- TEFAL
Tefal has long believed that the main motivation for purchasing Teflon-coated pans is that cooking with these pans does not require the consumption of a single gram of oil. However, it later turned out that the main incentive to buy them was the fact that pans with such a coating are very easy to clean, because food does not stick to their surface. The content of the advertising campaign was changed, which significantly increased its effectiveness. - SNICKERS
In Russia, the first Snickers chocolate bars appeared in 1992 and were positioned as a snack that replaced a full meal. Former Soviet consumer for a long time I couldn’t get used to the fact that I could eat soup for lunch instead of soup, and I bought Snickers as a “sweet for tea.” After the BBDO Moscow agency took over the creative servicing of the brand, Snickers was repositioned for teenagers, who for the most part love everything sweet and do not like . - Alka-Seltzer
After Alka-Seltzer advertisements in the 1960s began throwing not one, but two tablets into a glass of water, sales medicinal product doubled in size. The Tinker&Partners agency came up with a cunning advertising move.
There is a similar story about a brilliant marketer who was the first to indicate in the instructions for using shampoo that it should be applied to the hair and rinsed off twice, which led to a double increase in sales. - Pepsi
Nikita Khrushchev was the first to advertise Pepsi in Russia. In 1959, at the American National Exhibition in Moscow, Sokolniki, then-Vice Richard Nixon, skillfully playing the role of host, offered Nikita Khrushchev a drink to try. The photograph in which the Soviet leader is holding a cup with the Pepsi logo in his hands has not left the pages of newspapers and advertising magazines for a long time. That significant moment in the history of the brand is considered the “Birthday” of Pepsi in Russia. - Timberland
From the history of Timberland. In the early 1980s, Timberland was going through difficult times. It produced quality pumps that were priced lower than industry leader Topsiders. It seemed a good product and the low price should have worked for them, but things were not going well. Timberland then made a very simple decision: they raised their prices until they were much higher than Topsiders' prices. Sales increased sharply. Which confirms the validity of David Ogilvy's statement: “The higher the price, the more desirable the product becomes in the eyes of the buyer.” - Parliament
At one time, the Parliament tobacco brand followed the same path. Initially, its prices were lower than its main competitor Marlboro, and sales were quite modest, as they faced a lot of competitors with low prices. price category in which no one appreciated the feature of their exclusive filter. Then the brand left the market for a year and re-entered at a price higher than Marlboro, immediately falling into the “premium” niche where a filter that was different from all others came at the right time. - Woolworth
The founder of the largest chain of Woolworth stores and the inventor of grocery price tags and supermarkets found the right insight that allowed him to make millions by fainting from fear. A shy and stuttering young man from the village at the age of 21 got a job as a sales assistant in a small shop. At that time, the price of goods in stores placed on the counter behind the seller was not indicated. The seller “by eye” determined the buyer’s solvency and named his price. Then the buyer either bargained or left. Poor Frank did not know how and was very afraid to invite customers, praise the goods, and bargain. I was so afraid that one day I even fainted while working. As punishment, the store owner punished him by leaving him alone to sell for the whole day, threatening that if the earnings were less than the usual daily income, he would fire him.
Before opening the store, Frank attached a piece of paper with the lowest possible price to all goods (a prototype of a modern price tag). He laid out all the stale goods dumped in the warehouse on a huge table, attaching a sign to it that said “Everything for five cents.” He placed the table near the window so that both the product and the sign could be seen from the street. And shaking with fear, he began to wait for customers, hiding behind the counter.
All the goods were sold out in a few hours, and the day's revenue was equal to a week's revenue. Buyers, holding the product in their hands and seeing the price written on it, gave up their money without haggling.
Frank left his owner, borrowed money and opened his own store. In 1919, the Woolworth empire consisted of a thousand stores, and Frank's personal fortune was approximately 65 million. - "Guinness Book of Records"
The famous and best-selling (after the Bible) “Guinness Book of Records” is nothing more than a publicity stunt invented by the managing director of the Guinness brewing company, Sir Hugh Beaver. In 1954, at a dinner given by the Wexford company for hunters, Hugh Beaver got into an argument with one of the guests about who could fly faster - a plover or a partridge. It was then that it dawned on Beaver that all over the globe, during such small gatherings, real disputes about “the very best” were unfolding. He decided that it was worth creating a book that would contain officially confirmed records in all sorts of fields.
A year has passed research work, and on August 27, 1955, the first 198-page book was ready. The success was stunning: even before Christmas it became a bestseller in the UK, bringing good income to the beer brand. - Dewar's
In London at the end of the 19th century, brandy, rum and gin were very popular. Therefore, it was not easy to promote. The cunning Thomas Dewar, one of the founders of the family brand, chose an unexpected strategy. He hired straw customers to visit various pubs and demand Dewar's whiskey. Naturally, it was out of stock and they left. After several such visits, Dewar himself appeared at the bar and offered to conclude a contract for the supply of whiskey.
