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L.L. Bean Story - Throwback Entreprenuers

by Ross James
10 replies
The company L.L.Bean was founded in 1912 by its namesake, avid hunter and fisherman Leon Leonwood Bean in Greenwood, Maine. Bean had developed a waterproof boot (a combination of lightweight leather uppers and rubber bottoms) that he sold to hunters. He obtained a list of nonresident Maine hunting license holders, prepared a descriptive mail order circular, set up a shop in his brother's basement in Freeport, Maine, and started a nationwide mail order business. By 1912, he was selling the "Bean Boot", or Maine Hunting Shoe, through a four-page mail-order catalog, and the boot remains a staple of the company's outdoor image. Defects in the initial design led to 90% of the original production run being returned: Bean made good on his money-back guarantee, corrected the design, and continued selling them. Leon L. Bean died on February 5, 1967, in Pompano Beach, Florida. He is buried in Freeport's Webster Cemetery.[2] The company passed into the directorship of Bean's grandson, Leon Gorman, from that time until 2001, when Gorman decided to take the position of Chairman, leaving the position of CEO to Christopher McCormick, the first non-family member to assume the title.
-Wiki

How far back can you go? I was trying to do research on the first entrepreneurs in direct mail and came across this real story... I hated the backpacks in school growing up... I would always try to think of offensive abbreviations of letters one could think up like ***... but it was kind of hard with only three letters...I just wasn't hip to the rules man, hated the system... Yeah I was pretty bad ass...?

Anyways...

A bunch of years later I got into this advertising thing and come to find out the L.L. Bean story is a real one... Anyone have any other throwback stories in direct response advertising? Share them here...I'm trying to create a timeline because I arrived late to the party of direct response.
#bean #entreprenuers #story #throwback
  • Profile picture of the author Pusateri
    If you look at magazines from the late 1700s you will see a variety of merchants requesting that readers inquire of them by mail.

    The first successful catalog merchants, Montgomery Ward and Sears started in the 1870s. Rural people loved them. For the first time they had access to all the things urban people could buy. Sears even sold entire houses by catalog. Everything was precut and it included a keg of nails.

    Claude Hopkins started his experiments in scientific advertising with Bissel in the 1880s.

    Elbert Hubbard was another pioneer. He invented the advertising premium while working for Larkin Soap. He did so well he was able to retire by the time he was forty. He then founded the Roycroft Workshops and sold their books, furniture and other works by mail.

    More copywriters should study Hubbard. He knew at least as much about advertising at Claude Hopkins, but he never wrote a book on the subject. If he had, I think he would be in the pantheon with Hopkins, Caples, Ogilvy, etc. He and his wife died when the Germans torpedoed the Lusitania in 1915.
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    • Profile picture of the author jimbo13
      You wont be able to find the first people who did it but Pusateri is on the right lines.

      In Merrye Olde England there were thousands of News Letters or Pamphlets printed by a 'press' after the introduction of such device by Caxton in 1476.

      As 99% of the population were poor and uneducated they still relied on their news from the Town Crier.

      To walk about with a News Letter was therefore a ' Hey,look at me aren't I clever, rich and cultured?'

      These Newsletters therefore became hot amongst the ruling class in London.

      Anyone see a desire about to be fullfilled coming up?

      Of course you do, that's why you are copywriters. Now get this:

      The savvy printers would send copies free of charge to provincial squires who had these things called..............wives!

      Imagine them receiving this hot information about the goings on of court and the aristocracy.

      Do you think these wives accidentally left their free copies around for their friends to accidentally see?

      You bet they did!

      'Husband dearest, how can we get this every week and be the envy of all of our friends?'

      Oh look, we just need to send some pounds and shillings to this address.

      So the first mail order products were actually the News letters themselves.

      The rest is history.

      Enough of that here is a modernish example from the Good Old US of A.

      When TVs were first sold in the US the clever firms would give a free TV to a house to use for a trial testing period.

      No we don't want you to buy it is just a consumer test. Mmm.

