Althouse: "Maker's Mark's Plain Dumb Move Proved To Be Pure Marketing Genius."

May 7, 2013

"Maker's Mark's Plain Dumb Move Proved To Be Pure Marketing Genius."

"Customers started hoarding what they were led to believe were to be the last 90-proof Maker’s bourbon bottles."

23 comments:

edutcher said...: Supply and demand.

Too bad the Lefties will never get it.; 5/7/13, 9:37 AM
traditionalguy said...: We simply re-distribute the 90 proof stuff. Problem over.; 5/7/13, 9:41 AM
Mitch H. said...: If they say so. Me, I've started actively avoiding Jim Beam brands. Not that it's easy, they've spammed the local liquor stores with their forty or fifty different whiskeys. I guess so long as they're all separate SKUs, nobody notices that half the aisle has been soaked up with output of the same booze conglomerate.; 5/7/13, 9:42 AM
Eric the Fruit Bat said...: Nobody liked my idea of saving up bottle tops you could eventually cash in for a new liver.; 5/7/13, 9:42 AM
Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...: Didn't see that coming.; 5/7/13, 9:46 AM
ndspinelli said...: My wife called it a marketing ploy immediately. I thought maybe that's because she didn't want me to hoard.; 5/7/13, 9:54 AM
bagoh20 said...: "No one could have predicted that their customers would rush out and hoard on the bourbon. And in the age of social media it was entirely predictable that customers would revolt vociferously."

Maybe that's why you don't run a successful major label, but instead write about those who do.; 5/7/13, 10:06 AM
Tank said...: I like Maker's Mark. And I'm a bourbon drinker. But, there's plenty other good bourbons. Hoarding? Weird.; 5/7/13, 10:08 AM
bagoh20 said...: Branding goes both ways. The brands you choose make up your own personal brand. You won't abandon part of your own brand if you have an option. That's why this works. If you are a Maker's Mark person, you aren't going to just change brands overnight if you can avoid it. Bitching is not abandonment. If it was their would be no marriage lasting past year one.; 5/7/13, 10:14 AM
John henry said...: Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Just like New Coke.

Stupid all the way to the bank.

Cha-Ching!

John Henry; 5/7/13, 10:19 AM
John henry said...: Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Just like New Coke.

Stupid all the way to the bank.

Cha-Ching!

John Henry; 5/7/13, 10:19 AM
Bender said...: Ticking off your loyal customer base is hardly marketing genius. Resentments like this linger.; 5/7/13, 10:32 AM
Anonymous said...: Yes. This was not a mistake, though it's not a guerrilla marketing tactic that can be used more than once.; 5/7/13, 10:45 AM
Chip S. said...: Althouse just loves these "success thru failure" theories.

It's a variant of "so bad it's funny" shtick. I wonder if she's a fan of Carrot Top.; 5/7/13, 11:20 AM
Astro said...: I said at the time it was a marketing gimmick - for an overrated bourbon losing market share to better, small batch brands like Knob Creek and Elijah Craig.; 5/7/13, 11:31 AM
Mark said...: Reminds me of what 'Obama is going to take your guns/ammo' has done forvtgat industry.

Nothing sells like panic, just see recent ammo sales.

I don't believe either are very far from the marketing department.; 5/7/13, 11:44 AM
Sam L. said...: Ain't nuthin more fun that irritating your customers, and bigger than big-time is best of all.; 5/7/13, 12:34 PM
ed said...: Personally I avoid Maker's Mark atm.; 5/7/13, 2:10 PM
Anonymous said...: Althouse just loves these "success thru failure" theories.

Chip S.: Doesn't she!; 5/7/13, 2:12 PM
Anonymous said...: She knows there's no success like failure
And that failure's no success at all.

-- Bob Dylan, "Love Minus Zero/No Limit"; 5/7/13, 2:39 PM
Ann Althouse said...: "I wonder if she's a fan of Carrot Top."

No, but I did refer to prop humor in another post today.; 5/7/13, 4:04 PM
Chip S. said...: Heh.

Sarah was doing Rocky Top.; 5/7/13, 4:57 PM
Cinderellastory said...: A Rewrite:

"Government's Plain Dumb Move Proved To Be Pure Marketing Genius."

"Gun owners started hoarding what they were led to believe were to be the last caches of ammunition."

Yes, our government is in the best of hands...; 5/8/13, 10:26 AM