In 1892, Thomas Dewar set off on a trip around the world. In two years, he visited 26 countries, and 32 agents began working for the company and several Dewar’s export companies appeared. The company's turnover during this time increased 10 times. And Tommy Dewar wrote his famous book “A Walk Around the World.” - Camel
The tobacco brand Camel was one of the first in America to try teaser advertising in 1913. Having decided that a camel is not only memorable bright picture, but also an excellent reason for advertising innovations, specialists from the tobacco company RJR, a few days before the first batch of cigarettes went on sale, issued mysterious advertisements in the newspapers of almost ninety American cities. “Camels,” read the first one. A few minutes later the message “Camels are coming” appeared, and then - “Tomorrow there will be more camels in the city than in Asia and Africa combined”! The next morning, the frightened and intrigued Americans finally learned the whole truth. “Camel cigarettes are here!” read the final announcement. - IKEA
When the first IKEA stores were opened in the United States, having already gained recognition in Europe, furniture sales did not meet any expectations. After doing the research, it turned out that while Americans liked the simplicity of the design, they wanted furniture to fit the larger size of their homes. All that needed to be done was to increase the size of the furniture. - Procter & Gamble
Leading chemist-technologist at Procter & Gamble, Victor Mills, who helped his daughter care for her children, had to repeatedly pull out wet diapers from under his own grandchildren, wash and dry them. Of course, he didn’t like the process and wanted to somehow make his life easier. Then the idea of a disposable “diaper” came to mind - a folded pad with high absorbency, which was planned to be placed in a specially shaped panty. After several experiments with different materials Mills developed for P&G New Product, which began to be produced under the Pampers trademark, which became a household name. - Chupa Chups
Usually, after they eat caramel, all children's hands become sticky, and without hesitation they wipe them on their clothes. A lollipop (originally wooden), which could be sucked as if on a fork and without staining clothes, was invented in 1958 by Enrique Bernat. The USP of the product was that it could be sucked without dirtying clothes and hands. At the same time, the first slogan of Chupa Chups appeared - “It’s round and long-lasting” (~ It’s round and long). The innovative stick was appreciated by consumers in all countries of the world, who continue to suck the fruit candy for the 54th year. - Nestlé
The original logo of Nestlé, founded in the 60s of the 19th century, looked like this: a nest with three chicks and their mother. Henri Nestlé used the family coat of arms as a trademark for his first products. At that time, a traditional family was considered to be parents and three children. Later, closer to the middle of the 20th century, traditions changed. The logo has also changed. Now in the nest, traditionally for Europe, there are only 2 chicks. - Marlboro
The Marlboro brand first appeared in 1924 and was positioned as the first women's cigarettes. A purely feminine slogan was chosen: “Mild as May” - “Tender as May.” Hollywood star Mae West was invited as the face of the brand. The packaging was also aimed at the female audience: a filter with a red stripe solved a dual task: to hide sloppy lipstick marks and protect women’s white teeth from yellowing. But no matter how hard advertising specialists tried, the product was not attractive to women: cigarettes spoiled their breath, turned yellow and caused a painful dry cough. Therefore, in order to survive in the market after two decades, the brand had to change gender.
In order to change the idea of filter cigarettes as a product “for girls,” Philip Morris invited one of the best American advertising specialists, Leo Burnett, who came up with the image of the “Cowboy Tamer of the Prairie.” The cowboy, the embodiment of the American spirit, struck a chord with consumers. The posters reminded us of the real heroes of America - brutal guys conquering the wild steppes. They conquered everyone - men and women, blacks and Latinos. Marlboro sales grew so much in just one year that they began to occupy fourth position in the sales ranking of all tobacco products.
In addition, Malrboro began to be produced in the “Flip-top” packaging that later became standard - a hard cardboard case with a hinged lid. Such packaging was both purely practical (the cigarettes did not wrinkle) and of enormous marketing significance - now the smoker had to demonstrate the pack to others every time he was going to smoke, because opening the “flip-top” in his pocket was inconvenient. - De Beers
It is known that the consumer does not buy a product, but a solution to his problem. Thus, the South African diamond company De Beers offered men a solution to all their problems with the opposite sex, building an ingenious advertising campaign on this insight.
In 1948, Harry Oppenheimer, head of De Beers, traveled to Germany to meet with representatives advertising agency N. W. Ayers. He went there with the firm intention of changing people's ideas about diamonds: we must make sure that this stone ceases to be a trinket for moneybags, and becomes an everyday commodity that ordinary people could not do without. Advertising posters depicting glamorous actresses with rings on their fingers and earrings in their ears were replaced by black and white posters with images of diamonds and the inscriptions “Relieves headaches since 1888”, “Think about it. Divorce is more expensive”, “No, your wife didn’t pay for this advertising (But she told us what newspapers you read)” and so on. So De Beers proved that it was possible to sell luxury to women through their men. - Red Bull
When the drink was introduced to a wide market (Europe, USA), the main competitors were Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Molson, Labatt, and Anheuser-Busch. All of them had a similar concept - they toned and stimulated, and the Jolt Cola energy drink contained, among other things, a double dose of caffeine compared to Red Bull.
Then Dietrich Mateschitz took a risky step: he artificially increased the price by half compared to competitors, reduced the volume of containers shaped like a battery, and began placing cans in stores not in the beverage departments, but in any other (note when the next Once you go to the store, you can find cans of Red Bull along with other energy drinks almost in the sausage department, including the alcoholic one).
In addition, cases of Red Bull were distributed free of charge to students on university campuses. At student parties, Red Bull went out with a bang, because by a random and happy coincidence it was quickly discovered that it fits perfectly with vodka. Thus, a new cocktail, Vodka Red Bull, was born, which became very popular. - ARIEL
Rumor has it that the so-called casual Fridays, when you can move away from the strict dress code adopted in large companies and change your formal suit to casual clothes, were invented by P&G for advertising purposes. In the 80s of the 20th century, the world's largest company P&G was the leader in the washing powder market in the United States. But, despite the high advertising activity, the market share did not want to grow. Then the company conducted a study and assessed the clothing care market. In percentage terms, it turned out that powder is used in 65% of cases, and dry cleaning in 35%. The company further found that 70% of laundry detergent consumers are employed and wear suits 5 out of 7 days a week, which they dry clean.
Further, joint research by P&G and Levi Strauss Jeans showed that employees in casual clothing are more creative and work much more efficiently than those who wear suits. And what did they do? P&G internally introduces the right to wear casual clothes on Friday. This news, thanks to the efforts of both companies, received huge coverage in the press, and many corporations followed suit. The washing powder market grew by 20%.
Photos from open sources
Our past makes us who we are. Everyone has a story behind them that has somehow changed their worldview and life. Some stories are quite boring, while others you can listen to with bated breath and wonder what is even possible. This also applies to brands, such as those described below.
1. FedEx Rescue
In the early 1970s, just a few years after FedEx was created, the fledgling company was already in dire shape, losing up to a million dollars a month. At one point it seemed that they would not be able to meet their financial obligations. While waiting for his plane, Fred Smith, the company's founder, impulsively boarded a flight to Las Vegas, where he won $27,000 in blackjack. The company was saved.
