Polle de Maagt 
Polle de Maagt
My father called me last week with another complaint about a brand. As the marketer in the family, I usually get to defend the entire profession.
This time, the brand was Spa. Its answer reminded me of something my parents used to say: “Being right is no use if you end up in hospital.” A green light gives you right of way. It does not stop a car from hitting you.
Customer service has its own version of that problem.
For as long as I can remember, my father has drunk Spa Citron. It is difficult to estimate precisely, but a crate of six 1.5-litre bottles in a week is not unusual.
Recently, Spa changed its recipe. So my father, clearly holding back his frustration, sent Spa’s customer service an email:
My father
As a hardcore drinker of Spa Citron Original, I have unfortunately noticed over the past month that it is no longer available in Tilburg, at least not at Emté, AH or Jumbo. It has been replaced by a nasty-tasting lemon variant in a smaller bottle. Please let me know what happened to Spa Citron Original and whether and where it is still available.Spa’s customer service replied:
Spa Consumer Service
Dear Mr de Maagt, Thank you for your response. Spa Citron does indeed have a new recipe with 100% natural ingredients. We chose a recipe based on 100% natural ingredients because Spa’s business strategy aims to provide innovative and natural solutions in thirst-quenching drinks. Research has also shown that consumers find the new recipe much tastier. Unfortunately, tastes differ, which means we can never satisfy everyone. We hope you will give Spa Citron 100% natural a second chance, so that you may come to appreciate it after all. The introduction of Spa Citron’s new flavour and packaging may have temporarily made it less available at your local shop. We have agreements with the head offices of several supermarket chains about selling our products. This does not mean that all branches of these chains actually sell every product. We have agreements about selling Spa Citron with the head offices of Albert Heijn, C1000 and Jumbo. We hope you will find a supermarket near you that sells your favourite flavour. Kind regards, Spa Consumer ServiceMy father forwarded the whole exchange to me with the line: “Is that a marketing strategy too: using a string of clichés to declare your longstanding loyal customers a non-target group?” As I said, I usually get to defend the marketing profession.
Congratulations, Spa. You are right. With your business strategy, your careful research, your innovative and natural solutions, and your firm agreements with supermarkets. But that is not worth a damn when you are in the customer equivalent of hospital.
A little empathy, a message that went beyond factual correctness and marketing jargon, would already have helped enormously.
For brands, there is being right, and there is being right.
A note from 2026.
The useful question is not whether Spa was right about its recipe. It is whether the reply helped the person who wrote in.
For the broader principle behind this case, read Acts, not ads.
Original: Gelijk hebben als merk is niet genoeg, Spa Citron, 23 April 2012. Translated and edited in October 2026.
