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Hey Marketing Bestie,

Us marketers sure can learn a lot from our Marketing fore-fathers and fore-mothers.

Consider this a parade for the greatest marketing campaigns in memory.

Welcome to Marketing Classics 411, a new kind of ancient history.

In place of hieroglyphs, expect to decipher the campaigns of yesteryear.

Professor Millennial teaches every Tuesday (remotely), via electronic mail.

Class is now in session.

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THE HAPPY HABIT

In 2026, “brand building” advice gets abstract fast. Not this time. 🍫

Today’s lesson is about a 104-year-old family business that kept it simple, tangible, and tasteable by turning a free sample into a compounding growth loop.

It started with quality ingredients:

Literally, through premium, locally sourced chocolate, nuts, cream, and butter.

Figuratively, through unmatched customer service and a consistently delightful in-store experience.

Then it mixed in some product theater, sticky marketing, and delectable innovation.

The finished product: a “dream business,” according to Warren Buffett. 

And not just because of the Chocolate Walnut Fudge.

Brand equity this sweet comes with pricing power, the ability to increase prices WITHOUT losing customers or demand. 

Even in wartime, with increased competition, and through a brittle economy. 

Want the (deceptively) simple recipe for success?

This is the story of… See’s Candies.

Charles A. See, II was born in 1882 and raised in Ontario, Canada.

His father, Charles See, Sr. ran a hotel on Tremont Park Island, a summertime destination that’s part of the 1000 Islands. (Where the salad dressing was invented! Small world, big archipelago.)

His mother, Mary See, developed candy recipes and sold her confections at the hotel. 

Charles grew up, worked as a chocolate salesman, and eventually became a pharmacist with his own drugstore.

But his dream was to escape the cold, move to California, and open a candy shop.

When his father died, Charles decided to take the leap. 

He moved to Pasadena with his wife, children, mother Mary, and all her beloved candy recipes. 

Ruth, Charles, and the 3 See’s Candy heirs. (via The Hustle)

In 1921, Charles opened the 1st See’s Candies on 135 Western Avenue in the LA neighborhood now known as Koreatown.

He designed the store interior and uniforms in black and white to look like the checkerboard floor of the family’s California kitchen.

The stores still look like this! (via M Accelerator)

See’s packaging has the same color motif, with a drawing of the family’s California home and a photo of Mary:

My favorite kind of unboxing. (via See’s Candies)

From the beginning, free samples were See’s friction killer AND quality signal. 

Anyone who walked into See’s could pick a candy to try, no purchase necessary.

Sampling became a celebrated customer ritual and growth driver.

The strategy was ideal for a new shop with a variety of edible products.

It scaled faster than traditional advertising and generated word (and watering) of mouth. 

Customers who enjoyed a “little cup of happiness” were more likely to buy.

And when they did, they’d often buy an entire BOX.

By 1925, there were a dozen See’s Candies across LA.

If customers couldn’t come to the shop, it would come to them via motorcycle delivery service.

Sweet ride, man. (via See’s Candies)

See’s kept it classy and on-brand with a sidecar designed to look like the See’s family home and a uniformed chauffeur.

The motorcycle traveled to Hollywood studios and celebrity homes. 

It was a company vehicle AND an advertisement. 

Which isn’t new now. 

But this was in 1928! 

Over a decade before pizza delivery was popularized. More than 70 years before the modern food delivery boom.

But trouble was around the corner.

The stock market crashed in 1929. Nearly 86,000 businesses went under during the Great Depression.

IDK if you’ve ever noticed, but chocolate, sugar, butter, and cream are expensive. 

During the Great Depression, many candy companies experimented with penny candy made of cheaper ingredients.

Kids worshipping at the altar of penny candy. (via The Atlantic)

The Tootsie Pop, for example, was a longer-lasting, less chocolatey alternative to the Tootsie Roll. 

(You might have also noticed a gummy candy comeback recently!)

High-calorie ingredients, like nuts, nougat, and caramel, were added to candy bars to make sweet treats more filling, or even a meal replacement. 

Snickers, Baby Ruth, Payday, and 3 Musketeers all debuted in the 1930s.

But See’s refused to use lower-quality ingredients. Its motto was “Quality Without Compromise,” after all. 

Instead, it offered volume discount pricing to sweeten the deal. 

Pre-paid orders over 50 pounds were only 42¢ a pound.

See’s knew customers were counting every penny.

So it invested in product theater to show that See’s quality made it worth the price. 

In 1931, as other businesses shuttered, Mary See’s Sunlit Candy Studio opened. 

Customers could see the candy production process for themselves and purchase treats. 

“Per my last Scotchmallow…” (via Business Insider)

(This later inspired Krispy Kreme’s glazed donut conveyer belt, BTW)

By 1936, See’s had expanded throughout California.