2.Lamborghini sports cars were born thanks to the pride of Enzo Ferrari
Lamborghini was originally a tractor manufacturer. Its owner, Ferruccio Lamborghini, was interested in luxury cars, especially Ferraris. While performing a routine check, Lamborghini discovered that the clutch in his Ferrari was broken. He also noticed that the car used the same clutch as his tractors. When he suggested that Enzo Ferrari replace the clutches in his cars with better ones, Ferrari simply kicked him out, saying that he was a tractor manufacturer and knew nothing about racing cars. We all know what happened next.
3. BMW started producing cars because Germany lost the First World War.
BMW was originally an aircraft manufacturing company. After Germany's defeat in World War I, all aircraft manufacturing companies were required to cease production as part of one of the many conditions of the Armistice Treaty signed at Versailles. When the company faced bankruptcy, BMW switched to producing motorcycles and soon after, in 1928, began producing cars. The company's current logo is a tribute to its aviation heritage.
4. Coca-Cola and American Prohibition
Coca-Cola was originally created by John Pemberton, a wounded Confederate colonel who wanted to find something that would help him overcome his morphine addiction. He called it the French Vin Coca, a nerve tonic. When Atlanta passed prohibition legislation in 1886, Pemberton had to redo the formula and make a non-alcoholic version of his tonic. He named the drink Coca-Cola, the drink we all know and love.
5. History of the McDonald's logo
The McDonald's logo is one of the most recognizable in the world, probably second only to Coca-Cola. But the truth is that the name of the owner of the company was not taken into account when creating the logo. The architecture of the original store had golden arches on both sides, because the owner wanted people noticed McDonald's from a distance. Therefore, when creating the logo, this particular architectural feature restaurant.
6. The meaning of the Nike icon
Originally called BRS (Blue Ribbon Sports), the company was renamed Nike, the winged Greek goddess of victory. The famous symbol symbolizes her wings and speed.
7. The Apple logo is not a tribute to Alan Turing
The Truth of Logo Creation famous company far from poetic. The most popular version is that Steve Jobs' favorite fruit was an apple. This also explains why their first computer was named after his favorite apple, McIntosh.
8. UPS Was Founded By 2 Kids With A Bicycle And $100
United Parcel Service, or UPS, as it is known, started from scratch. In 1907, 19-year-old James Casey founded the company with only $100 borrowed from a friend and a bicycle. The teenager took over the post of president, CEO and chairman of the company. Today, UPS is one of the world's largest package delivery companies.
9. Fanta was created in Nazi Germany
At the height of World War II, Nazi Germany was subject to several trade embargoes. Due to a shortage of raw materials and ingredients, the head of Coca-Cola Deutschland. Max Keith decided to create a new drink for the German market using what they had - "leftover leftovers". The name comes from the German word for fantasy (Fantasie).
10. Puma and Adidas exist because of a family feud.
In the 1920s, brothers Rudolf and Adolf “Adi” Dassler ran the successful shoe company Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory. However, during World War II, misunderstandings became noticeable between the brothers. Rudolf was captured by American soldiers and accused of being a member of the Waffen SS, although in fact he was not. Rudolf was sure that his own brother had told him. The split resulted in the emergence of two companies, Rudolf founded Ruda (later renamed Puma) while Adi founded Adidas. They never made peace and were buried in the same cemetery, but as far away from each other as possible.
Victoria's Secret
One day, Roy Raymond decided to give his wife a gift and went to the store in search of beautiful lingerie. He wandered for a long time among the shelves with products, confused in the “otherworldly” world of women's accessories. And even salespeople trained to serve women could not help him make a purchase. So Roy left empty-handed, but with a revolutionary idea. In 1977, he opened his first store, Victoria's Secret, positioned as a new type of lingerie store. The store combined European elegance with a friendly environment that made even men feel comfortable. And by launching a program to sell lingerie through catalogs, Raymond made a real revolution in the very approach to selling lingerie in the world.
However, five years later, Roy Raymond was forced to sell Victoria's Secret to Leslie Wexner, who immediately got rid of the image of a “paradise for men”, focusing on a female audience. Fashionable lingerie from Victoria's Secret began to be positioned as affordable luxury.
And Roy Raymond, at the age of 47, after several unsuccessful business ventures, committed suicide in 1993 by jumping from the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.
One of the oldest chains of fast food restaurants in the United States was founded by Garlan Sanders (1890-1980) when he was over 60. Before that, he led a rather miserable life. Having only 6 years of education, by the age of 40 Garlan managed to change several dozen professions. He sold tires, was a fireman, a soldier, a conductor, helped farmers, worked as a peddler and much more. Having tried a lot of professions, he never found one that he could hold out for a long time. The family lived poorly, but the wife endured all her husband’s problems steadfastly and believed in him until the very end.
In 1930, Sanders opened his own auto repair shop. Soon, he decides that he needs to make a small dining room for clients. Garlan allocated one room of the workshop as a dining room (his family lived in several others). In this room was dinner table and 6 chairs. Sanders cooked his food right in his home kitchen. Soon his auto repair shop became famous throughout Kentucky for its fried chicken. It was called: "Garlan Sanders' Kentucky Fried Chicken." All customers noted the quality of his seasoning, which he prepared from 11 different spices.
In 1937, he opened the Sanders Court & Cafe motel, which was also a fast-food restaurant in its own right. In the 1950s, Sanders began selling his "Garlan Sanders" chicken to other restaurants across America. In the early 60s, Garlan Sanders already had several hundred US restaurants as clients.
Woolworth
The founder of the largest Woolworth store chain and the inventor of grocery price tags and supermarkets found the right insight that allowed him to make millions. A shy and stuttering young man from the village at the age of 21 got a job as a sales assistant in a small shop. At that time, the price of goods in stores placed on the counter behind the seller was not indicated. The seller “by eye” determined the buyer’s solvency and named his price. Then the buyer either bargained or left. Poor Frank did not know how and was very afraid to invite customers, praise the goods, and bargain. I was so afraid that one day I even fainted while working. As punishment, the store owner left him trading alone for the whole day, threatening that if the earnings were less than the usual daily income, he would fire him.
