Plop, Plop, Fizz, Fizz: How Companies Double Their Profits

[Music] Hi, this is Jeff DeVine, Audio Engineer for the Apotrophy Podcast Network. And this is Margot. Hello. And you're listening to the Poster-Fee Podcast Network. Now it. Enjoy. And do I? [Music] This is an Apotrophy Podcast production. [Music] It's so king in it. [Music] [Music] You're a thief, waiter, that no, no, no, no! [Music] Do not heal when you're hungry. [Music] You're a good half with all things. [Music] You're under the influence of Terry O'Reilly. [Music] [Music] 110 years ago, the Riggly Company launched a brand new flavor, Doublemant Gum. Rapped in a bold green package with a double-headed arrow logo. It was named Doublemant because it had doubled the peppermint flavor of Riggly's other varieties. Beginning in 1939, Doublemant began an advertising campaign that played off the word double by featuring twins. Each print ad was illustrated with the faces of twin girls and the Doublemant logo. Not long after, in the 1940s, Doublemant started using actual twins in matching outfits as spokespeople. The first Doublemant twins were Marie and Mildred Meyer. Then in 1959, a new set of singing twins was hired named Jane and Joan Boyd. They would sing on radio and appear on television riding a tandem bicycle, enjoying Doublemant's tennis, and singing the new Doublemant jingle, produced by ad agency J. Walter Thompson. Doublemant's pleasure, Doublemant's fun, with Doublemant's gum. Ironically, Riggly's wouldn't let the twins chew gum in the commercials. [Music] When Joan became pregnant in 1963, the Boyd twins lost the gig. The next set were accordion-playing twins named Terry and Jenny Frankl. They signed a contract with Riggly in 1963. Those twins only stayed one year, but went on to do lots of other interesting things. The Frankles went on a USO tour of Vietnam, and when they returned, they performed music and comedy in nightclubs. When they heard Joey Bishop needed a comedy writer, the twins got their friend David Letterman his first writing job. Later, the Frankles twins had success in Hollywood writing and producing, and even helped Garth Brooks launch his career. They also produced the first pilot for the Dr. Phil Show, and both twins became best-selling authors. In the 70s, the next set of Doublemant twins were Julie and Patricia Mackerel. Actually, before they were the Doublemant twins, they were in a TV campaign for Tony Home Hair Perms. The commercials featured the line, which twin has the Tony? Not long after, the Mackerel twins were poached by Riggly. In the 80s, another set of sisters made their debut as the Doublemant twins. They were Patricia and Priscilla Barnstable. They became incredibly popular, and eventually posed in Playboy Magazine. Later in the 80s, Liz and Jean Segal were the Doublemant twins. Their big sister was none other than Katie Segal, from married with children. Liz would go on to write several episodes of "Sons of Anarchy." Jean would go on to become a director, known for last man standing and fuller house. Next came Linda and Lisa Yucobinis, who were one of the longest-serving twins for Doublemant. For more than a decade, the identical twins were in multiple commercials for the chewing gum. After playing the Doublemant twins for 10 years, they left the gig, but were typecast as twins and had a hard time finding work individually. They began to resent each other and didn't speak for years. In 1991, Riggly's announced its search for the first African-American Doublemant twins, and the color barrier was finally broken when it found the Higgins twins. Not long after, Riggly doubled down on its double theme by featuring all kinds of twins, including boys and girls, twin moms and twin dads, and even twin dogs catching frisbees. After making people see double for over 80 years, Doublemant Gum has enjoyed a very profitable run. There are other companies in the world of marketing that also see double. They double their profit. It's rare that a company can increase its profit by 100% because it's not easy, but sometimes all it takes is a small tweak. Sometimes it just takes a couple of words to prompt a profit-windfall. And other times, all it takes is a naked beetle. It's rare for a company to come up with an idea that instantly doubles its revenues and profits. Back in the 1940s, an ad writer named John Capel's work for an advertising agency called "BBDO." The full name of the agency was Baton Barton, Durston, and Osborne. Comedian Fred Allen once said the name sounded like "a suitcase falling down the stairs." Capel's was a big believer in research and liked to test ads with subtle variations to see which wording produced the most sales. One ad he wrote was for a roofing product. The first headline had the word "fix" in it. The ad hardly produced any sales. So Capel swapped the word "fix" for the word "repair" and sales