"No Change, Take Chappies"!
money with memories
Hi Money makers,
It’s your favorite content creator, TalkingCents.
In today’s article, I’m going to take you back in time and show you how money can actually be anything if enough of us agree to it. This understanding will tie into a much larger educational piece in the future, but for now, I hope the story ‘sticks a smile on your face’.
𝗗𝗶𝗱 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗞𝗻𝗼𝘄:
There is a famous South African Brand that was once used as a currency, and if you think hard and long enough, many of you will be able to recall your shopkeeper’s famous last words;
“𝗡𝗼 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲, 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗶𝗲𝘀”
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘀…
A young man finishes school and needs a job. He finds the most convenient job available to him at this time, just as many others did/do.
This young man finds himself at the doorstep of the 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁 𝗦𝘄𝗲𝗲𝘁 𝗙𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆, just down the road from his house in Troyeville, Johannesburg. This man is now known as Arthur Ginsberg.
𝗠𝗲𝗲𝘁 𝗔𝗿𝘁𝗵𝘂𝗿 𝗚𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗯𝗲𝗿𝗴
𝗔𝗿𝘁𝗵𝘂𝗿 𝗚𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗯𝗲𝗿𝗴 was the creator of the iconic 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗕𝘂𝗯𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗴𝘂𝗺 𝗕𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱 and was inspired when the Chapelat Confectionary Company found themselves losing their biggest client at the time – OK Bazaars.
This pressure led Arthur Ginsberg to come up with the 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗕𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝟭𝟵𝟰𝟴. The idea was sparked by looking at a competitor’s product, which was Wicks bubble gum.
Wicks bubble gum, at the time, was selling gum for a penny each, and Arthur believed he could sell two for a penny – 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗶𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗼 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗶𝗲𝘀.
*The Chapelat Sweet Factory is what gave him the inspiration and it is where “chappies” derived its name from.
𝗜𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝟭𝟵𝟱𝟬𝘀……
Arthur was truly passionate about marketing and advertising, which showed in his commitment and dedication to his work and studies. He was made head of marketing and sales at Chapelat Confectionary Company. During this time, he spent many years studying at night to complete a BCom degree at Wits University.
𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗕𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱…..
The only thing that was left to do was to market Chappies, this is where Arthur Ginsberg proved to be a mastermind. He focused on making Chappies attractive to children by having the famous “𝗗𝗶𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄” questions on the inside of each wrapper.
𝗗𝗶𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄:
A cartoon chipmunk was inserted under “Chappies” on the wrapper. Management felt that rural black children who possibly couldn’t read needed to be able distinguish the real Chappies from any substitutes on the market, and the chipmunk was that distinctive feature.
*The wrapper still contains the famous chipmunk today.
Unpacking the Growth story
At one point in the past, Chappies had been South Africa’s best-selling bubblegum for more than 50 years, with about 2.5 billion pieces being sold each year.
The marketing genius, Arthur, took the brand to new heights, eventually leading it to become an element of identity.
There's no doubt that the Chappies bubblegum wrapper played a crucial role in its popularity. The distinctive stripes and chipmunk logo became synonymous with the brand, making it arguably one of the most effective marketing strategies that played out in South Africa.
𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆…….
Arthur drew inspiration and motivation from his competitors to lower the price of Chappies. As a result, Chappies became so cheap that shopkeepers started giving them to customers as change instead of half pennies. This led to Chappies being used as a form of currency to settle transactions.
This illustrates the point I made earlier, anything can become money or currency if enough people agree to it. (I will drive this point home in a future article, relating back to this story).
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲.....
The Chappies Brand became so iconic that it was sought out by one of the World’s largest snacks Company. The 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘀𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗖𝗮𝗱𝗯𝘂𝗿𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝟭𝟵𝟴𝟵.
Cadbury is a subsidiary of Mondelēz International, inc.
Mondelēz International, inc., is an American Multinational confectionery, food, holding, beverage and snack food company. They operate in approximately 160 countries and have an annual revenue of about +-$26 billion.
They are listed under the ticker MDLZ 0.00%↑
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Summary
It's incredible to think that such a rich history is contained within a small bubblegum brand, now part of a larger entity operating on a global scale.
When Chappies was first conceptualized all those years ago, no one could have imagined how far it would go. It truly underscores the importance of hard work, the power of implementing an idea, and blind luck.
Did you know
• Cape Town is the only city in the world situated on both the Indian and Atlantic oceans
• Dylan Moore can chug an entire bottle of wine
• Elana Afrika is also a professional golfer
• A penguin is the only bird that walks upright
That’s it for now.
Chat soon and stay safe, everyone