Great Success Stories
The guy who started Next Media LTD began his career working at a factory for $10/month but eventually went on to create a chain of clothing stores bringing in over $233 million in revenue per year, creating multiple magazines and newspaper circulating in two countries with over a half million subscriptions. Absolutely amazing.
He started by selling motorcycle handgrips out of the trunk of his car to raising $230 million when his sunglasses business went IPO 20 years later. Read about Oakley, the company named after the founder's dog, that changed the sunglasses industry forever.
This company is a marketing cooperative owned by nearly 1,000 separate farmers. Ocean Spray Cranberries was founded by a lawyer in Boston who had a side business of selling cranberry sauce. He recognized his competitors would make better allies and brilliantly banded together hundreds of cranberry farmers to collectively market their crops under one brand in 1930.
Orange Glo is a family owned soap and polish business that first introduced it's product to the public at the Arizona State Fair in 1986. 13 years later they had $86 million in revenue. This is an incredible story about a homemade product developed out of a garage that took the world by storm.
Outdoor Systems is an Arizona based billboard company. Read how the "growth through acquisition" strategy helped grow the company from running 80 billboards in 1980 to 250,000 billboards in less than 20 years.
From corks to three wheeled trucks to piston-less rotary engines in automobiles. Read about how Mazda broke ground in 1920, miraculously survived after 400 workers were killed by the atomic bomb, and went on to partner with Ford to make great cars that are enjoyed all over the world.
Read about one of the oldest companies around - Merck. Yes, the pharmaceutical company with over $30 billion in annual sales, has a history that reaches back 344 years even though they were officially incorporated in 1927.
This company story should be taught in Marketing 101 classes across the country. Read about how Mossimo became an overnight success in California after the founder dropped out of college, borrowed $100,000 from his father, and created a lifestyle company from scratch.