Before opening the store, Frank attached a piece of paper with the lowest possible price to all goods (a prototype of a modern price tag). He laid out all the stale goods dumped in the warehouse on a huge table, attaching a sign to it that said “Everything for five cents.” He placed the table near the window so that both the product and the sign could be seen from the street. And shaking with fear, he began to wait for customers, hiding behind the counter.
All the goods were sold out in a few hours, and the revenue per day was equal to a week. Buyers, holding the product in their hands and seeing the price written on it, gave up their money without haggling.
Frank left his owner, borrowed money and opened his own store. In 1919, the Woolworth empire consisted of a thousand stores, and Frank's personal fortune was approximately 65 million.
Nintendo
The history of the Japanese company, specializing in the creation of computer games and game consoles, began in 1889. At that time the company was called Marufuku and produced playing cards in a special Japanese style, which were painted by hand and then varnished. In 1902, the company began producing Western-style cards, which were unknown to the Japanese at that time, and soon became one of the leaders in the gambling industry.
In the 1970s, Nintendo transitioned from cards to simple toys. At that time, many were invented interesting toys Features: The Ultra Machine, a mechanical hand, and the playful Love Tester. In 1978, Nintendo began producing arcade games.
Pampers
Leading chemist-technologist at Procter & Gamble, Victor Mills, who helped his daughter care for her children, had to repeatedly pull out wet diapers from under his own grandchildren, wash and dry them. Of course, he didn’t like the process and wanted to somehow make his life easier. Then the idea of a disposable “diaper” came to mind - a folded pad with high absorbency, which was planned to be placed in a specially shaped panty. Mills tested the first models on his own grandchildren - he actually tested everything on members of his family. At a time when everyone was brushing their teeth with toothpowder, his wife and daughter did it with liquid toothpaste, which Mills invented.
After several experiments with different materials, Mills developed a new product for P&G, which they began to produce under the Pampers brand, which became a household name. In retirement, the inventor of “diapers” became interested in traveling and mountaineering. Mills was well into his 80s and still climbing mountains. Victor Mills died at the age of 100 in 1997.
Sela
Boris Ostrobrod left the USSR in the early 90s for Israel. There he settled in Tel Aviv and started trading. He began to bring swimsuits from Israel to Russia. A small batch of the first swimsuits, bought by Ostrobrod together with his brother Arkady Pekarsky with their small savings, sold out almost instantly.
Next came work with the Chinese. The brothers began to order clothes from China. After his first successes in the sales field, Boris realized that real success could only be achieved by taking control of production. Which is what he did. After all, world-famous clothing brands also made clothes in China. Since they were able to conduct quality control in China, why not try?
This is how the Sela brand appeared, the main market of which was Russia. At the same time, all production was concentrated in China, and the company's headquarters were located in the capital of Israel, Tel Aviv. Interestingly, the word Sela itself means “rock” in Hebrew.
Nike
Phil Knight was a middle distance runner for the University of Oregon. He was a very mediocre athlete. But he knew very well how terrible American sneakers are. At the same time, German Adidas for most people in the 60s were a real luxury, as they were much more expensive than local products, although they were ten times higher in quality. Knight decided to rectify the situation and create the Blue Ribbon Sports company, which would produce cheap American sneakers that would be of equal quality to German Adidas and Puma.
Knight came to the conclusion that it was possible to sell high-quality, and at the same time inexpensive, sneakers only by producing them in Asia. In 1964, with an investment of $500, Knight and his coach Bowerman ordered 300 pairs of sneakers from the Japanese company Onitsuka Tiger (now ASICS). Phil began selling Japanese sneakers in the United States from his van.
Sales began to grow, and little by little the business began to grow from simply reselling other people's sneakers to producing its own under the Nike brand.
Hilton
In June 1919, located in American state Conrad Hilton, who was then 31 years old, arrived in the town of Cisco, Texas. He recently experienced the bankruptcy of his first enterprise, a bank, which did not stay afloat for even a year. After its liquidation, Conrad still had 5,000 US dollars left, and he was going to open a new bank or, if possible, buy a suitable one. But very soon his plans changed.
In search of accommodation for the night, he went to the local Mobley Hotel. The failed banker was amazed by the crowd of people in the lobby who were literally fighting for free rooms. Crowds of clientele are a real dream for any businessman, Hilton thought at that moment. But the hotel owner was not happy about this, and it turned out that he was not averse to selling his 60-room Mobley. This was enough for Hilton to forget about any banks forever. A few days later he became the owner of his first hotel, and six years later he opened the first hotel of his name in Dallas - the Dallas Hilton.
Adidas and Puma
Shortly after the First World War, at the beginning of 1920, the Dasslers, at a family council, decided to organize a family business - sewing shoes under the Dassler brand. The first products of the Dassler family were slippers and orthopedic shoes for training disabled athletes (of which there were many after the war). The material for them was decommissioned military uniforms, and the soles were cut from old car tires.
In 1924, the Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory was founded. Two brothers with opposite characters complemented each other - Adolf is a calm and balanced producer, while Rudolf is an active and sociable salesman. A year later, Adolf invented and sewed the world's first football boots with spikes, which were forged by the blacksmiths the Zelein brothers. The football model turned out to be comfortable and, together with gymnastic slippers, became the main product of the Dasslers. On summer olympic games By 1928, several athletes were already performing in Dassler shoes.
After the death of their father in 1948, the brothers quarreled and, dividing factories, founded new companies Adidas and Puma. After the collapse of the family business, the brothers did not speak to each other, and Puma and Adidas became their fiercest competitors.
Viagra
In 1992, in the town of Pfizer Sandwich (UK), Pfizer conducted research on a new drug - sildenafil citrate, which was created to treat many heart problems. The developers believed that sildenafil citrate would increase blood flow to the heart muscle and lower blood pressure.
But in the course of research it was found that sildenafil citrate does not particularly affect blood circulation in the myocardium or on arterial pressure. It was also discovered that some male participants in the experiment did not want to return the pills at the end of the test (and one even broke into the laboratory where sildenafil was being made to stock up on the drug for future use). In all of them, the reason for refusal was a sharp improvement in erectile function.
