Whiskey Brand Turnaround

Case Study Prompt

The client has been in business close to 90 years. The original founder started in the whiskey business, although, over time, successive leaders expanded the product line so that today, the company is a multi-billion dollar diversified liquor manufacturer, with less than 5% of its sales in whiskey.

This expansion strategy made particular sense over the last 20 years, as total U.S. sales of whiskey have been declining by ~2% per year, and the client’s brand has been declining at the same rate.

While the company has enormous passion for the brand (as the founding basis of the company), in recent years they have been paying limited attention to the brand. Last year, however, events caused our client to suddenly pay attention to their brand. While the market declined by 2% again, our client’s brand declined by 15%, despite selling 10m bottles.