Now that's how you handle copycats #54
Last week Aldi made an IPA. This wasn't just any IPA, this was Aldi Anti-establishment IPA, with fruity notes, a citrus nose and a clean, crisp aftertaste. I digress. It wasn't just any IPA because it looked like this:
People spotted the resemblance to Brewdog's Punk IPA (and also the passing nod to some of Fourpure's historical fare) and the internet exploded…
Now a lot of brands would have been on the phone to their legal team demanding an immediate redesign of the packaging and discussing six-figure out of court settlements or lengthy (embarrassing) lawsuits.
But not Brewdog. Brewdog does things a bit differently. It was with a certain amount of glee that co-founder James Watt took to Twitter to announce (less than 24 hours later) that Brewdog was creating its own new IPA. Yaldi IPA – a Brewdog take on Aldi's take on Brewdog's Punk IPA.
Notice how he says, "our friends @AldiUK". It's not a copy, it's a "take". The language is gloriously non-combative and the result is that Brewdog come out of the whole thing looking like heroes, while Aldi look like cooing fanpeople.
And like Brewdog's inspired 'Barnard Castle Eye Test' this beer is actually going to be created.
Not only that, but as of a few hours ago, it's emerged that Brewdog has not just Aldi, but also Tesco lined up to stock its copy-of-a-copy on their shelves. Now renamed Ald IPA (a rebrand actually suggested by Aldi during the most good-natured tweet storm you'll ever see).
So, in summary, if you want to win a PR and marketing war like this one, don't go legal… just get your creative team to hijack the conversation and turn it round to your brand.
Aldi should be basking in the limelight of this epic PR coup. Instead, if you Google "Aldi IPA" right now, this is what you get. A clean news sweep for Brewdog…