Scientists from the pharmaceutical company Pfizer did not lose sight of this unexpected property of sildenafil citrate and recognized it as good remedy to combat erectile dysfunction. This is how the drug Viagra appeared, the name came from the combination of the words “Vigor” (strength, power) and Niagara Falls - the most powerful waterfall in North America.
Mars
In 1911, 28-year-old Frank Mars, using money earned from selling sweets, which he had been engaged in since the age of 19, opened his own store with his wife. The confectionery shop was located right in Mars’s house, and trade was carried out through the kitchen window. The assortment of the confectionery shop consisted of candies with different fillings, which Frank and Ethel sculpted by hand.
One day Mars and his son were walking around the city, and the little son asked his father to buy him chocolate. In those years, chocolate was sold only by weight, as were Henkel washing powders. This created inconvenience for people, especially on hot summer days - even if you carefully eat chocolate that quickly melts in the sun, you could very easily get dirty with it. At that moment, Frank thought, what if?... And this “if” was embodied in small pieces of chocolate that were wrapped in foil.
As a result, a chocolate bar called Milky Way becomes a bestseller for the young enterprise in a matter of days. In 1925, the new bar was recognized as the leader in the chocolate market. Sales are growing steadily, and the company is developing further, opening new markets for sales of its products.
Today LifeGlobe will introduce you to the most interesting examples how the future popularity of a nascent company can depend on a lucky coincidence, luck, or even a spelling error. We present to your attention the history of the emergence of 20 leading world brands of our time
It has always been known that a company’s future success depends on a catchy, memorable name. Recently, when creating any large company or for the purpose of rebranding an existing but unpopular one, the practice of “brainstorming” is most often used - when all employees gather in one room and “throw” their name ideas onto a common table. This is an interesting and correct approach, but sometimes no “brainstorming” can compare with the will of chance, which brings up completely unexpected ideas or forces you to make a mistake that in the future will cause the mega-popularity of the brand...
Of course, the last words contained a reference to the most famous case of this kind - a typo when registering the domain of Google, the most extensive and popular search engine today. Initially, Page and Brin's search engine was called BackRab, but at some point they decided that something needed to be changed - in 1997, a brainstorming session was held among students in the Stanford University dormitory, the goal of which was to find a name that suited would search engine, capable of processing enormous amounts of information. After several fruitless hours, the idea came to Page himself - the word googol, meaning one followed by a hundred zeros, but the student who was entrusted with registering the domain name made a typo, as a result of which the domain google.com was born.
In order not to go far, let's remember how Facebook was created - the largest social network in the world at the moment. As you know, Mark Zuckerberg’s first trick was to steal photographs and data of Harvard students and post them on his Facemash website with the ability to vote for this or that photo. But the university management did not appreciate the student’s resourcefulness and Mark was expelled. After some time, the bright mind of Zuckerberg came up with the idea of another project, much larger and this time completely legal. One day, Mark was going through old things and accidentally came across his school photo album, “The Photo Address Book.” He remembered that no one ever liked this name, because... was long and took a long time to pronounce, so everyone called the album simply “Facebook” - this is how the future social network got a name that is not known today except in the most backward countries of the world or some native tribes South America =)
Another social resource, popular here - VKontakte - got its name due to the fact that Pavel Durov, who created it, listened to the radio station "Echo of Moscow", where the phrase "In full contact with information" was often repeated on air. Without hesitation, Pavel removed unnecessary words and registered a domain name, which was recently shortened to just two letters VK. Well, I didn’t bother with the logo at all - I used the example of Facebook =)
The name of the Russian search resource Yandex is actually an abbreviation, and it is different in Russian and English - “Language Index” in Russian and “Yet Another iNDEX” in English. Nothing is known for sure about who came up with this idea, but according to the official version it was one of the search engine developers
Domain name for the foreign search engine Yahoo! was invented, without knowing it, by the Irish writer Jonathan Swift, who used this word to describe an annoying tribe of natives in Gulliver's Adventures. In addition, it is also a joyful cry common in America, which is why the founders of Yahoo! Jerry Yang and David Filo chose exactly this name for the domain of the future search resource - in their understanding, “Yahoo!” means the user’s joy that he found the necessary information 
The creator of the Hotmail trademark, which today is part of Microsoft, is Sabir Bhatia, who at one time went through a bunch of names ending in “mail” and, in the end, settled on the name Hotmail - due to the fact that it also encrypts abbreviation HTML. The very idea of creating mailboxes that can be accessed from any corner of the planet where there is Internet belongs to Jack Smith. Today Hotmail is on the verge of closing due to the emergence of more convenient Outlook.com. In 2013, Hotmail will cease to exist forever, and its users will be automatically transferred to the new email service
In order not to stray too far from the Internet and IT technologies, let’s remember one of the leading manufacturers of prestigious new consumer electronics - Apple, whose brand was recognized as the most expensive brand in the world in May 2011. The history of the name is quite comical - one fine day, after three months unsuccessful attempts to come up with a name for the company, Steve Jobs threatened his partners that if they did not offer him a normal option by 5 pm, he would name the company after his favorite fruit - an apple! They didn't offer...
