#213: Folgers – The Best Part of Waking Up

From a horrible caffeine delivery system, Jim Folger takes a huge interest in making coffee better and we thank him for it. Dave Young: Welcome to the Empire Builders podcast, teaching business owners the not-so-secret techniques that took famous businesses from mom-and-pop to major brands. Stephen Semple is a marketing consultant, story collector, and storyteller. I'm Stephen's sidekick and business partner, Dave Young. Before we get into today's episode, a word from our sponsor, which is, well, it's us, but we're highlighting ads we've written and produced for our clients. So here's one of those. [Pin Point Payments Ad] Dave Young: Welcome back to the Empire Builders Podcast, where Stephen Semple, who's the guy that you're going to hear next, and myself, David Young. We talk about empires and how they're built and what makes them tick. And if you're listening to us in the morning, it's totally appropriate for the topic that Steven just whispered in my ear, which is Folgers, and immediately popped into my head was the old jingle. The best part of waking up is Folgers in your cup. Stephen Semple: And Folgers is what a dominant, dominant, dominant force in the coffee space. In the home ground space the data that I was able to find as they do close to 900 million in sales are basically 27% of the market. Dave Young: My guess is that they in the past have been more than that, but the crafty roasting kind of people have probably been nibbling away at that over the years, but I'll be back in the '70s or '80. Stephen Semple: I didn't go back. Dave Young: They were just a juggernaut. Stephen Semple: And I didn't go back and take a look at that. But look, when you're number one, you're number one, right? That's a big deal. Dave Young: When you and I were kids, nobody was grinding their own beans. You bought a big can of coffee and put it in a percolator. That's what coffee was. Stephen Semple: But the interesting part, we will talk a little bit about that campaign. The best part of Waking Up. That campaign came out in 1984, and prior to that, Maxwell House was actually number one. That campaign allowed them to surpass Maxwell House and become the leader in the space. So it was a very, very successful campaign. Dave Young: It's one of those jingles. I don't know if it's out yet, but I did a copy or a copy, an episode of Sticky Sales, sales stories with Matthew Burns, and we talk about Winston and the power of the Winston Jingle can get in people's heads. And if you were a kid before 1971, you still remember that jingle? Stephen Semple: Yes. Dave Young: And so Folgers, and gosh, you were inundated. You couldn't escape the Folgers jingle. Stephen Semple: And there's the power of the fact that it's a rhyme. The best part of Waking Up. Like rhymes, as we know, have got a rhythm and a power to them. We'll come back to the jingle later, but let's go back to the beginning. Dave Young: Let me put one more little plug-in for that episode with Matthew, because we talk about the scientific reason that audio is so sticky in your head. So it has to do with the brain and humans' unique ability to process sound. And that's the fun part. It's more than just a story of, oh, this is how we sold cigarettes. So anyway, check that out. Stephen Semple: That's awesome. That's awesome. So as we all know- Dave Young: But wait till the end of the podcast. Stephen Semple: So as we all know, the Boston Tea Party was a thing in the United States, and in fact, it actually led to the growth of coffee being something that people started drinking in the United States. It ended up becoming a statement and a revolutionary idea. And coffee houses started to pop up both in the United States and around the world. Dave Young: But it was [inaudible 00:04:58] that tea and the tax on it. Stephen Semple: Yeah, that started getting things going but-