Pitched Unfairly

Wm. Wrigley Jr. & Co. Chicago · 1892 · Pivot memo

We are a gum company. We just found out.

To the team, the backers, and Father

01 · What we believed

We sold soap. The gift was a detail.

We came west to sell soap. The baking powder was there to get us through the door.

The planApril 1891

The product
Wrigley's Scouring Soap
Made by
Father, in Philadelphia
The free gift
Baking powder
Starting capital
$32

Confident

02 · The signal

Twice in two years, the free gift beat the product.

Round 1 · 1891

Customers want the baking powder. We switch to baking powder.

Round 2 · 1892

Two free packs of gum per can. Customers want the gum.

Promoted to product. Beaten again.

Illustrative. Bars show what customers asked for, not unit sales.

03 · The new bet

The free gift is now the product.

Zeno Manufacturing makes the gum. We name it, wrap it, and sell it ourselves.

Wrigley's Lotta Gum For everyone Chicago
Wrigley's Vassar For the ladies Chicago

04 · What we stop

We stop selling soap. Effective today.

Soap is off the wagon. Sorry, Father.

  • Wrigley's Scouring SoapFather's product. Our first love.
  • Baking powderKept for now. It carries the gum.
  • Chewing gumEverything.

RunningNext

01 · Sell the thing Gum
02 · Give a free gift Free scales for dealers
03 · Hear what they ask for Wrigley's, by name
04 · Sell that instead More gum

05 · What carries over

We keep the engine. Only the gift changes.

Same grocers, same wagons, same habit of giving something away.

06 · Risks

Four ways this goes wrong, and what we do about each.

RiskWhat could go wrongWhat we doStatus
CompetitionAbout a dozen gum makers Gum is already a crowded shelf. Ours gets a name, a wrapper, and more advertising than anyone. On it
Willingness to payGum has only ever been free People like free gum. Will they buy it? They picked it over baking powder, a thing they were paying for. Tested
A money panicAd budgets vanish A bad year and nobody advertises. Then the space is cheap. We buy when everyone else stops. Planned
FatherMakes the soap Hears about this from someone else. Tell him at dinner. Bring gum. Scheduled

07 · Milestones that prove it

Six milestones, each with a date.

19216 of 6 landed

1893Two new flavorsA mint and a fruit. Working names: Spearmint, Juicy Fruit.
1907Advertise through a panic$250,000 borrowed buys $1.5 million of ad space.
1910Best-selling gum in AmericaSpearmint, coast to coast.
1914A third flavorDoublemint.
1915Free gum, by mailA pack to every home in the phone book.
1921A tower on the riverOur own headquarters on Michigan Avenue.

08 · The proof, at scale

1.5 million

In 1915 the free gift is the campaign.

Mailing list
Every U.S. home in a phone book
In each envelope
Four sticks of gum
Targeting logic
Can afford a telephone, can afford gum

Homes mailed a free pack, 1915

09 · The ask

Approve the pivot. Keep the free gift.

  • 0more soapStop today. Sell through what is on the wagon.
  • 1supplierZeno makes the gum. We sell every stick.
  • 2free packsWith every can, until the gum sells itself.

ReturnA gum company.Later, a ballpark.