Madcap Case Analysis Essay -- Marketing Management

Madcap Case Analysis Problem Definition: Considering 4 elements of the marketing mix and the case discussion of the general trends in the industry, it seems that MCB is experiencing problem with place and determining its target market. The case provides many examples of the company's difficulties in gaining more retail locations, maintaining sufficient inventory level, and, the most important, improper positioning of its product, which impeded the MCB to reach its potential customers. Key Facts: 95% of beer was distributed through a three-tier system: producer - wholesaler - retailer. Since there were about 6 thousand brands and the retails stores could only carry forty - fifty brands, it was quite difficult to persuade distributors to deal with the MCB products. However, the distinct packing drove much of distributors' attention to Zebra beer. According to the case, the problem with production was the lead time. Due to the timing in supply of the painted bottles and the lengthy brewing process, the company could not provide beer to their distributors at any time they needed it. The company could not afford to distribute its product to other states than Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana because bottle taxes and shipping costs would eat up all the profit. It was noticed that if the beer is displayed in a refrigerator or a cold box, the sales were higher so the company was willing to double the commission for distributors if they could place Zebra in cold boxes The beer brands were classified as popular, premium, super premium, and ultra-premium. The distinguishing factor determining if brands belonged to different classes was whether beer was produced by four largest companies (Anheuser-... ... other hand, exploring new areas to distribute Zebra, the company might potentially run into a situation described by Rob Daumeyer from Cincinnati Business Courier. According to the article, when Madcap introduced its three types of beer, they ."..were caught short when they discovered Heidelberg Distributing Co. ordered 6000 cases as an introduction." (Daumeyer 1) They did not expect such popularity and could not effectively handle it. Bibliography: Daumeyer, Rob. "Beware of Too Much Business" Cincinnati Business Courier (June 1996): 9pars. 28 June 1996 Mullins, John W., et al. Marketing Management. 5th Edition, New York: McGraw Hill, 2002 Rosental, David W., Twells, Richard T. Madcap Craftbrew & Bottleworks, Inc.: Zebra Beer - It's Not All Black and White. Miami University, 1999