What is common between Orange Juice & Palmolive Oil ..

At times organizations face this challenge of growth and most of the time they opt for the most obvious route of network expansion, discounts or offers Few take the path that is least travelled but most rewarding. I remember we faced the same challenge in 2009 when we were launching a product called MDF (Medium Density Fibre Boards) in India. The route we took to promote MDF was unconventional and the results are for all to see. Sharing two similar stories that have been etched in my heart and mind and have helped me in “Out of box thinking”

Sunkist

The cooperative of orange growers of California were struggling, their major source of livelihood ( Early 1900’s) i.e Oranges were not selling and they had only two options one was to cut the trees as they could not afford the expenses required to maintain them or increase the sales and consumption so that they can survive. They chose the second option. They hired one of the best marketers named Albert Lasker to work out a strategy for them to increase sales.

The issue was that the market for oranges was oversupplied and orange farmers were selling at a loss. First, Lasker changed their name to Sunkist. Then he developed a famous print ad that simply said, “Drink an orange.”

“Drink an orange.” (Shiral Tobin)

The thinking was brilliant. The ads persuaded people to squeeze oranges and drink juice at breakfast as a healthy way to start their day. Before the campaign, the average consumption per serving was half an orange. But after Lasker’s juice campaign, it jumped to two and a half oranges per serving. A 400 percent increase. Because of Albert Lasker, orange juice became a staple of North American breakfasts.

Palmolive

When a small firm from Milwaukee called the B.J. Johnson Soap Company approached Lasker with a laundry product, a category that was too crowded and had cutthroat competition. He asked them “Do you have anything else?”. The soap company said yes, they had a bar of soap made from palm and olive oils. It was called Palmolive, but they didn’t have much hope for it. Lasker felt differently.

First, he created a campaign around the “beauty appeal” of Palmolive, rather than its cleaning qualities. He completely changed the battlefield and expanded the pond size.

Then he sent letters to 50,000 druggists telling them Palmolive was about to launch a massive coupon promotion and to get ready for a stampede of shoppers. The soap company immediately received one thousand orders from retailers.

One year later, the B.J. Johnson Soap Company was redeeming two thousand coupons per month. 99 percent of drug stores were stocking Palmolive Soap. By 1916, Palmolive was the best-selling soap in the world. The B.J. Johnson Soap Company changed its name to the Palmolive Company.

And the rest is history.