No. 12 - Post-it Notes

I needed a Post-it note this morning to jot a quick note to someone and attach it to the document I was sending them. The little yellow square pad that sits on my desk next to the keyboard wasn't there this morning. I must have run out. No problem. Open desk drawer. Nope. Out there too. Walk to supply room. Out. Now what do I do? Improvise. And order more Post-it notes.

What did people do before Post-it notes came on to the scene in the early 1980s? I don't know, but I did find out how 3M Corporation marketed the product so that today they are common place. It appears that the initial test marketing in 1977 didn't go so well. However, 3M discovered that if you gave the product to the customer to play with - bingo - they loved it! In 1978, 3M had a marketing campaign called the "Boise Blitz" in which Boise, Idaho businesses were blanketed with free product. The result: 90% of the users said that they would buy the product themselves. And the rest is history.