In 1934, in his book ‘Theory of Economic Development’, Joseph Schumpeter introduced the concept ‘entrepreneur’ as the driver of innovation and change who would disrupt the status quo by creating new and unforeseen products and services, inspiring others and creating new markets.
But 200 years before Shumpeter’s book (before the concept ‘entrepreneur’ existed) one man pioneered all these things.
Josiah Wedgewood was born in 1730 into a poor family making pottery, it was hard manual labour, and at nine years-old Wedgewood contracted smallpox, leaving him too crippled to do physical work.
He was forced to use his brains to find other ways to make money from pottery.
His vision was to separate his family’s pottery off from the utilitarian commodity everyone else produced, he wanted people to purposely choose his pottery, he wanted a point-of-difference, this was a new concept.
In those days, crockery was rough and utilitarian except for the very rich, they wouldn’t use crude pottery, they’d use delicate porcelain.
So Wedgewood experimented non-stop until he found a way to make earthenware that was as durable as ordinary pottery but looked as refined as porcelain.
When he had made a superior product, his unique vision was to create a ‘brand’.
In 1765, he entered a competition to showcase different types of crockery: tea-cups, saucers, coffee mugs, sugar dishes, and cream bowls.
Wedgewood won the competition, and Queen Charlotte asked him to make a set for her use.
That’s when he saw the way to separate his ‘brand’ off from everyone else’s.
The first subset of marketing he invented was ‘influencer marketing’.
He called his collection ‘Queenware’ and was the first to use celebrity advertising.
He invented the ‘luxury brand’ by labelling Wedgewood as ‘Her Majesty’s Potter’.
He created a unique look with white relief designs on a pale blue background, which gave it a brand-identity.
He diversified the range, making personalised silhouette portraits in this signature style, it was easily recognisable and owning a piece of Wedgewood became a status symbol.
He invented different price-points for different audiences. He sold high cost, hand-painted designs for rich customers, and he pioneered transfer printing, virtually indistinguishable but much cheaper, for mid-level customers.
He introduced the money-back satisfaction guarantee, knowing that the reputation the brand would achieve was greater than the cost.
He pioneered free-delivery, knowing that the savings in breakages would far-outweigh the possible cost.
He pioneered BOGOF (buy-one-get-one-free) as a way to move excess inventory from the warehouse without lowering the perceived price.
He pioneered market-research, he had catalogues of his products printed and would employ sales-people to conduct surveys amongst prospective customers.
So desirable was Wedgewood’s brand, that by the 1780s nearly 80% of his produce was exported to Europe and America.
His vision in doing whatever it took to separate his pottery off from everyone else made him what is now known as an entrepreneur.
He invented the idea of brands to create a point-of-difference in the consumer’s mind.
Everyone who was in business began to copy Wedgewood’s methods until marketing eventually became a specialised industry in itself.
Marketing is now seen as an essential tool for anyone who is in any kind of business.
An entrepreneur is now seen as a successful business visionary.
And, like all good ideas, it all came about by mixing common-sense with creativity.