Pioneer or Fast Follow?

Even if you don’t drink alcohol, it’s unlikely you will have missed the rise of Jubel. Lagers flavoured (or ‘cut with’ as they put it) fruit. Peach led; other fruits have – and undoubtedly will continue – to be introduced as the brand grows.

When you spot a meaningful gap, a trend soon follows. From alcopops to cider over ice, from breakfast biscuits to zero deposit mortgages, name a category and it happens. And in beer, Jubel’s peachy flavoured lager set off a wave of fast followers.

There was Haacht’s (rather delicious) Super 8 Peach, a wheat beer infused with 25% peach juice. (Heineken’s) Beavertown Cosmic Drop then dropped in with two new fruit variants —Berry Punch and Watermelon Punch. The touch more traditional Greene King’s Peach Cooler, a peach-tinged session ale launched as part of its 2025 cask calendar. And just this week, Cornish Orchards launched a Peach & Apple cider, made from Cornish apples and … what? Penzance peaches (well, maybe, but is it really that mild in Penwith?).

It’s clear there are some instructive lessons.

• Pioneers shoulder risk, followers harness scale
  Being first means facing uncertainty and investing in consumer education. In a way, Jubel paid the education bill for the whole category. Others leap in once the trend is proving itself —often with broader distribution and marketing muscle.
• If you’re going to innovate, for goodness’ sake own it
  Innovation alone isn’t enough. Jubel has invested to be seen as the peach-drink; without doing this, a fast follower with better market reach or deeper pockets could overshadow it. Getting the brand story out, creating a clear proposition and identity, beyond just flavour, are vital for ownership.
• But followers also amplify the category
  When more brands join a trend, awareness grows (e.g., “peach-flavoured beer” becomes a recognised sub-category). That’s free category-building for the pioneer. But without differentiation or a distinctive identity, followers risk blending in rather than standing out.

Is it better to be a pioneer or a fast follower? There’s no one-size-fits-all answer. Pioneers get the cultural cachet (think Hooper’s Hooch), capture the early adopters and get the first run at the opportunity. But they have to remain ruthlessly focused, invest ahead of the curve and keep moving fast because fast followers can ride the wave with lower risk and scale. The issue for them is that with the desire to enter quickly they often don’t build their brand right. Imitation without distinctiveness means a short-term opportunity not a long term revenue stream.

If you’re going to go first, commit. If you’re going to fast follow, find genuine value-add, at pace.

David Preston is founder of The Crow Flies, a research, strategy and innovation company that helps brands find a direct route to long lasting success.  david@thecrowflies.co.uk; +44 (0) 1889 725670 or +44 (0) 7885 408367; www.thecrowflies.co.uk; @crowflieshigh.
© The Crow Flies, 2025