The name of another major electronics manufacturer was decided by a coin - William Hewlett and David Packard tossed it when they decided whose last name would appear first in the name of their joint venture, the first office of which was Hewlett's garage. It is logical to assume that since the company is called Hewlett/Packard, the coin turned out to be lucky for the garage owner =)
The Japanese company Sony also went through a long search - the creators of Tokyo Tsushin Koge Kabushiki Kaisa (Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Company) Akio Morita and Masaru Ibuki wanted to find a shorter and more concise name, but could not come up with anything. And then the Latin language came to their aid, and specifically the word sonus, which translates as “sound.” It was the 50s and in Japan the American word sonny, consonant with it, was widespread in Japan, but written in Japanese hieroglyphs it meant “unprofitable.” The problem was solved with the inherent simplicity of the Japanese - they crossed out the extra N from the name and registered the SONY brand
Another Japanese giant company specializing in the production of digital equipment for home and office - Canon - initially, when created in the 30s of the last century, bore the intricate name Precision Optical Instruments Laboratory in Japan. But with the creation of the first camera, named for some reason in honor of the Buddhist goddess of mercy Kwanon, the brothers Goro and Saburo Yoshida decided to rename the company and at the same time take several consonant names, including Canon, “just in case.” Such foresight helped them in the future to avoid problems with religious structures, which did not like the fact that the name of the great goddess was “some kind of incomprehensible thing” - in the end, the Yoshida brothers settled on the name Canon, because It turned out that, in addition to its sweetness, it is also translated from English as “canon”, and in French it means “gun” - and since that time more and more “photo guns” have been produced =)
The name of the South Korean industrial concern Samsung means “Three Stars”. The reason for the company’s name is not known for certain, but many associate it with the three sons of its founder
The name of the American company Kodak was born thanks to the love of its founder, George Eastman, for the letter “K” - he was looking for short words that would begin and end with this letter. He was also attracted to it by the fact that in all any popular alphabets in the world, the letter “K” is written the same way. As a result, the word “Kodak” was born in Eastman’s head - this is the sound, in his opinion, made by a camera with 100-frame film that he invented in 1888
The creator of the Xerox machine, Chester Carlson, wanted to highlight the fact that before his invention, the dry-powder copier, only wet copying technologies existed. Therefore, Chester sat down with dictionaries and found the word “xer” in Greek, which literally translates as “dry”, and based on it he came up with the name for his machine - “xerox”
In order not to go far, let us remember that in another American state a company was born whose products we consumed by the liter in the 90s - we are talking about Pepsi-Cola, which pharmacist Caleb Bradham invented at the end of the century before last. There are several versions of where this name came from. According to the more common one, Caleb named the drink after pepsin, a digestive enzyme that helps our stomach break down protein. According to another version, Bradham simply took the name of the company of one of his local competitors - Pep Cola - and “edited” it a little. The last opinion that you can pay attention to is based on the assumption that people liked that the black drink gave them vigor and strength (from English pep - energy, vigor) - hence the name
Already in this, the 21st century, Pepsi-Cola has been thoroughly replaced by another no less dark and no less harmful drink - Coca-Cola. Pharmacist John Stith Pemberton didn’t think much about the name - he named it after the main ingredients of his recipe, created on May 8, 1886 - three parts coca leaves (which are so popular in Colombia...) to one part tropical cola nuts. You can learn about other ingredients from the article What is in everyone's favorite Coca-Cola. According to another version, the name for the drink was invented by a local farmer who sold it to a pharmacist for $250. The Coca-Cola logo was written in calligraphy by Pemberton's accountant Frank Robinson - a gifted accountant, judging by the fact that the logo has not changed since then)
The name of the German industrial concerns Adidas and Puma is also associated interesting story. Once upon a time, in the 20s of the 20th century, two brothers, Adolf and Rudolf Dassler, founded a common shoe making company. They called it simply - Dassler (full name - "Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory"). In 1948, after the death of their father, the brothers had a big quarrel and decided to go their separate ways. As a result, they agreed that no one would use the name Dassler anymore. Adolf named his newly formed company Addas, which was later replaced by the more benign Adidas (from Adolf's shortened name - Adi Dassler), and brother Rudolf founded the Ruda factory, later renamed similar word Puma. This is where the joint story of the Dassler brothers finally ended.
The Tokyo engineering company Mitsubishi was founded in the early 1870s, the logo was a three-leaf clover - the coat of arms of the family of the company's founder, Yataro Iwasaki. As a consequence of the coat of arms, the name “Three Diamonds” was coined (“mitsu” - “three”, “hishi” - “diamond”, according to another version of the translation - “water chestnut”). Why then doesn't it sound like Mitsuhisi? The answer lies in the phenomenon of Japanese morphonology, or Rendaku, as a result of which often the voiceless initial consonants of a root become voiced when read if the root of the word is preceded by a prefix or other root. This is why the "h" in the middle of Mitsuhishi is pronounced like a "b"
The history of the name of the South Korean financial and industrial group Daewoo is not as interesting as the translation of the name itself is unusual, which few people know about. The founder of the company, Kim Woo Chong, called it simply and modestly - “Big Universe”. Indeed, much more modest)
No less interesting is the name of the German auto giant Audi. The word itself is borrowed from Latin and is translated as “Listen!”, but the main interesting feature is that Audi is the Latin version of the surname of the company's founder, August Horch. The fact is that they didn’t think much about the name for the first car produced at the newly formed plant - they simply called it Horch, but when they began to come up with a name for next model- the son of one of his partners came to the aid of August, who suggested the Latin version of the leader’s surname. From then on, the history of one of the most successful automobile companies in the world begins, which today is part of the Volkswagen Group.
As you can see, some companies were named on a whim, others took weeks and months to find a suitable name, but all of them, nevertheless, became successful in their economic niches - mainly due to the correctly chosen name, interesting idea and coordinated work of their teams
How brands became famous, accidentally found the true reason for buying products and were able to convince their consumers to buy even more.
The reasons for the purchase are a big advertising secret. No matter how well marketers think of themselves, they still cannot sort out the motives of human behavior and cannot predict the reaction of customers. They look for insights, classify, sum up scientific bases, but despite this, quite often it is possible to find the right strategy strictly through experimentation.
Why do people choose this particular brand from the entire variety of products in this category? What quality of the advertised product should the main emphasis be placed on in order to encourage the consumer to purchase?
The history of the development of Marlboro and the appearance of the famous cowboy are widely known. But there is one more tricky move this brand that is often forgotten about.
Packs of thick cardboard with a hinged top lid, which are now the standard for cigarette packaging, were invented by Marlboro. And not for the purpose of innovation or demonstration of design ideas. And strictly for advertising purposes - to make Marlboro smokers a walking channel of communication.
The whole point was that consumers learned to take cigarettes out of soft packs without taking them out of their pockets, which means those around them did not see the brand. Unacceptable disgrace!
Flip tops - that's what the current cigarette packs are called - had to be taken out, but new ones always attract attention.
