While much of the social media world was diving into the Burger King Twitter hack, the fire storm around the decision to dilute the alcohol in Maker’s Mark bourbon seemed to evaporate due to some quick thinking by company executives.  The initial plan to reduce the percent of alcohol from 45% to 42% to preserve supply vs. raising prices seemed logical, but the bourbon faithful were displeased that their beloved brand would be victimized in the face of economics.  After some blundered quotes, the company listened and reversed its decision.

Most blogs will focus on the positive outcome of this situation.  A brand that “truly listened to their customers” and “recognized that Maker’s Mark is the consumers brand.”  It will become a lesson in how to handle negative backlash in social media.  I’m not so sure.  Something just doesn’t make sense.

Maker’s Mark has over a hundred thousand Ambassadors and dedicates 30% of their marketing budget to these fine folks who live the brand.  From holiday gifts to charitable initiatives, Maker’s Mark keeps these trusted consumers close to the heart and relies on them to be brand evangelists both online and off.  This begs the question…

Why didn’t you ask the Ambassadors for their thoughts before you announced a change?

While the initial announcement to water down the beloved beverage was sent via email to the Ambassadors, it’s hard to believe no one on the marketing team thought to include this passionate group in a discussion before announcing the change.  Why have an ambassador program if you only plan to push messages to them vs. include them?

While Maker’s Mark has seen increasing sales over the last several years, there has also been increasing competition from rising brands.  People are simply drinking more bourbon these days than anticipated 6 years ago (the time it takes for Maker’s Mark to distill their recipe).  This may be true, but as the Washington Post article mentions, the brand has consistently been trending up over the past 6 years.

Something doesn’t sound right.

Maybe it’s a Big Data (buzz word – 5 points) issue.  Someone clearly wasn’t paying attention.  Or, is it a crafty plan to drive bottles off the shelf?

I’ve scoured the articles looking for more details on the “supply shortage,” but haven’t been able to locate any concrete information other than the companies claims that supply is running out (if someone has more detail, I’d be curious to see it).  Maybe I’m simply looking for a conspiracy where a conspiracy doesn’t exist, but the story just doesn’t add up.  There are clearly a variety of other options the company could have pursued beyond the two discussed (dilution or price increase).

What do you think?  Is this a clever recreation of the old Coca Cola changing their recipe strategy, or am I giving someone at Beam Inc. too much credit?

Either way, I’m guessing a lot of Maker’s Mark was sold over the last 7 days.  I’ll be waiting to see when supply actually runs out.

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