Procter And Gamble’s Ivory Soap

The Story Teller

The Story Teller
Jun 27, 2003
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Procter and Gamble’s Ivory Soap
“Opportunities are seldom labeled.”
—John Shedd
Procter and Gamble’s founders thought that their original products—candles and twenty-four kinds of soap—were good enough. Harley Procter, son of one of the founders and head of marketing, was anxious to promote a white soap to counter European castile soaps. James Gamble, son of the other founder, had developed such a soap, but it was designated only as White Soap. One Sunday, Harley listened as the minister read from the Forty-fifth Psalm: “All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of ivory palaces, whereby they have made me glad.” The next day, he designated the soap “Ivory.” Harley could not get approval for advertising funds, but he proceeded to gather materials that could be used to promote the soap.
Chemical analyses compared the European soap to Ivory. While some soaps contained fillers, Ivory was found to be 99 and 44/100 percent pure. Also, Harley received a letter from a retailer who asked for more of the “soap that floats.” After checking, it was found that an error in a stirring machine had caused the white soap to have an additional mixture of air. Since the customer liked the idea, Procter and Gamble adjusted the production of Ivory so it would float. When the company finally approve advertising funds, Harley included those two features in the promotion of Ivory soap. While other soaps claimed to be “pure,” Ivory’s 99 and 44/100 percent statistic seemed to be more official and set it apart from its competitors. Advertising for Ivory has kept this original image for over 100 years.
Consider This: If your product has some unique or memorable feature, point it out, play it up in your advertising. That’s the kind of thing people remember.
Submitted by Richard