Surprising and Shocking Facts About Brands

Every company has a different story of how and why they came to exist. For Platform81, a bit of fate and a lot of passion were the key ingredients to creating our winning digital formula!

If Alec and Nick hadn’t both attended the same University and studied the same marketing course, Platform81 would never have come into existence! Similarly, a fateful meeting at a networking event in Manchester 12 months after the birth of Platform81, led Gary to doing freelance work for Platform81, becoming a Director and helping to shape the digital future of the company. Nine years from inception, the company continues to develop and we are all very fortunate to be part of the growing Platform81 family!

Now let’s explore how other companies came up with creative and genius ideas…

A Bicycle, Two Kids and $100

In 1907, a 19-year-old boy named James Casey borrowed $100 of his friend and created United Parcel Service (UPS.) Using his bicycle to get from point A to point B, the business began to grow. Today, UPS is the largest package delivery company in the world.

Sibling Rivalry

Everybody knows that siblings fight and argue, but Rudolf and Adolf ‘Adi’ Dassler took their falling out to another level. During the 1920’s, the brothers together created a successful shoe manufacturing company named ‘Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory.’ After a large fallout, the two brothers decided to go separate ways. Rudolf created Ruda (which later renamed to Puma) and Adi created Adidas. Without the argument, this rivalry would never have happened, and Adidas and Puma most likely wouldn’t have been created.

Confederate Colonel Addict

John Pemberton was a Confederate Colonel who became injured and addicted to morphine. In order to stop taking morphine, he created a drink named French Wine Coca which was a nerve tonic. However, in 1886, Atlanta passed a prohibition legislation and the formula had to be changed. Pemberton changed the formula to make the drink non-alcoholic, and that is how Coca-Cola became created.

Blackjack Luck

FedEx was formed in 1971 and operations began in 1973. A few years later, the company was falling apart. Constantly in debt and racking up $29 million in losses, there didn’t seem much hope. That was until Fred Smith, the founder of FedEx impulsively got on a flight to Las Vegas. He put on a bet and walked away $27,000 richer and saved the company. Today, Fred Smith is worth $2.3 billion.

Tractor Manufacture to Luxury Automobile Legend

Ferruccio Lamborghini was a tractor manufacture but had a love for sports cars. While he was checking his Ferrari, he noticed a fault with the clutch and the noise levels when he drove the car were ridiculously loud, so he approached Enzo Ferrari to voice his concerns. Enzo was not happy receiving advice from a tractor manufacture and told him to leave. Ferruccio became driven by Enzo’s insults to him, and Lamborghini was created.