On Feb 3, Wrigley Canada announced that it will close its 53-year-old Toronto chewing gum factory in March 2016 due to a decline in sales. The news was reported by major news sites in Canada. It caught my attention to do a little research on Wrigley’s founder William Wrigley Jr. and how he used advertising to grow a five-cent chewing gum business into one of the most successful companies in American history.
William Wrigley Jr. started the business in 1891 in Chicago with $32 dollars in his pocket and a check from his uncle for $5000.
Having many years experience as a traveling salesman, William Wrigley Jr. not only understood the power of advertising but also devoted his time and energy to promoting his products through advertising. He is also remembered as the father of modern advertising. His famous motto is “Tell ’em quick and tell ’em often.”
In 1907, when almost all of his competitors were reducing their costs due to the economic downturn, William Wrigley Jr. saw it as a perfect opportunity to increase his advertising spending. He mortgaged everything he owned to launch a massive advertising campaign. It is the success of this campaign that ranked the company into national prominence.
William Wrigley Jr. sent free gum to each name in every telephone book in America. During the World War I, he supplied gum to the Allied Forces and ran ads that said “Five cents before the war, five cents during the war, five cents now!” By 1918 the words “Wrigley and “gum” were synonymous.
In the 1920s, William Wrigley Jr. placed cards promoting his gum in buses, subways, and train cars throughout the country. His ads were everywhere from newspapers to billboards. Wrigley became a household name brand.
William Wrigley Jr. is a true master of using his ads to tell people the health benefits, pleasure and experience that his products bring to people’s life. vintageadbrowser.com has a large collection of Wrigley’s ads from as early as 1910. They are great examples on how to convey the benefits of a product.
Here are 8 Wrigley Ads used between 1910 and 1930:
Here are William Wrigley Jr’s most famous quotes about marketing and advertising:
Everybody likes something extra, for nothing.
Tell ‘em quick and tell ‘em often.
Even in a little thing like a stick of gum, quality is important.
The art of salesmanship can be stated in five words: Believing something, and convincing others.
Sticking is one of the big things in salesmanship. Nearly all buyers say ‘No!’ at first. Real salesmen stick until the buyer has used up his last ‘No!’
No matter what the condition of a business, never stop advertising.
Restraint in regard to immediate profits. That has not only been our most profitable policy, it has been pretty nearly our only profitable one.
There is no such thing as getting a business so established that it does not need to advertise.
To be always pleasant, always patient, always on time, and never to argue.
Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.
A man’s doubts and fears are his worst enemies. He can go ahead and do anything as long as he believed in himself.
As you can see, many of William Wrigley Jr.’s marketing strategies are still effective in today’s world. I hope you’ve learned a few tips that you can apply in your business. Please leave your comments in the comment area. Join our mailing list for more articles like this.
