How This $25,000 Ad Created $17 Million in Sales
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Introduction
This ad cost $25,000 to make, created $17 million in sales, and kickstarted brand Poo Pourri from a niche $8 million company in 2012 to over $100 million in yearly revenue today. You don’t need an accountant to tell you that that’s a pretty good return on investment. So, how did Poo Pourri do it?
Poo Pourri is a cocktail of essential oils that you spray in the toilet before use. The oily layer then traps any bad odors beneath the surface of the water. It’s a genius idea, and the product was an instant hit. In her first year in business, Suzy Batiz sold $1 million of inventory to boutiques and stores. By 2013, she was running a stable, profitable business generating $8 million/year.
Advertising aspirations
In order to continue scaling her business in the face of increasing competition, though, Suzy needed to start advertising. However, she couldn’t afford the multi-million dollar budgets traditional brands were spending. The solution was simple: create an uncomplicated video for $25,000 and upload it to YouTube instead of paying for TV airtime. 44 million views and hundreds of millions in sales later, it’s safe to say that Suzy’s bet paid off. While Poo Pourri did spend $650,000 to promote the video on social media, they received $4 million in backorders within a week of posting.
why the ad worked
So, what made this ad so effective? Yes, it’s funny and entertaining, but humor alone doesn’t sell products. What makes the ad brilliant is in how it starts the video by clearly stating a problem that everyone faces:
“Nothing is worse than stinking up the shared toilet at work, or at a party, or at your lovers’ apartment. . . but what can be done of that subtle scent of a 300 cow dairy farm?”
Chris Voss, Author of ‘Never Split the Difference’
The goal here is to ‘hit the nail on the head’ so to speak. In his book Never Split the Difference, Chris Voss outlines how you want your potential customer to be thinking the words “That’s right, there is nothing worse than. . .” while they’re watching your ad.
Now that you’ve roped in your audience with a problem they can relate to, you position your product as the solution to their problem.
“Poo Pourri is the ‘before-you-go’ toilet spray that is proven to trap those embarrassing odors at the source, and save relationships.”