doubled instantly. The word "fix" sounded like work. The word "repair" sounded like a solution. Speaking of "BBDO," the first "B" in that company, Bruce Barton, created the fictional Betty Crocker brand character for General Mills back in 1921. The company had run a promotion for its gold metal flower brand. Readers were to complete a jigsaw puzzle in the Saturday evening post, then mail it in to receive a pin cushion in the shape of the bag of flower. The company received over 30,000 completed puzzles, along with hundreds of baking-related questions. That's when General Mills, then named the Washburn Crossbeek Company, asked its advertising agency to create a female brand character that could answer all these questions. So Barton created Betty Crocker. Inspired by a baker in the cafeteria of the college Barton had attended years before. Soon Betty Crocker gained a voice when General Mills produced the Betty Crocker Cooking School of the Air on radio in 1924. The first ever radio cooking show. Then in 1937 Betty Crocker was given a face, adorning a package of cake flower. The evolution of Betty Crocker made for a steady increase in revenue for General Mills. But there was one small change that literally doubled its profit. In 1954, motivational research was beginning to take hold in marketing. This research revealed that people had deep-seated emotions when it came to brands, and those emotions could be triggered with packaged design. So General Mills had a designer take a look at its packaging. The designer suggested one small change that the round red Betty Crocker logo be turned into a red spoon instead, believing that it would be the most effective image for Betty Crocker. Sales doubled in less than six months. And the only thing that changed was the spoon. (soft piano music) One of the advertisements that makes me chuckle was a print ad that appeared in magazines back in the early 1930s. It was for Scott's toilet tissue. The ad showed a close-up of a masked surgeon and nurse in an operating room. The headline said, quote, "And the trouble began with harsh toilet tissue." Dot, dot, dot. The ad stated that 65% of all men and women over 40 suffer some form of rectal affliction because of inferior toilet tissue. Yikes, just how rough was toilet paper back then? Did this bizarre ad work? Well, sales of Scott's toilet tissue doubled. (soft piano music) Back in the late 1950s, advertising agency Doyle Dane Burnback enlisted Steve Allen, host of the Tonight Show, to demonstrate the new Polaroid land instant camera on his live TV show. You could just snap a picture and the photo would develop right in the camera in just 60 seconds. The technology was revolutionary. Prior to that innovation, all film had to be sent away for processing. The technology was such a giant leap forward that people were actually skeptical and had to see it with their own eyes to believe it. So live television was the perfect venue to demonstrate the new Polaroid land camera. (soft piano music) Steve Allen would have the Polaroid camera at his desk. He would ad-lib about it and take photos of his guests or of folks in his studio audience. - Hey, this time of year, especially after they have been cooped up all winter, you'd never notice how hard it is to get kids to hold still. You wanna take their picture and they're all dressed up on a Sunday or something like that? Well, it's not difficult at all, howdy young fella. - Not top it all with this 60 second Polaroid land camera. - The photo would develop in 60 seconds and the audience would gasp at the site. One night, things didn't go exactly as planned. Steve Allen did his usual ad-lib, took a photo of an audience member, then something happened. - With this 60 second Polaroid land camera, there is no disappointment two weeks later. - The Polaroid started spitting out film all over his lap and he couldn't stop it. Allen just kept talking with a straight face, but his eyes went wild. The audience started laughing uncontrollably, marveling at Allen's ability to keep talking while the camera malfunctioned continuously. Eventually, the audience gave Steve Allen and the Polaroid camera a standing ovation. The next week, something remarkable happened. Sales of the Polaroid land camera doubled. Clearly, the viewing nation was thoroughly entertained by Steve Allen in that moment and the malfunctioning camera became the must-have item of the year. Sometimes all it takes is a mistake to double your sales and other times you just have to rinse and repeat. - Before we get back to our show, I want to give you a little taste of a but wait there's more bonus episode that's available for you now. Ever seen those brand power commercials on TV? (upbeat music) - Hi, I'm Nikki from Paris. I've seen these brand power commercials on TV for years. What the heck is brand power? - Brand power is an advertising agency that