The Lubricant Model of the Future?

It seems like only yesterday lubricant marketers were talking about ExxonMobil’s lubricant marketer model of the future. A model many said was built around that of Anheuser-Busch beer distribution. It was a model where marketers are single branded and look, talk, and think like the major they represent.

Although that model may have shaped what an ExxonMobil lubricant marketer and others look like today, there is one petroleum marketer that ExxonMobil may not have considered when it rolled out its distributor model of the future. That marketer is McMahan Oil Company in Maryland.

Whereas ExxonMobil was reportedly working to shape its lubricant marketers into performing like those selling beer for Anheuser-Busch, McMahan Oil decided it was time to exit the petroleum distribution business and give it a go at manufacturing and marketing craft beer.

Although McMahan Oil Company used to be a bustling fuel oil distributor, Tim Miller, Owner, Vice President at McMahan Oil Company had his vision set on something else and likely more profitable. And like the ExxonMobil distributor model of the future, Tim was thinking beer. That’s when he purchased the National Premium trademark for what he described as “a bargain.”  With that, rather than selling petroleum products, Tim is now looking to convert the family petroleum distribution business into a brewery manufacturing and marketing a pilsner-style lager that has deep roots in the fabric of Baltimore and beyond.

God bless him. For those that may have missed it, it appears Tim Miller is well on his way to success. He was featured this weekend on American Pickers selling rare Esso and Amoco signs and other petroleum memorabilia that was gathering dust at his petroleum distribution business for generations. That exposure will go a long way to help build the new business.

Best of luck Tim! It’s hard not to cheer you on after seeing that show.