Over the years, of course, people have learned to take cigarettes out of flip tops without taking the pack out of their pocket. It's time for Marlboro to come up with new complex packaging, but they didn't have time. Dunhill, the British American Tobacco brand, has already done everything, also giving its cigarettes a more premium look. In order to get a dose of nicotine from a Dunhill pack, you need to open not only the cap, but also the valve. You definitely can't do this in your pocket.
Moreover, to make it even more luxurious, Dunhill called this internal valve the beautiful word “humidor.” Historically, a humidor is a box for storing cigars in which an optimal level of humidity is maintained, and the aroma does not disappear. Dunhill hints to its consumers that the cigarettes in such a pack are close in quality and aroma to cigars. And it’s okay that a pack of Dunhill costs you 60 rubles in Russia. But how beautiful.
Eat beautiful legend about how Estee Lauder began selling her perfumes. Business was not going well for her, and her products were reluctantly taken for sale in stores and salons. Then young Miss Lauder came to the largest perfume store in New York and - oops! - as if she accidentally smashed a bottle of her perfume on the floor. Customers became interested in what this wonderful scent was, and the store simply had to conclude a supply contract with Estee Lauder.
One day in the summer of 1896, Henry Heinz was walking around New York, and on the street he saw an advertisement for a shoe store offering customers “21 styles of shoes.” By analogy, he decided to write “57 options” on his ketchups and sauces. This number had nothing to do with the actual assortment numbers, but Heinz really liked it. And it impressed buyers.
The history of the brand began in 1879, when Lare Olsson Smith created new variety vodka - “Absolute Rent Bravin” (“Absolutely Pure Vodka”). Its main difference is purity, achieved by the rectification method.
In the 70s of this century, Lars Lindmark took Absolute Rent Bravin under his wing. Such excellent vodka had to be marketed accordingly: everything had to be “absolute”, like the product itself. Gunnar Broman, who was then developing a promotion concept, saw a traditional Swedish medicinal bottle with some kind of medicine in a pharmacy window and was shocked by its perfection and simplicity - it became the prototype for the container that the whole world knows now. Which - in many ways - became the reason for the cult status of Absolut vodka.
The manufacturer of the most famous bikes in the world has held first place in the number of “branded” tattoos for decades. It all started with Harley announcing impressive discounts on bikes for those who come to buy a motorcycle with a logo tattoo.
Mezcal - traditional alcoholic drink, produced, like tequila, in Mexico from agave. Technically, tequila is also mezcal, but of a different variety and, objectively speaking, much better taste.
Mezcal became popular outside of Mexico only thanks to the corpse of a caterpillar floating at the bottom of the bottle. The poor larva does not affect the taste of mezcal in any way - this is a well-thought-out advertising ploy. Exotic!
Europeans and Americans cheerfully drink mezcal, and then solemnly divide the caterpillar among everyone - this is how it is now supposed to be. And the Mexicans giggle at how cleverly they managed to bring their alcohol to the world market.
Tefal has long believed that the main motivation for purchasing Teflon-coated pans is that cooking with these pans does not require the consumption of a single gram of oil. However, it later turned out that the main incentive to buy them was the fact that pans with such a coating are very easy to clean, because food does not stick to their surface. The content of the advertising campaign was changed, which significantly increased its effectiveness.
In Russia, the first Snickers chocolate bars appeared in 1992 and were positioned as a snack that replaced a full meal. For a long time, the former Soviet consumer could not get used to the fact that he could eat chocolate for lunch instead of soup, and bought Snickers as a “sweet for tea.” After the BBDO Moscow agency took over the creative servicing of the brand, Snickers was repositioned for teenagers, who for the most part love everything sweet and do not like soup.
There is a similar story about a brilliant marketer who was the first to indicate in the instructions for using shampoo that it should be applied to the hair and rinsed off twice, which led to a double increase in sales. Well, remember the commercials for chewing gum in pads. How many pillows do advertising characters put in their mouths? That's it.
The main marketing trick of Pepsi is considered to be a move during the Great Depression in the States, when Pepsi was sold in 340 ml bottles, while Coca Cola was sold in 170 ml bottles. The price remained the same: 5 cents per bottle. Such godless dumping was accompanied in advertising by a corrosive song with the text “Pepsi-Cola hits the target, 12 full ounces is a lot! Twice as much for the same coin! Pepsi-Cola is the drink for you."
From 1936 to 1938, Pepsi doubled its sales, thanks to the Great Depression. And the slogan penetrated the brains of American consumers for another 20 years. Pepsi still adheres to part of the same “more for the same price” policy now, 75 years later. For example, in Russia Coca Cola is sold in 0.5 liter bottles, and Pepsi in 0.6 liter bottles.
From the history of Timberland. In the early 1980s, Timberland was going through difficult times. It produced quality pumps that were priced lower than industry leader Topsiders. It seemed like a good product and low price would work for them, but things weren't going well. Timberland then made a very simple decision: they raised their prices until they were much higher than Topsiders' prices. Sales increased sharply. Which confirms the validity of David Ogilvy's statement: “The higher the price, the more desirable the product becomes in the eyes of the buyer.” The same technique of “artificially inflated demand” has been used by luxury brands for decades.
At one time, the Parliament tobacco brand followed the same path. Initially, its prices were lower than its main competitor Marlboro, which it also owns Philip Morris, and sales were quite modest. It was very difficult for consumers to choose among the mass of offers of the same price segment, and they chose the familiar, not caring about the exclusivity of the Parliament filter. The brand had to leave the market for a year and, on reflection, relaunch at a much higher price.
The founder of the largest chain of Woolworth stores and the inventor of grocery price tags and supermarkets found the right insight that allowed him to make millions. A shy and stuttering young man from the village at the age of 21 got a job as a sales assistant in a small shop. At that time, the price of goods in stores placed on the counter behind the seller was not indicated. The seller “by eye” determined the buyer’s solvency and named his price. Then the buyer either bargained or left. Poor Frank did not know how and was very afraid to invite customers, praise the goods, and bargain. I was so afraid that one day I even fainted while working. As punishment, the store owner left him trading alone for the whole day, threatening that if the earnings were less than the usual daily income, he would fire him.
