G. Heileman Brewing Company faces the problem of being among the top five brewers in the United States, but having a market share which is well below the top three. At this point, companies in this segment can gain market share by drawing existing customers away from competing brands within the same product category, or by offering new products which bring new customers to the company's products, and possibly into the product as a whole. Thus companies introduced 'dry' and 'light' beers in order to appeal to consumers who did not otherwise drink beer, or who did not consume as much as the manufacturers desired.
This was the attraction to introducing PowerMaster. Heileman already markets Colt 45, a malt liquor which contains significantly higher alcohol per volume than traditional beer. However, Heileman perceived a market for a beer-like product which had an even higher alcohol content, and thus created PowerMaster as a way to gain market share. Certainly market research indicated that consumers of Colt 45 might well be drawn to the increased alcohol of PowerMaster. It should be noted that PowerMaster contains less alcohol than a serving of wine, and considerably less alcohol than a serving of "hard" liquor.
Heileman introduced PowerMaster in order to gain market share and attract customers to its brand. It is possible that consumers will simply switch from Heileman's current malt liquor offering (Colt 45) to PowerMaster, but the company may also draw customers from other malt liquor and "fortified" beer products.
Although Heileman had legitimate business and marketing reasons for introducing PowerMaster, the company did not anticipate the large public outcry at the product's introduction.
The public's reaction was driven by the fact that the promotion for the product targeted the African-American community and the product itself, with its increased alcohol content, was perceived to be damaging to that community. Th...