Exploring the Art & Science of Marketing
In another life . . .
In another life . . .
John Francis Dodge and Horace Elgin Dodge owned a bicycle and machine factory, which they moved to Detroit, Michigan because their bearings and other parts were in demand with the early automobile industry. They got started in cars by designing motor parts for early Oldsmobiles.
Ferruccio Lamborghini built air conditioners and tractors. He noticed that the clutch components in his tractors were similar to those in his Ferrari, yet he was also unhappy with some of the reliability issues of the car. So, he took it up with Enzo Ferrari who essentially told him a tractor builder has no place criticizing a Ferrari. So, Ferruccio Lamborghini decided to build “Ferrari’s better than Ferraris.” You be the judge.
Ferdinand Porsche (same Porsche) designed and built what is today known as the Volkswagen Beetle for none other than Adolf Hitler himself. In fact, “Adolf Hitler honored Porsche in 1937 when he was awarded the German National Prize for Art and Science, one of the rarest decorations in the Third Reich.” via Wiki. He also helped design German tanks.
Milton S. Hershey owned a successful caramel company, and he had already failed in a number of candy businesses prior. In 1893, he went to what we today call a trade show and bought some chocolate-making equipment, sold his Caramel company for $1 million and bouth 40,000 acres of land in Pennsylvania. He thought chocolate was going to be a better business. How’s that for a major change in strategy? Welcome to Hershey, Pennsylvania.
Henri Nestle developed a food for babies that couldn’t breast feed. That was the 1860s.
Russell Page had his sights set on working for the Bureau of Land Management, was a little bit of a tree hugger and had no plans to ever attend BYU, let alone Ricks College. (I graduated from both). Thank goodness I went to Ricks College because that’s where I started realizing I loved studying consumer behavior, analyzing media and marketing.
How about you? Who were you . . . in another life?
| Print article | This entry was posted by Russ on January 2, 2007 at 11:42 am, and is filed under Business, Business Writing, Citizen Marketing, PR, Public Relations, Russ Page, Strategic Marketing, Utah Marketing. Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site. |
about 5 years ago
Russ-
As a freshman in college I cursed at my writing and english classes, claiming that I would never use them in the career that I was pursuing — Psychology. Little did I know 18 months later I would be entering the communications field and use my writing skills on a daily basis. What did I learn? Take every class serious because you never know when it might come in handy.
about 5 years ago
I was studying political science in college and realized I would never do anything with the degree. Business looked like a good alternative. When I was a kid I wanted to drive 18 wheel trucks. Part of me still thinks that might not have been such a bad thing.
about 5 years ago
After graduating from high school I was positive I wanted to be a writer. I took a job with the Salt Lake Tribune as a sports assistant and seemed well on my way to doing what I wanted. At the time I was also working at the arena formely known as the Delta Center on Jazz game nights. I met Dave Allred, the Jazz VP of Public Relations who said I should think about doing an internship with his department if I liked writing. The only problem was I had no idea what they did, That was almost six years ago – now I’m doing it for a living. And while I miss objective writing, I couldn’t see myself doing anything else.
about 5 years ago
My bachelor’s degree is in Humanities, and after that degree I was a publicist for an international Tae Kwon Do champion (got her on The Today Show!) and worked at an ad agency and KBYU in PR, loved it but longed to do more creative studies and so I did my Master’s degree is in children’s theatre, and along that path I got an idea during my research for my princess children’s company Sweet & Charming, so now… I wish I hadn’t taken so many arts classes! I love culture, travel, etc. but now I wish I knew Quickbooks better and HTML, so a bit of Business classes and computer basic programming!
But, I keep telling myself line upon line is the best way to learn, so be patient and get help when I need it. I learn best by interviewing other entrepreneurs and love sharing the good of other people’s businesses while I’m figuring out my own…that’s why I created Start Up Princess.com; it’s a passion I love and I’m wild about helping other women connect and share what I can with them…life is certainly interesting with balancing all this and my 3 kids too! I’m grateful I have a lot to live for.