Before opening the store, Frank attached a piece of paper with the lowest possible price to all goods (a prototype of a modern price tag). He laid out all the stale goods dumped in the warehouse on a huge table, attaching a sign to it that said “Everything for five cents.” He placed the table near the window so that both the product and the sign could be seen from the street. And shaking with fear, he began to wait for customers, hiding behind the counter.
All the goods were sold out in a few hours, and the revenue per day was equal to a week. Buyers, holding the product in their hands and seeing the price written on it, gave up their money without haggling.
Frank left his owner, borrowed money and opened his own store. In 1919, the Woolworth empire consisted of a thousand stores, and Frank's personal fortune was approximately 65 million.
The famous and best-selling (after the Bible) “Guinness Book of Records” is nothing more than a publicity stunt invented by the managing director of the Guinness brewing company, Sir Hugh Beaver. In 1954, at a dinner given by the Wexford company for hunters, Hugh Beaver got into an argument with one of the guests about who could fly faster - a plover or a partridge. It was then that it dawned on Beaver that all over the globe, during such small gatherings over a glass of beer, real debates were unfolding about “the very best.” He decided that it was worth creating a book that would contain officially confirmed records in all sorts of fields.
A year was spent on research work, and on August 27, 1955, the first 198-page book was ready. The success was stunning: even before Christmas it became a bestseller in the UK, bringing good income to the beer brand. And at first the name of the Guinness stout influenced the sales of the Book, and then the yearbook began to help the parent brand.
In London at the end of the 19th century, brandy, rum and gin were very popular. Therefore, promoting whiskey was not easy. The cunning Thomas Dewar, one of the founders of the family brand, chose an unexpected strategy. He hired dummy buyers who visited various pubs, demanding to pour them Dewar's whiskey. Naturally, it was not on sale, and they left. After several such visits, Dewar himself appeared at the bar and offered to conclude a contract for the supply of whiskey.
In 1892, Thomas Dewar set off on a trip around the world. In two years, he visited 26 countries, and 32 agents began working for the company and several Dewar's export companies appeared. The company's turnover during this time increased 10 times. And Tommy Dewar wrote his famous book “A Walk Around the World.” On cultural research Thomas and his statements are now building Dewar's advertising campaigns around the world, separating the brand from its competitors.
The tobacco brand Camel was one of the first in America to try teaser advertising in 1913. Having decided that a camel is not only a memorable, bright picture, but also an excellent reason for advertising innovations, specialists from the tobacco company RJR, a few days before the first batch of cigarettes went on sale, published mysterious advertisements in the newspapers of almost ninety American cities. “Camels,” read the first one. A few minutes later the message “Camels are coming” appeared, and then - “Tomorrow there will be more camels in the city than in Asia and Africa combined”! The next morning, the frightened and intrigued Americans finally learned the whole truth. “Camel” cigarettes. is already here!” read the final announcement. Shocked by the unusual advertising, the Americans, of course, tried Camel.
When the first IKEA stores were opened in the United States, having already gained recognition in Europe, furniture sales did not meet any expectations. After doing the research, it turned out that while Americans liked the simplicity of the design, they wanted furniture to fit the larger size of their homes. All that needed to be done was to increase the size of the furniture.
Leading chemist-technologist at Procter & Gamble, Victor Mills, who helped his daughter care for her children, had to repeatedly pull out wet diapers from under his own grandchildren, wash and dry them. Of course, he didn’t like the process and wanted to somehow make his life easier. Then the idea of a disposable “diaper” came to mind - a folded pad with high absorbency, which was planned to be placed in a specially shaped panty. After several experiments with different materials, Mills developed a new product for P&G, which they began to produce under the Pampers brand, which became a household name.
Usually, after they eat caramel, all children's hands become sticky, and without hesitation they wipe them on their clothes. A lollipop (originally wooden), which could be sucked as if on a fork and without staining clothes, was invented in 1958 by Enrique Bernat. The USP of the product was that it could be sucked without dirtying clothes and hands. At the same time, the first slogan of Chupa Chups appeared - “It's round and long-lasting” (~ It's round and long). The innovative stick, convenient packaging and bright logo by Salvador Dali have been appreciated by consumers in all countries of the world for more than 50 years continuing to suck fruit candy.
When the drink was introduced to a wide market (Europe, USA), the main competitors were Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Molson, Labatt, and Anheuser-Busch. All of them had a similar concept - they toned and stimulated, and the Jolt Cola energy drink contained, among other things, a double dose of caffeine compared to Red Bull.
Then Dietrich Mateschitz took a risky step: he artificially increased the price by half compared to competitors, reduced the volume of containers shaped like a battery, and began placing cans in stores not in the beverage departments, but in any other (note when the next Once you go to the store, you can find cans of Red Bull along with other energy drinks almost in the sausage department, including the alcoholic one).
In addition, cases of Red Bull were distributed free of charge to students on university campuses. At student parties, Red Bull went out with a bang, because by a random and happy coincidence it was quickly discovered that it fits perfectly with vodka. Thus, a new cocktail, Vodka Red Bull, was born, which became very popular.
Rumor has it that the so-called casual Fridays, when you can move away from the strict dress code adopted in large companies and change your formal suit to casual clothes, were invented by P&G for advertising purposes. In the 80s of the 20th century, the world's largest company P&G was the leader in the washing powder market in the United States. But, despite the high advertising activity, the market share did not want to grow. Then the company conducted a study and assessed the clothing care market. In percentage terms, it turned out that powder is used in 65% of cases, and dry cleaning in 35%. The company further found that 70% of laundry detergent consumers are employed and wear suits 5 out of 7 days a week, which they dry clean.
Further, joint research by P&G and Levi Strauss Jeans showed that employees in casual clothing are more creative and work much more efficiently than those who wear suits. And what did they do? P&G internally introduces the right to wear casual clothes on Friday. This news, thanks to the efforts of both companies, received huge coverage in the press, and many corporations followed suit. The washing powder market grew by 20%.