„Wer hat’s erfunden?“: Ricola holt sein Markenkapital zurück

22.10.2026

Ricola is not pulling an old advertising slogan out of the drawer but unearthing the brand’s gold: “Wer hat’s erfunden?” (“Who invented it?”) The line was never a prison but capital. In the early 2010s the brand apparently set it aside – out of a worry many brands know: being reduced to a single sentence. Yet it is more than a claim. Not a slogan you read, but one you play: people call it out to the group, imitate the voice, deliberately turn especially urgent while doing so – at the office, among friends, in everyday life, whenever it fits. And everyone knows instantly who is meant. That is not reach you buy. That is affection you have earned.

For marketing expert and keynote speaker Thomas Daamen, whose talk on brand leadership and brand strategy of Love Brands, “Together – From Zero to Love Brand,” begins exactly here, this is a textbook case: A strong claim is not a cage but capital. Many marketing leaders fear being pigeonholed into a niche they can never leave – especially when a campaign ran for a long time and brand and message have fused in people’s minds. The worry about missing other, perhaps more lucrative opportunities is understandable, but it distracts from what matters. “Anyone who only looks at new possibilities overlooks the brand capital they have already built,” says Daamen.

Aperol shows how much power lies in one single, unmistakable thing. The Spritz is more than a recipe; it is the ritual by which the brand is recognized. Daamen, who helped shape Aperol for several years in a position of responsibility, knows the temptation to let a brand be there for everything and everyone – and knows where it ends: in arbitrariness. A Love Brand emerges where people make a brand moment their own and carry it on.

And the new spot by Jung von Matt? It forgoes youth slang and ingratiation and shows reality instead: a young customer puts a pack of Ricola on the checkout belt, the cashier reflexively asks “Wer hat’s erfunden?” – and meets a blank stare. Two worlds collide here: those who have had the line in their ears since the nineties, and those for whom it is just a question mark. Ricola does not hide this gap but turns it into the punchline. The gold was recognized, recovered, polished – and now the brand is building on it. Some get to recognize, others to discover.

“A claim that customers play back is no longer advertising but brand capital,” Daamen sums it up.

Image credit: Ricola

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About Thomas Daamen

Thomas Daamen is a keynote speaker from Munich and a Marketing Director with more than 20 years of experience in marketing and sales, including several years in a leading role for Aperol. He speaks at annual kickoffs, sales conferences, leadership events and customer events about how to understand customers, decide boldly and win teams over for a brand – told through Love Brands.

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