Click the image for details How did Wrigley become the Wrigley of today step by step? It might all start with that poor student... From Selling Soap to the Largest Gum Manufacturer Wrigley's founder, William Wrigley Jr., had poor academic performance as a child and was forced to transfer schools multiple times. In 1872, at the age of 11, he even ran away from home. Eventually, his father stopped pushing him to study and said earnestly, "Since you're not cut out for studying, go to work." (Indeed, his father had a place for him in his soap factory.) And it was precisely this decision by his father that created the world's largest gum manufacturer... William Wrigley Jr. Wrigley was assigned to stir soap in a huge vat with a shovel. The young man worked ten hours a day and earned $1.50 per week. After stirring soap for a year, the clever Wrigley was promoted by his father to become a sales representative. At age 29, his father entrusted him with the soap factory's western business, so he moved to Chicago and began a life of traveling by horse-drawn carriage through various northeastern states. His job was to sell soap, but he found that local sellers were reluctant to deal with his soap because at 5 cents per bar, they couldn't make any money. If the company truly wanted to develop business in this region, changes had to be made. So he raised the price of soap and pioneered gift marketing. And time proved that gifts were indeed a great marketing method. "Everyone likes getting more than their money's worth, let alone free things," said Wrigley. He devised a promotional strategy: buy soap and get a free bag of baking soda and a recipe book. The result was unexpected—baking soda was far more popular than soap! In 1892, Wrigley decided to give up the soap business and focus on selling baking soda... Initially, Wrigley's idea was to reverse the order of soap and baking soda, i.e., sell baking soda and give soap as a gift. After much deliberation, he changed his mind and decided to find a new gift that consumers would love. Coincidentally, gum was very popular at the time and had become a habit among local Americans. Wrigley saw the business opportunity and immediately researched all types of gum and their manufacturing methods. He came up with the idea of using natural rubber to produce gum, adding extracts from tropical trees. Later, rubber began to be used in gum production. With the help of supplier Zeno Company, the Wrigley Company began production. And history tends to repeat itself: consumer demand for the free gum exceeded that for the baking soda product. So Wrigley shifted his business again and launched two types of gum in 1893: peppermint-flavored White Wrigley and fruit-flavored Yellow Wrigley. Times have changed, but for later generations, there is no doubt that many of Wrigley's creative marketing tactics from that era still hold relevance today. Wrigley's Global Expansion The original Yellow Wrigley had a light gray package with red lettering; the bright yellow packaging only appeared after World War II. Unlike Yellow Wrigley, peppermint White Wrigley had its distinctive white packaging from the start. According to Wrigley's idea, each package of both varieties contained five pieces of gum, which became a unique hallmark of Wrigley products. Later, the Wrigley Company expanded from the American Midwest to the whole country. By 1910, sales increased from $170,000 to $3 million, and White Wrigley gum became the best-selling gum in the United States. In 1909, Wrigley acquired the manufacturer Zeno Company and merged the two companies into the Wrigley Company. The new company launched two gums—"VASSAR" gum tailored for women and "LOTTA" gum for all consumers. But compared to the company's earlier White and Yellow Wrigley, the new products were not well received and were soon discontinued. After covering the U.S. market, Wrigley began looking for other markets, targeting English-speaking countries. But in Britain, chewing gum was considered rude, so Wrigley used advertisements showing lawyers, businessmen, and students chewing gum in various situations. The ads quickly caught the attention of the British public, and Britons who had no demand began to have demand. After that, Wrigley's sales in the UK began to grow. In 1910, he opened a factory in Canada, and five years later, one in Australia. At this time, the company was also constantly experimenting with new flavors. Although they had results, launching pineapple, banana, lemon, and other flavored gums, these products failed to win consumer favor and were gradually phased out. It wasn't until 1914, with the appearance of Doublemint, that Wrigley rose again. Since its launch, Doublemint, with its green packaging and double-arrow logo, has become one of the most enduring gums. In 1992, the company opened its business in China and achieved great success! In just one year, revenue from the new business accounted for 45% of total revenue. Then in 1994, Wrigley's sales in foreign markets exceeded its domestic revenue. In 2002, the world's largest candy manufacturer, Mars, planned to acquire Wrigley for $12.5 billion, but the two sides did not reach an agreement. Six years later, the deal was completed. Ultimately, Wrigley was acquired by Mars for $23 billion, and from then on, Wrigley was no longer a family business. Fierce Competitors Arrive Wrigley's products, such as "Doublemint," "Yellow Wrigley," "White Wrigley," "Extra" sugar-free gum, "Eclipse" extra-cool gum, "Dada" bubble gum, and "Zhenzhibang" lollipops, enjoy high visibility and reputation among Chinese consumers. However, in 2005, the Chinese gum market underwent dramatic changes. Previously, Wrigley gum held an 85% market share in China, and no brand could compete with it. But with the advent of xylitol gum, Japan's Lotte and South Korea's Orion managed to seize 20% of Wrigley's market share. In September 2012, Kraft's Stride gum entered China. Stride regarded Wrigley as its number one rival in the Chinese gum market and came prepared. It launched a fierce marketing offensive, trying to leave a deep brand impression on consumers in a short time. Stride embraced a quirky style, and since its target audience was young people aged 18-24, this quirky marketing proved quite effective. In addition, the short duration of gum flavor and "not lasting long" had always been drawbacks of many gums, including Wrigley's. Stride solved this problem. Combined with advertising, Stride's "long-lasting flavor, absurdly long" spread among the masses. For example, in Yueqing, Zhejiang, where it first launched, Stride's monthly sales growth rate remained above 50%. Perfect Counterattack In response to the impact from Orion and Lotte, Wrigley immediately responded by strongly launching Extra xylitol gum, and with its strong brand and channel advantages, it once again secured its leading position, proving that "old ginger is spicier"! Stride suddenly broke in with "long-lasting flavor," but the seasoned Wrigley naturally wouldn't panic over a temporary disturbance. In response to Stride's provocation, Wrigley calmly made its move. Two months after Stride's launch, Wrigley introduced its new product—Wrigley 5 gum. Wrigley 5 gum didn't compete with Stride on who lasts longer but instead turned the tables to compete on who is more intense. Thanks to Wrigley's strong control over the channels accumulated over the years, it naturally had an advantage in distribution. Once Wrigley 5 gum hit the market, it showed amazing distribution speed. Within less than two months of launch, Wrigley 5 gum completed distribution in supermarkets, circulation, and special channels. After several battles with Lotte, Orion, and Stride, Wrigley gum remains an evergreen tree in the market. Source: China Candy (ID: china-candy) New Distribution will hold the 2019 (5th) FMCG + Internet Conference during the Chengdu Spring Sugar and Wine Fair from March 16 to March 18. This conference will focus on the topic of "Breaking the Game" , with in-depth discussions with numerous brand owners, supply chain service providers, distributors, retailers, and others. Compared to previous conferences, this summit will be fully upgraded. In addition to original topics such as channel innovation, city distribution logistics, and distributor transformation , it will add multiple parallel forums on new marketing cases, IP + FMCG empowerment, community group buying, and innovative retail . Through three days of ten high-density, high-quality expert sharing and exchanges, we believe every brand owner and distributor can learn the latest business models, expert opinions, and practical methods, finding new tools and methods to break the game in 2019 and return to the track of rapid growth. -END-