Not the Time to Unhook the Engine

January 26th, 2010 by Barry Bruns

In the first half of the 20th century the chewing gum magnate, Mr. Wrigley, was riding on a train. The woman in the seat next to him asked why he continued to spend so much money on advertising when he had the chewing gum market cornered, had made huge sums of money, and continued to make even more money. Mr. Wrigley asked her "How fast is this train going." She responded, "Probably about seventy miles per hour." Mr. Wrigley countered, "Well, that's fast enough, why don't they unhook the engine?"

His point is still spot-on. The engine is marketing, which creates demand (pull) for the product. Unfortunately, many businesses cut back on marketing when times are tough (can you say "now?") That's like unhooking the engine when the train is going up a steep grade. It's bad enough to unhook it when the going is easy, but things not only slow down, but rapidly go into reverse when the grade is uphill.

What do our railroads do to get their trains through our mountains? They hook on a helper engine. Maybe it’s time for Wyoming businesses to take another look at all the state supported programs that can provide a low cost helper engine.

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