operates in 50 global markets. Interestingly, when I asked a half dozen top advertising creative directors about brand power, they were all definitely familiar with it, but no one knew anything about it. And neither did I. On its website, brand power says it is a leader in what it calls the quote, third party advertising industry. - The company was founded in nine. - To hear more of that bonus episode titled, Ask Me Anything, just search under the influence on Apple podcasts and enjoy a seven day free trial. By subscribing, you'll get more bonus episodes, early access to all our shows, and ad free episodes and archives. Plus, you support this podcast, and we really appreciate it. (upbeat music) In past episodes, we discussed two other famous examples of a product doubling its sales. Back in the 1950s, Madison Avenue began to mass market shampoos for the first time. That decade was also the era of hair products like this. ♪ Real cream, real cream, real cream ♪ ♪ Real cream, a little apple do ya ♪ ♪ Real cream, you look so damn good ♪ ♪ Real cream, the clouds are love as you y'all ♪ ♪ They love to get their fingers in your head ♪ Products like Real Cream put a lot of goop and men's hair, and women were using cans of stiff hair spray. When shampoos came up against those oils and chemical sprays, it depressed the lather. So shampoo makers recommended a rinse and repeat process. The first shampoo removed the oil and chemicals. The second created a lather to thoroughly clean the hair and scalp. But once these guys arrived, ladies and gentlemen, the beetle. (audience cheering) The wet look went out of fashion. Shampoo no longer had to battle its way through the goop. But shampoo makers were reluctant to give up the rinse and repeat strategy because of one big reason. It had doubled their sales. When people use twice as much shampoo, twice as much money rolled in. That's why you can still find the words and repeat on some shampoo bottles today. (upbeat music) Back in the 1960s, Alka Celter was a brand in trouble. Its loyal users were getting old, and Alka Celter had become a symbol of slabs who ate and drank too much. It was almost embarrassing to be seen using Alka Celter. In focus groups, people often said they took Alka Celter in the dark. But people were still experiencing heartburn and indigestion. And Alka Celter could solve those problems. So add legend Mary Wells Lawrence decided to create entertaining commercials for Alka Celter instead of the corny ones the brand had been running for years. First, her agency created a commercial that showed all sorts of stomachs. Big ones, slim ones, young ones and old ones, all filmed at stomach level. - No matter what shape your stomach's in. - No matter what shape your stomach's in, when it gets out of shape, take Alka Celter. - The commercial was a big hit, and the jingle would soon become a hit song in 1967. Then Mary Wells Lawrence hit Gold. She met a doctor named Dorothy Carter at Miles Laboratories, the company that produced Alka Celter. Carter told her that in order for aspirin to break through the pain barrier, it often required two tablets. Because aspirin was one of the ingredients that made Alka Celter effective, Mary asked if two Alka Celter tablets would work better than one. The answer was yes. With that, Mary Wells Lawrence created one of the most famous taglines of all time. ♪ Plopplop this is old ♪ ♪ What a relief that is ♪ - Every commercial from that point on showed two Alka Celter tablets dissolving in a glass of water. Hence, Mary's brilliant use of the words, Plopplop Fizz Fizz. The directions on the package were changed to say to take two tablets and small foil packets containing two tablets were created. Those packets were then sold in new places, like magazine stands, bars, and fast food restaurants. With that small change, Alka Celter doubled its sales. (upbeat music) When Rolling Stone magazine was launched in 1967, John Lennon was angry at founder John Winner for choosing the name of the Beatles' greatest rival, the Rolling Stones. Mick Jagger also resented the magazine for stealing the band's name and would hold that resentment for the next 50 years. Keith Richards called Winner a thief. Actually, it was Bob Dylan who should have held the grudge as Winner took the name from Dylan's famous song. Like a Rolling Stone. When Rolling Stone magazine turned one year old, it was struggling. Around the same time, John Lennon and Yoko Ono had posed nude on the cover of their experimental album titled "Two Virgins." Capital Records in North America refused to issue the controversial cover. So, Yon Winner offered to publish the photograph on the cover of its anniversary issue. He told Lennon it would save the magazine from financial ruin. Lennon said okay, and the cover of the November 23rd, 1968 issue featured Lennon and Ono naked. Although, the photo showed the