I was watching an old western TV show called Death Valley Days recently. This is one
of the longest running TV programs of all time. It is also one of the shows
that made a successful leap from radio, where it was broadcast from 1930 –
1951, to TV, where it ran from 1952-1975. In all, the show was broadcast in one
form or another for 46 seasons.
What you need to know about Death Valley Days is that it was totally created for one sponsor,
the Pacific Borax Company (PBC). They mined borax, a mineral that was found in
the Death Valley region of California. Borax was used to make powdered soap
used to clean laundry, wash your hands, dishes and just about anything that
needed some sort of detergent. They called their soap Boraxo. During the late
19th century, PBC used mule teams to pull wagonloads of borax to a
rail spur in Death Valley. Mules are strong, sure-footed creatures that adapt
well to hot conditions. The mule team image was built into the brand. Boraxo
became 20 Mule Team Borax. The scripts for the radio and TV show were written
by the ad agency representing PBC. The opening scene for Death Valley Days showed a 20 mule team pulling a wagon, the same
as the image on a container of Boraxo. Even the shows scripts were written to
mention the product, such as an episode where a mine full of borax was found or
20 mules were needed to pull a large wagon.
Because of the sponsorship, Boraxo became a household name
brand. It was a great product to clean your hands when they were really grimy.
If you had grease, oil or deeply imbedded dirt on your hands, Boraxo would get them
clean. It was a gritty powder that went deeper into the crevices of your hands
to clean dirt away. In fact, it was common to see a container of Boraxo sitting
on every sink for over forty years. So what happened to this marvelous hand
cleaner that owned the airwaves for four decades? Times in the hand soap
industry changed. First, there was a shift, first to perfumed bar soap, and
then to soft, liquid soap. 20 Mule Team Borax was neither.
Why do some brands stick around for generation after generation
and others fade into oblivion? Part of that has to do with adjusting your brand
to reflect the changing attitudes of your target market. In order to do that,
you have to stay current on what your customers are thinking. Ask yourself
these key questions:
- What is
changing about the world around me? In the 1970s, cowboy shows like Death Valley Days were being replaced by
sitcoms. Jobs were shifting away from manufacturing to information-based
companies. People were being replaced by technology. The world is always
changing and that impacts the attitudes your customers have in the marketplace.
- What
would cause your customers to switch to your competitor’s brand? Boraxo was a powdered soap. Other soap
products had long since changed into a bar or liquid form. These forms were
better sellers than powder. So what old forms are you holding onto that your
customer doesn’t want any longer?
- What are
you holding onto that connects you to the past, but not to the future? The
past is a wonderful thing until it gets in the way of your future. 20 Mule Team
Borax was a great brand when people understood what twenty mule team was all
about, because they had seen the show. But the show stopped being produced 43
years ago. Sometimes brands need to be refreshed and reloaded so that they make
sense to today’s market. So how old is your brand and does it still make sense
today?
You might know that you can still purchase Boraxo. The brand
has been sold a couple of times and is now produced by a German corporation,
Henkel, under its subsidiary, the Dial Corporation. There are two brands of the
product: Boraxo Hand Soap and 20 Mule Team Borax which is marketed as a natural
laundry booster. However, no longer are they the brand leader they once were.
If you want marketing staying power, you have to adapt to changing times. How’s
your brand doing?