Wrigley: Third Time's The Charm

What business are you really in?

William Wrigley Junior found out. Via trial and error. :)

He'd moved in 1891. From Philadelphia to Chicago. To open a branch of his father's business.

Selling?mineral?scouring soap. Consisting of dried soap, abrasive powder and a bleaching agent. To clean bathtub stains. Or paint spills. For that matter.

Dealers were reluctant to carry it. Naturally. Because profit margins were low. After all, there were plenty of competing brands on shop shelves. Like Vim, Ajax, Comet. And the like.

Wrigley started including?free gifts?with his cleansing soap. Varying from envelopes to umbrellas. To samples of baking powder. As a trade incentive.

Here's what had been happening. In the background.

From the 1840s to the late 1880s, baking powder composition had undergone radical changes. First with the addition of cream of tartar to sodium bicarbonate. And then by its replacement with mined calcium phosphate. Baking bread, biscuits, cookies and cake was now faster. And easier.

The market readily accepted Wrigley's freebie. Surprise! It soon turned out to be more popular. Than the soap itself!

What did Wrigley do ?

He ditched soap. In 1892. And took up baking powder. Continued offering free premiums. To induce merchants to buy.

Only this time around, he came up with chewing gum. Two packets of gum. Tossed in free with each can of baking powder.

And once again, the promo item turned out to be more in demand than the base item itself. Their customers were more interested in chewing gum than in baking powder!

The adaptable businessman that he was, Wrigley switched from baking powder to chewing gum. Talk about?product-market fit!

He entered the gum industry in due earnest. And reorganised his company's operations.?

Wrigley asked his gum supplier Zeno Company to use?chicle. Rather than the conventional ingredients paraffin and spruce.

Wrigley expanded his target clientele to youngsters. Started with Vassar and Lotta. In 1893, they introduced a sweet flavour: Wrigley's?Juicy Fruit. With banana, peach and pineapple flavour. And barely a few months later, Wrigley’s?Spearmint.?

He persisted with his premium offers. Combining gum with lamps, pocket knives, fishing tackle, recipe booklets and measuring scales.

Realising that chewing gum was an impulse purchase, Wrigley succeeded in convincing candy storekeepers to place gum jars and display shelves next to their?checkout countertop. Sounds familiar?

In 1908, the company grossed?$3 mill?in revenue. $1 mill of which came from Spearmint alone.

In 1915, Wrigley sent four free sticks of Spearmint each to 1.5 mill?Americans. Listed in phone directories. In the?first-ever?nationwide direct marketing campaign.

Later they sent two sticks of gum each to?750000?children. When they turned two years of age.

By 1925, Wrigley became the world's?largest?gum manufacturer.

In 2008, Mars acquired Wrigley. For a whopping?$23 billion.?

Today, Wrigley’s, as part of Mars' portfolio, remains the world’s best-selling?gum brand.

None of which would have happened. If Wrigley had stuck to scouring soap.

Worth chewing on, isn't it?

Rarely is success a straight line! :)

Got similar stories to share? Let us know. In the comments below. Until next time! :)

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