How famous entrepreneurs of the Russian Empire advertised their products: Tricks of pre-revolutionary business

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

The 19th century occupies a special place in the history of Russian entrepreneurship. The state tried to create favorable conditions for the development of the economy and business. Former serfs, foreigners or yesterday's students could open their own business - everyone had the same legal opportunities for this. But in order to draw attention to your product, you had to be smart. The entrepreneurs of the Russian Empire did not have the set of advertising tools that are available now. Therefore, only those of them who were able to generate and implement unique marketing ideas achieved success, doing it one step faster than their competitors.

How the industrialist Chichkin demonstrated the freshness of his milk

Alexander Chichkin, a successful entrepreneur in pre-revolutionary Russia, found his calling in his youth. In the 70s of the XIX century, a lucky chance intervened in the fate of an ordinary guy from the village of Koprino - the brother of the painter Vasily Vereshchagin, Nikolai, opened the first peasant cheese factory here, and under her he organized a dairy school. In addition to standard subjects, they also taught the basics of dairy production. It was in this school that Chichkin began to comprehend the basics of business, which later became the work of his whole life.

The talented young man graduated from the Petrovsk Agricultural Academy and trained for three years at the Paris Institute of Pasteur. After graduation, Chichkin decided to organize his own business and already in 1888 opened the first store in Moscow. Before that, dairy products were traded in markets and at home, and only cheese could be purchased in shops.

Chichkin's store presented a wide range of dairy products brought from the best manufacturers and undergoing strict quality control. Chichkin thought through all the trading processes to the smallest detail in order to be head and shoulders above the competition. The first cash register in Moscow appeared in his store; great attention was paid to the cleanliness of the premises and the culture of communication between sellers.

Rumors about the unsurpassed quality of the products quickly spread throughout Moscow and made Chichkin a leader in the dairy trade. The store employees poured yesterday's milk down the drain in front of buyers, dispelling any doubts about the freshness of the products.

In 1910, Chichkin built his own dairy plant with powerful technical equipment, where he produced cheese, sour cream, cottage cheese, butter and fermented baked milk. This is the only entrepreneur who achieved success in the Russian Empire, but was able to stay afloat under Soviet rule.

In the 1930s, he was exiled to Kazakhstan, but at the suggestion of Molotov and Mikoyan, he returned to Moscow as a consultant in the food industry. Later, Chichkin was even awarded the Order of the Badge of Honor for the development of the dairy industry.

How Brocard made money on penny soap

An entrepreneur of French origin, Heinrich Brocard is known as an outstanding perfumer in pre-revolutionary Russia. But he started his path to success with the production of soap. In 1864, on the territory of a former stable in Moscow, he created a small workshop, where he worked with two employees.

In the middle of the 19th century, not all peasants in the Russian Empire could regularly buy hygiene products for themselves; they used ordinary wood ash as soap, which they dissolved with boiling water and boiled in an oven. But everything changed at the moment when Brocard decided to produce a budget soap available to all segments of the population.

At first, he produced 100-120 pieces of "Children's soap" with the letters of the Russian alphabet, from which it was possible to collect the alphabet. Later in the assortment appeared "Sharom" at 5 kopecks and "Narodnoe" at 1 kopeck. per piece. Products at dumping prices were literally swept off the shelves. Expanding the business, Brocard began to produce "Glycerin Soap" with mint, coconut and berry scents, as well as a series for children in the form of toys, fruits and vegetables, which were purchased not only for hygiene, but also as souvenirs. To interest the hostesses, Brocard came up with the idea of putting embroidery patterns for table linen into soap packages.

In the late 70s of the XIX century, the soap king began to engage in perfumery. To advertise his new product to the public, Brocard advertised the sale of cheap kits, which included perfume, cologne, lipstick and soap. During the first half of the day, more than two thousand of these kits were sold out.

How rowdy students advertised Shustov's vodka all over Moscow

By 1863, the son of a former serf peasant, Nikolai Shustov, rented a blacksmith's on Maroseyka and opened a small distillery with three employees. At that time in Moscow there were about 300 enterprises producing vodka. Most of them produced cheap products of poor quality, which in some cases even caused massive poisoning.

The first thing that Shustov decided for himself was to create his own brand of high-quality alcohol with an ideal reputation and glorify it throughout Russia. The entrepreneur personally supervised all production processes at the plant and made sure that the composition of the vodka met the highest requirements. Few people knew about Shustov's vodka, so they practically did not buy it. To increase sales, it was necessary to reduce the price, which would lead to a drop in quality, or spend a lot of money on advertising, which Shustov did not have at that time. A talented businessman found another way out - he came up with a unique marketing strategy that no one had used before. He hired students who came to well-known Moscow taverns already drunk and demanded from the staff the "best in the world" Shustov's vodka. If one was not available, young people made scandals and even fights. Often the brawlers were taken away by the police, from where Shustov ransomed them and paid a fee for the work done.

As a rule, after such incidents, the owners of drinking establishments preferred to play it safe and buy a batch of Shustov alcohol. And to students who made a row, an inventive businessman paid a percentage of the order. In addition, newspapers wrote about the incidents, so Shustov's brand was constantly heard.

This plan quickly bore fruit, and in two years the future "king of cognac" had amassed enough capital to move to a more spacious building and expand production. Gradually, balsams, herbal liqueurs, liqueurs and cognac began to appear in the assortment. Famous to this day "Rizhsky Balsam", "Zubrovka" and "Rowan on Cognac" also belong to the Shustov brand.

The entrepreneur did not skimp on advertising, was one of the first to place signs on transport, and also hired the best artists in the capital, who painted him original illustrations for labels. And by the centenary of the birth of A. S. Pushkin, alcohol in bottles in the form of a bust of the poet was released.

Why Pavel Bure's watches were so popular in the Russian Empire

In 1815, the watchmaker Karl Bure arrived from Revel (now Tallinn) to St. Petersburg with his son Paul and organized a small watch production here. From an early age, the boy worked as an apprentice with his father and received important knowledge about clockwork, which he passed on to his son Pavel. The grandson of the founder of the family business also did not betray the traditions of the dynasty and after graduation became a full-fledged companion of his father.

A new stage in the company's development began in 1874, when Pavel Pavlovich Bure acquired a large watch factory in Switzerland (Le Locle). From 1880 he worked as an appraiser at the Imperial Court, thanks to which he received the right to use the state emblem in his stores. At that time, Bure had several competitors, for example, Winter, Omega or Moser, who had their factories in Russia and assembled watches from high-quality components brought from abroad. But thanks to the right marketing, Bure has become a recognized leader in the industry. It was he who made watches a publicly available product for the widest sections of the population, offering options in different price categories and for any needs.

Bure watches were the best gifts, among merchants they were considered a sign of power and wealth and were displayed on a par with orders. Emperors Alexander III and Nicholas II also preferred watches of this brand only, presented them to diplomats, officials and cultural figures. Thus, during the celebration of the 290th anniversary of the House of Romanov, F. Chaliapin was presented with a watch Bure with a gold case and diamonds worth 450 rubles.

The assortment included walkers and chronographs, repeaters, alarm clocks, wrist, wall and travel models. Even people with a modest income could buy watches of this brand. The cost of products in a metal case started at 2 rubles, which at that time was more than democratic. At the same time, budget watches were not inferior to elite ones in accuracy and quality of workmanship.

Unfortunately in the future pre-revolutionary brands popular all over the world from Russia ceased to exist.