From razors to radio stars, the admen who changed how America shops

Contrary to metaphorical depictions, advertising seldom pioneers entirely new inventions or ideas.

Visionaries like Whitney, Fulton, Edison and Bell revolutionized technologies largely without aggressive promotion. Most focused on perfecting inventions over marketing them. Edison himself didn’t instantly advertise the 1878 phonograph he patented. Shrewd competitors like Victor utilized his innovations more rapidly through advertising.

Key Takeaways

• King Gillette’s savvy razor advertising made shaving fast and approachable, pioneering consumer appliances.
• Rather than trailblazing, ads pave the way for innovations like shavers through awareness and distribution.
• Serialized radio characters put fun personalities behind Post cereals and Kellogg’s Corn Flakes.
• Colorful cereal packaging replaced cracker barrels, birthing the sanitary, self-service supermarket.
• Critics see wasteful consumerism. But relentless product improvement means lower real prices over time.
• Jingles, mascots and slogans built brand affinity based more on emotions than product attributes.

Inventor-entrepreneurs often overlook distribution and sales in favor of tinkering. And contrary to the old maxim, superior products don’t automatically find markets. So their advancements rely upon others to facilitate mass adoption.

Rather than blazing trails itself, advertising paves the way by making people aware of trails blazed by others. It cannot resolve every operational or technical hurdle alone either. But advertising builds expansive, inviting highways to new products so mainstream consumers change lanes from habitual purchases.

Where a lone enthusiast might ineffectively extol an invention’s virtues one-to-one, advertising broadcasts them simultaneously to multitudes. It rides roughshod over obstacles through relentless messaging.

So advertising seldom pioneers wholly original inventions or ideas. But it unlocks access and acceptance for innovations by amplifying awareness and engineering mass demand. Without aggressive promotion, society would still be pounding sand while visionaries toil in obscurity.

How has advertising evolved to drive the consumer revolution, and how does content marketing play a role in this evolution?

Advertising has evolved from traditional print and TV ads to a more strategic approach aimed at engaging consumers. Content marketing plays a crucial role in this evolution by focusing on providing valuable, relevant content to attract and retain a specific audience. It’s all about cracking the content marketing code and delivering what consumers want.

The Razor

King C. Gillette invented the safety razor, though competitors existed. Through advertising, he made it easy for men to request “his razor, his blades.” Gillette copy conveyed that his razor surpassed barbers and old-fashioned blades for convenience and nick-free shaving.

Today, with the safety razor commonplace, Gillette advertising stresses keeping sharp with Gillette’s uniquely honed blades.

In the 1930s, electric shavers entered as alternatives. Brands like Schick still do dual duty – converting holdouts while competing for existing electric shaver users. Hence 1941 copy introduced Schick’s shaver as a next-level innovation beyond razor shaving, while urging electric shaver devotees to upgrade.

Remington Rand’s 1946 ad however primarily targeted men already using electrics. Its multiple cutting heads were presented as the logical evolution from single-head legacy models.

What’s the outcome of this endless pioneer-imitator product cycle fueled by advertising? Critics cite overproduction and frivolous consumerism. But relentless improvement is undeniable – today’s models rarely cost more than their inferior ancestors.

To inventors, advantages feel intuitively obvious. But consumers comfortable with the status quo require persuasion before switching allegiance. Thus pioneering advertisers undertake mass education – an expensive, vital task. Their makers pioneer transformation from industrial curiosity to household essential through advertising. Competitors then piggyback off converted audiences.

So unlike trailblazing, advertising bolsters rather than births innovations. But its route-clearing work is equally crucial. Once advertising cements an innovation’s foothold, upkeep perseveres as rivals muddy convictions. Pioneers who neglect brand-building risk being left behind when next disruption emerges.

Breakfast

Dr. John Harvey Kellogg pioneered health-oriented “precooked cereals” while running Michigan’s famed Battle Creek Sanitarium in the late 1800s. Working with his brother W.K., mass-market Corn Flakes debuted through aggressive advertising. Kellogg remains a top national advertiser today.

Inspired by Kellogg’s methods, ex-salesman C.W. Post convalesced in Battle Creek before launching rival Postum cereal drink, Grape Nuts and Post Toasties, spending lavishly to popularize them. Post brands now belong to General Foods but still advertise.

Lawyer Henry Perky’s odd Shredded Wheat biscuit expanded nationally through door-to-door demos and ad campaigns before its 1930 sale to Nabisco.

Later entries likewise rode advertising into the breakfast big leagues through child-friendly radio tie-ins – General Mills touting Wheaties, Cheerios and Kix; Quaker’s Puffed Rice and Puffed Wheat.

A 1903 Saturday Evening Post article credited cereal advertising’s farm stimulus: “Where one person used a breakfast food a few years ago there are now a hundred.” Prices dropped as quality rose.

Commentator George Sokolsky later wrote that exaggerated spokes-characters appeal more than “some unimaginative government bureau” endorsing nutrition. His boy ate advertised cereal to emulate radio hero DickTracy!

Cereal companies also pioneered product packaging, supplanting cracker barrels and lidded bins. Around 1900, breakfast foods emerged in printed cartons and bags. Nabisco’s waxed, boxed Uneeda soda biscuits were a hit, touted as handy lunch carriers for kids. The supermarkets we know directly descended from breakfast brands’ packaging makeover.

From razors to radios, breakfast foods to bargains, advertising tastemakers nurtured America’s romance with brands. Their catchy packaging, captivating characters and canny distribution engineered the consumer culture we inhabit today.