last recession from which we’re just beginning to emerge. Another factor is the new responsibility that people are beginning to take for themselves; instead of relying on the tried and trusted ‘safe’ brand names, I’ll decide for myself in which areas I save and in which I splurge! This feeling has now translated into a perception across all bands of society that it’s no longer prestige just to buy expensive things; those who are really clever and ‘in the know’ can tell you exactly which manufacturer produces which Aldi goods! The discounters have not been slow to pick up on this trend and are broadening their offer accordingly. Aldi, for example, makes €1bn from clothing alone and is the 7^th largest textile retailer in Germany.

 

Within areas other than retail, brands are picking up on the trend. A good example is the Korean car manufacturers Hyundai and Kia. These brands are deliberately attacking the value end of the car market with emphasis on quality and design. Hyundai recently ran advertising under the headline “Es gibt wieder richtige Volkswagen” (“Now there are real Volkswagens (peoples’ cars) again”). Both these Korean brands are enjoying double-figure growth in a stagnating market. In all branches, those that offer design at a good price are winning, from H&M to IKEA.

 

Part of the problem of the middle market is that the discounter products are, in many cases, as good. It is really not worth paying a little bit more for a brand name, especially when Aldi is a strong brand name in itself these days. The middle-market brands can no longer rely on their brand name; they must find a way upwards to the new luxury market and offer something worth having. The new luxury market is based on the principle of offering ‘specialness’ in fields where the basic price is not so high. In this way, Danone’s Actimel yoghurt can sell quite happily at a price premium of 100-200%. It is expensive (but jusitified, due to the L.Casei bacteria!) but affordable.

 

Some of the traditional middle-market brands are beginning to incorporate ‘luxury’ elements into their offer or communication in the hope of winning back customers. It is certainly true to say that the boundaries of what is discount, what is mass and what is luxury are becoming more and more blurred but it is questionable whether these actions which are not unique or an integral part of the brand concept will be powerful enough to buck the trend. For example, the mass-market mail-order catalogue Otto now has collections from Heidi Klum and Claudia Schiffer (have they not noticed that the old Supermodel trick has been used to much better effect by H&M for the last ten plus years?). C&A now have TV advertisements with super-high top fashion production values but at the end of the day, you can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.

 

Maybe the German middle-market brands should learn from M&S in the UK; increasingly, this is all about personalization, not about buying into a ‘blanket lifestyle’. It is about picking and choosing to suit oneself across categories, styles and price-bands. It is also about substance and attention to detail. A final example of the ‘new luxury’ is the Internet shopping site www.brot-und-butter.de .Here we see “everyday products but not everyday quality” (the cynical could add something about ‘not everyday prices’, too!).

This has all the elements of specialness, individualism, authenticity and a touch of luxury that I can afford. I imagine that it won’t be long before Aldi offer a similar selection of ‘special everyday’ products to go with the €12.99 champagne!

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17 years, a financial crisis or two and a pandemic later, it’s still the same story, although I’m wondering how much of the sad old middle there really is left to squeeze. One thing that’s changed is that all this mixing and matching has become the norm, with luxury and discount hardly seeming such unlikely bedfellows any more. Which makes it perfectly acceptable for Aldi and Lidl  to do their own luxury-style streetwear collections. 

Hang on. Luxury brands and streetwear? Well, maybe something has changed.

Digitalisation and the move to ecommerce and beyond has been taken up with more aplomb at the two ends of the price spectrum than the slow-moving and more traditional mid-market.

It reminds me in some ways that in the UK, it was always said that the upper and working classes had more in common with each other than with the middle class.