Marketing is inventing

Invent: create or design (something that has not existed before); be the originator of.

The year is 1914, global forces are clashing, allegiances forming, and the United States is recruiting soldiers for what will become World War 1.

The U.S. Army starts to notice a disturbing trend among drafted men: rotting teeth. So common, in fact, that the U.S. Army declared it a national security risk!

Can you imagine? Nations are clashing and the U.S. is declaring a national security risk of dental hygiene?

Pair the recent introduction of many mass-produced sugary goods with the fact that very few brushed their teeth, let alone with any sort of chemical agent, and it's no wonder it was an issue.

Today it may seem crazy, but back then it was normal.

U.S. culture today is very cognizant of stigmas like bad breath, yellow teeth, and missing teeth.

So how did we get to where we are today?

Enter: Claude Hopkins.

A company called Pepsodent had already created a toothpaste ready for mass-consumption that would remedy the rotten teethe epidemic. Hopkins and Pepsodent partnered to make brushing teethe with toothpaste a regular part of everyone's day.

Hopkins was already a well-known advertising exec at that time.

We know him today as "The Father of Modern Marketing," with a legendary track-record with industry leaders like Quaker Oats, Goodyear Tires, and Van Camp.

So how do you get a whole nation of people to create a new habit?

To create lasting change that resulted in repeat sales, he knew he'd have to get people to __want__ to brush their teeth with toothpaste.

In his research, he found reference to what's now commonly known as plaque.

If you haven’t had your teeth professionally cleaned in a while, plaque builds up and feels like a film over your teeth.

Hopkins decided to use this as a focal point, and equate removing plaque to cleanliness, and more importantly, beauty.

Take a look at the copy:
- "Just run your tongue across your teeth"
- "You may have beautiful teeth and not realize it."
- “FILM, a dangerous coating that robs teeth of their whiteness.”
- “Pepsodent: The Special Film-Removing Dentifrice.”

The foamy experience, minty taste, and squeaky clean feeling on your teethe provided just enough reward to establish a habit loop that would lead to 65% of the population using toothpaste daily just a decade later.

In fact, the citrus acid, mint oil, and other flavors that created the classic tingly feeling had no impact on the toothpaste's efficacy.

“There’s no cleaning benefit, but people feel better when there’s a bunch of suds around their mouth,” a toothpaste brand manager told Charles Duhigg for his book, The Power of Habit. “Once the customer starts expecting that foam, the habit starts growing.”

When WW2 rolled around, the U.S. Army didn't have to worry about declaring another national security risk.

Claude Hopkins didn't invent toothpaste, but he invented the use of toothpaste.

Let's look at another example: Bacon and eggs

In the 1920s, Beech-Nut Packing Company approached a man by the name of Edward Bernays to figure out a way to increase demand for bacon (one of their many product specialties).

Barnays was quite the schemer.

The nephew of Sigmond Freud, he had a history of using psychology to spread ideas and influence sales.

He worked with the Aluminum Company of America to use the American Dental Association to convince people that water flouridation was safe and healthy to the public.

His campaign for Dixie Cups scared people into thinking the glasses they were drinking out of were unsanitary, and could be replaced by disposable cups.

He was even hired by President Coolidge to help run his re-election campaign in 1924, and encouraged Coolidge to invite the country’s leading vaudevillians to the White House for a meet-and-greet over pancakes.

Political pancake breakfasts are now a staple tradition among presidents and council members alike.

So how would he increase the demand for bacon?

Barnays turned to a doctor and asked if a "heavier" breakfast could be beneficial for hard-working Americans rather than the "light" breakfast that was common at the time.

The doctor agreed that it would be, and sent out a letter to 5,000 other doctors asking if they'd agree, which they did. The "research" was seeded to newspapers, which promptly published the surprising findings and even made recommendations for what readers should eat.

Want to venture a guess as to what they cited as a "healthy and heavy" breakfast? Bacon and eggs.

Ethics aside... Barnays didn't invent bacon and eggs, but he did invent the bacon and eggs breakfast.

What do the Transformers, Care Bears, He-Man, and G.I. Joe all have in common?

They're all classic cartoon shows. But first and foremost, they're toys. But not just any toys: the kind of toys that fly off the shelfs and find a home in almost every American home.

The difference between a toy that sits on the shelves and a toy that flies off of them is the strength of its character. And the only way to create a compelling character is by telling a great story.

Originally inspired by Japanese company Takara’s Diaclone and Microman toylines, Hasbro bought the distribution rights for North America in 1984 and presented them as Transformers.

The first animated show debuted the same year and ended in 1987, with a movie in 1986 serving as a bridge between the first two seasons.

The popularity of the show and movies are directly tied to the popularity of action figure sales.

Maybe the only TV show in history to be spawned from a set of greeting cards, the Care Bears first appeared in 1981 as card characters created by the American Greetings Corporation.

Two years later the first toys appeared, and two years after that the first cartoon.

Soon they were in the mainstream along with hockey-stick sales growth.

Same with He-Man and G.I. Joe. First a toyline, then a television show quickly thereafter, and a movie series just a couple of years after that.

These are just four examples. And now they're global franchises.

Marketing is inventing: creating habits, stories, and product lines.