      What happened. Exactly the same thing. The neighbours would all know about it (wife accidentally telling everyone) and turn up to see this phenomena.

      Bit difficult for them to give it back when the trial period ran out. Sale number one thankyou very much.

      Subsequent sales were from the neighbours who were envious and wanted to knock the smile off of Mrs Jones face.

      So you can see how things don't really change. The papers were't selling the news and the TV company wasn't selling a TV.

      They were both selling basic human desires. They knew their audience.

      Do you?

      Regards
      Dan

      PS:Merchants then started to run ads in these papers. Tortoiseshell Haircomb anyone?
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  • Profile picture of the author gjabiz
    About Quaker - Quaker History | QuakerOats.com

    The above link is to a thumbnail sketch of one of the pioneers of Direct Response Marketing and is creditited with many of the breakthroughs still used to this day.

    Akron, OH was home to some of the earliest national advertisers and marketers.

    A few years ago, when the library was being renovated and expanded, I had the opportunity to study magzines going back to the 1700s.

    The American Civil War was the jumping point of modern remote direct response advertising and as early as 1864 there were "War Surplus" items, and one, the binocular, has continued to be advertised, with the ad nearly untouched since then.

    The KEY to it all was the expansion of the railroad system, which meant goods could be shipped anywhere and in 1875 there were scores of companies formed which started sending items across the country. By the turn of the century, one item, the Bicycle, was one of the most ordered and delivered and one of the more expensive items...some running as much as 100 dollars plus shipping...were making men fortunes.

    You'll see that POST War (any of them)...there is a boom and spike in remote direct response items.

    The early copywriters that worked for Quaker Oats went on to establish local businesses and others took their skills to Chicago, which at that time was the headquarters of the advertising business.

    MANY lessons can be learned, just from the Quaker Oats story...the premium, freebie, sampling, and national advertising plus gov't contracts with the military.

    I'll post up other stories if anyone is interested...one of my personal favorites goes back to the 40's and is the story of Lyman Wood and Garden Way.

    If you don't know who Lyman Wood was, you should spend some time studying his work...it is some of the best copy ever written and built a huge business.

    I also suggest a reading of his book, What a Way to Make a Living.

    Thanks for the subject, we can still learn a trick or two from those old timers and discover, the secret, people don't change that much and still respond to basic appeals.

    gjabiz
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  • Profile picture of the author Ross James
    Train passengers who enjoyed Omaha Steaks in Union Pacific’s dining cars prompted the company to launch its first mail order ventures – magazine ads and direct mail flyers - in 1952.[1]
    Found these interesting bits on Omaha Steaks...
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    • Profile picture of the author redlegrich
      My Mom's cousin built a Monkey Ward kit home in Spring Green RI in the early 1900's. It's still there and in great shape.

      Direct marketing has been around for a LONG time. Scientific Advertising is still a respected book at it is nearly 100 years old. You can find it as a public domain publication.
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  • Profile picture of the author Ross James
    Awesome. My father is a third generation farmer here in America. I myself grew up on the farm and years back we used to do wholesale business with major food chains. Now I'm trying to help my father build and expand again and I plan to use some sort of direct response model to help him and i build again. Thanks for posting
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    • Profile picture of the author jimbo13
      That's great Ross.

      Good luck with helping your family.

      Dan
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  • Profile picture of the author Pusateri
    Here's a fun learning experience: go to eBay and buy a bunch if popular magazines for each decade from the 20s through the 80s. You can do it for under $100 if you're patient.

    You'll be surprised how much you will find for your swipe file.

    It's funny to read a seventy year old ad and feel desire for the product building inside.

    I once read an ad from the teens that had me wanting to buy a pair of spats...briefly.
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  • Profile picture of the author Ross James
    I think that will be both fun and useful Mark. Great idea...
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  • Profile picture of the author GeorgeReed
    You cant just swipe them simply because theyve been used before.

    You dont know if it will convert or if its all one big waste of time.

    I guess in the end the $100 and hours of your time investment could be worth it if it earns you an extra $10k over your lifetime even.

    The ROI makes sense.
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