couple from behind, not the full frontal as the album dared show. That cover made national news and doubled Rolling Stone's sales immediately. As a matter of fact, the issue sold out, and Winner had to print another 20,000 copies. It saved the magazine from going under. By the way, the other three Beatles hated the nude album cover, but Lennon loved it. Until later years, that is, when he would dispatch his assistance to buy up every copy they could find to get it off the shelves. Speaking of the Fab 4, when they made their historic appearance on the Ed Sullivan show, it influenced millions of kids to start rock and roll bands all over North America. And it was Ringo who influenced one particular aspect of that title wave. Eagle-eyed drummers instantly noticed Ringo was using a Ludwig drum kit. His big bass drum sported the Beatles famous drop T logo, but in smaller type above that logo was the word "Ludwig." That year, 1964, Ludwig had worldwide sales of $6.4 million. But overnight, after the Sullivan appearance, the Ludwig Chicago factory began running 24 hours a day, seven days a week, trying to keep up with the thousands of orders that poured in. Within two years, Ludwig sales doubled to $13 million. The company had to expand its factory, and Ludwig would become the number one drum manufacturer for the next two decades. The company was able to build a new technology, and the company was able to build a new factory in front of the front end, and the company was able to build a new factory, and the company was able to build a new factory, Lee also shunned the usual uniform of top advertising creative directors who wore expensive tailor-made suits. He wore shorts, flip-flops, Hawaiian shirts, and had a permanent white tan line around his eyes. He served every morning before work. That was how Lee dressed all the time, even in high-level client meetings. But Lee Cloud was legendary, and the ads created on his watch were some of the best ever, including Apple's infamous 1984 Super Bowl commercial. One of the other accounts Shia Day had at the time was a bottled sangria, called California Cooler. When California Cooler was searching for a new advertising agency, Shia Day won the account based on the line, another reason to hate California. It was a tongue-in-cheek line, positioning the cooler as yet another fun aspect of life in sunny California. The research department said people wouldn't like the line, and warned against it. But Lee loved it, and it became the headline in all the print ads. For the TV campaign, Lee decided to recreate the Malibu surf life he had grown up with. He remembered that he and his fellow surfers would mix up a similar concoction, made of fruit, ice, and wine. So Shia Day filmed commercials showing people partying and dancing on the beach, and set those commercials to classic rock tracks. For years, it was made by guys with names like Rept. Quasimodo, the chair. Real fruit in California, white wine. But under ideal conditions. In no time at all, sales of California Cooler doubled. Not only that, California Cooler created the entire wine cooler category. The company had originally been started by two high school friends who had raised $140,000. One year after the campaign started, they sold the company for $146 million. Hey! It takes a lot to double a profit. It usually means doubling your sales, decreasing your costs, and finding more customers. Increasing profit is a grind. But every once in a while, a small tweak can have a startling effect. When John Capel's wanted to test whether changing one word in a headline would make a difference, profits hit the roof. Shampoo makers realized that when they added three small words to their bottles, profits lathered up. When Alka Salter suggested Plop Plop Fizz Fizz, its profit bubbled and doubled overnight. It's also extraordinary what packaging can do. Changing the round-beddie crocker logo to a red spoon, put a lot of yeast in the company dough. Other times, companies get lucky. A malfunctioning Polaroid camera had live TV. Ludwig had Ringo, Rolling Stone had Lenin, and California Cooler got lucky with a surfing creative director. When those planets align, it's double your pleasure, double your fun, and double your profits. When you're under the influence, I'm Terry O'Reilly. [Music] This episode was recorded in the Tehrer Stream Air Stream Mobile Recording Studio, producer Debio Reilly, sound engineer Jeff Devine, under the influence theme by Ari Posner and Ian LaFever. Tunes provided by APM Music. Follow me on social at Terry O'Influence. This podcast is powered by Acast. Hey, want to read next week's Fun Fact on the Air? Just go to apostrophepodcasts.ca and follow the prompts. See you next week. Hi, this is Danielle Erickson from Lake Country, British Columbia. Fun Fact! Ringo Starr's 1964 Ludwig Drumkit sold it off recently for $2.2 million.