By Sampath Pavan Kuppili
There is always a plastic Tupperware box available if you need to transport food for a party or store leftovers in the fridge. Tupperware is a household name when it comes to food storage containers, and women all over the world swear by it. Millennials will recall the days when their mothers would become enraged if their children failed to return home from school or a relative’s house with a Tupperware box. Tupperware’s success may be traced back to its simple plastic storage containers, but how did it acquire the confidence of moms in more than a hundred countries? Find out how Tupperware became a household name by reading on.
Beginnings:
Earl Silas Tupper, a chemical engineer, created Tupperware in 1946. To keep food fresh at home, the containers were made of non-toxic, pliable, and odorless plastic. Because of its distinctive burp, Tupperware containers had a proprietary seal known as the Tupper seal or “burp” seal. When refrigerators first came out, these plastic items were made for the home. The proprietary Tupper seal, on the other hand, would run into problems when buyers couldn’t figure out how to open the products due to the “burp” seal. Tupperware’s rise to popularity began when a woman called Brownie Wise devised a groundbreaking sales concept.
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Popularity and Growth:
Brownie Wise, a marketing pioneer who helped launch Tupperware, is largely responsible for the company’s global expansion and success. At Tupperware, she realized that the American housewives who had recently returned home from work during the Second World War might be targeted with Tupperware’s product line because males were fighting overseas. The ‘Party Plan’ was invented by Brownie Wise and is now a popular sales strategy. Tupperware products were for sale at parties that women hosted and other women attended as part of this scheme. Women who wished to stay at home but yet make money were able to take advantage of this opportunity.
It was a huge success and Brownie Wise rewarded the best sellers and recruiters by organizing lavish Jubilee Celebrations, themed events designed to recognize and reward top performers. For a long time, Tupperware’s only method of selling was through the party plan.
Tupperware in North America has recently shifted to a new business strategy that emphasizes direct marketing channels and eliminates its dependence on approved distributorships in recent years. Target stores in the United States and Superstores in Canada were opened as part of this shift, but the results were not good. Tupperware, on the other hand, is still pushed by around 1.9 million people who are contractually affiliated with the company through the party concept.
The Tupperware corporation continues to dominate the home food storage market today, and they’ve even developed a new line of goods for professional cooks. Tupperware would not be as famous as it is now if it weren’t for Brownie Wise and her Tupperware home parties’ unconventional ideas and success.
Source: Startup Stories
