Hirshberg: Stonyfield cracked retail by having Frisbee teammates demand it
Gary Hirshberg · Stonyfield Yogurt: Gary Hirshberg · Oct 2, 2017 · at 22:44
Gary Hirshberg, co-founder of Stonyfield Farm, explains the guerrilla marketing tactic he used to get his struggling organic yogurt into premier natural grocer Bread & Circus in 1984.
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“So in July of 84, I had my 30th birthday at the farm, and my, I had my old Ultimate Frisbee team come up to visit me, most of whom lived in Cambridge, as you might imagine. And I said, look, It's wonderful you've all come. If you want to give me a really good birthday present, get on to Bread and Circus on Prospect Street in Cambridge and ask for my yogurt. That was on a Sunday. On Wednesday, Mary Carol Skinner, the buyer of Bread and Circus, called and said, Gary, I don't know what's going on, but demand has suddenly gone through the roof. We're getting all kinds of requests for your yogurt. Get it, when can you get it in there? Well, I got in my car and I made the first delivery that afternoon.”
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