The Distribution Trap: How to Know When to Go Wide and When to Go Deep (Before You Burn Every Bar in the City on a First Impression You Were Not Ready For)

Most brands treat the first bottle as a win. A new account. Progress. It is not. It is the opening of a diagnostic. The reorder is the answer. The work between placement and reorder is what most brands skip. And the number of accounts you run the diagnostic in at the same time determines whether you can hear the answer at all.

This framework gives you that work in four phases. The placement. The diagnostic window. Reading the answer. Managing the expansion.

If you want the full argument before you start, read The First Bottle Is Not Distribution.

Why You Must Think About One Case Before You Sell One Bottle

Let me tell you something obvious. Six bottles in one bar is better than one bottle in six bars. You already knew that. I know you did. And yet this is the most debated thing I say publicly. Half the room agrees immediately. The other half pushes back before I

The MAFFEO DRINKS LabChris Maffeo

If you are ready to work, start at Phase 1.

Who this is for: brand owners and commercial teams working the on-trade with limited resources. You have placed bottles. You are not sure why some accounts reorder and others do not. You are wondering whether you need more accounts or whether you need to do something different with the ones you have.