Soap was a luxury item till around the 19th Century. Pears shop with its oval shaped and translucent amber colour was first marketed in 1807 as a cosmetic beauty product when bathing became fashionable amongst women. The brand is now over 210 years old.
Mr Proctor and Mr Gamble introduced the Ivory soap brand in 1857 and in 1900 were spending £240,000 a year on advertising!! (6 million today). Here was a small company growing their business by spending on publicity. Many of the companies I know would not even budget £120k on promotion and communication – 50% of what P&G were spending in 1857!
For a discussion on how to manage your small but growing brand effectively and have the appropriate amount of effort on communicating the key aspects of your business, get in touch today.
P.S. Lever Brothers, P&G etc sponsored radio drama shows in the 1930s aimed at women – they transferred to television and became soap operas.