A few years later, an international audience tried Scotch Kisses and Bon Bons at a miniature candy kitchen exhibit at the 1939 World’s Fair.

The Great Depression was finally over.

See’s came out on top by staying true to its principles and highlighting what made its candy special.

It would revisit this strategy during World War II.

Instead of switching to cheaper unrationed ingredients, See’s made and sold fewer candies.

Want See’s in 1943? Get in line. (via The Orange County Register)

PUT IT IN PRACTICE

Every See’s visitor gets to pick 1 free sample (I’m a Cashew Brittle guy, but you do you.)

Time to build your brand’s “free sample moment.”

Here’s your homework:

1️⃣. Identify the highest-friction purchase step of your brand’s hero product. Ask: what’s keeping potential customers from pulling the trigger? They might be uncertain about taste or fit, worried about set-up, or just skeptical.

2️⃣. Now, design a 1-step demo that allows customers to experience the product in under 30 seconds. 

Physical products could have a sample, try-on, or miniature version. 

Software could be demoed in an interactive sandbox, pre-filled account, or instant audit.

A service could come to life with a diagnostic, calculator, or before-and-after preview.

3️⃣. Write a 3-line script your team will say during the demo. Include what this product is, why it matters, and what to do next.

4️⃣. Choose 1 metric (conversion rate, repeat purchase within 30 days, demo-to-sale, etc.) that can measure if the sampling works.

When Charles See died in 1949, his firstborn son Laurence See became company president. 

The same year, he got See’s on TV with a branded float for the first televised Rose Parade. 

Look, it’s the Easter Yummy! (via See’s Candy)

California suburbs boomed in the 1950s. 

See’s followed customers and opened stores in these newfangled things called shopping malls. 

By the end of the decade, See’s had 124 shops and over 1,000 employees.

A few other tasty bites:

📺 1952: Lucille Ball visited the conveyor belt at a See’s Candy Kitchen to prep for the “Job Switching” episode of I Love Lucy. It became the show’s 2nd most popular episode of all time!

🚚 1959: See’s began transporting liquid chocolate to its production facilities in tanker trucks. 

📦 1960: Mail order was introduced, so See’s could ship candy directly to customers.

🌵1961: See’s opened its 1st location outside California, a mall shop in Phoenix. 

Outside the family business, Laurence See’s life wasn’t as sweet. 

He was going through a divorce, and the fight over alimony led to the California Supreme Court case See vs. See (1966), which established critical rules about community property.

TL;DR: Laurence lost and had to pay $5,200 a month in permanent alimony. Adjusted for inflation, that’s about $52,200 a month today. (Yes, I looked it up. 🤯)

Obviously, See’s history makes no mention of this personal struggle, or whether what happened next is related, but in 1970, word got out that See’s Candies was up for sale.

The Sees wanted $30M. 

Their pre-tax earnings were less than $5M. 

Who would pay THAT much for a chain of candy stores?

Spoiler alert: Warren Buffett. Yep, THAT Warren Buffett.

In 1972, Berkshire Hathaway purchased See’s Candies for $25M.

This was more than 3x its book value!

See’s was beloved for great customer service and products, but it wasn’t that impressive on paper. People said it was overpriced.

Warren Buffett was skeptical too, until his business partner Charlie Munger convinced him that See’s hadn’t reached its full potential. 

The reasoning: 

• See’s had significant share of mind in California.
• Customers were deeply loyal.
• Product quality was exceptional.
• They had distribution.
• Buffett and Munger believed See’s had pricing power. 
• If it raised prices just 30¢ per pound on 16M pounds, they could make almost $5M more annually. 

So, Berkshire-Hathaway made a deal.

See’s store footprint grew modestly, about 2% per year. 

So did the volume of candy sold, at an average of 4%.

But sales and profitability grew over 160% each year.

Berkshire Hathaway’s seen an almost 8000% ROI since 1972. 

A sweet peek at the See’s financials. Sorry for all the math. (via SBO)

Warren Buffett now calls See’s a “dream business.” It brings in over $400M in annual revenue.

And gives away 1M pounds of free samples in the process.

It’s weird, and I must have it. (via See’s Candies)

The old-fashioned candy shop has maintained its quaint look and friendly service across 275 U.S. stores, a few international locations - and they’re kinda quietly killing it at ecom.

See’s ended motorcycle delivery, but it works with DoorDash.

It introduced the Happy Habit rewards program in 2024.

And let’s just say I have the custom box builder bookmarked.

To taste See’s is to love it. My personal opinion, but I’m not alone.

And to love it is to keep buying it, even as prices creep up.

The secret ingredient: the good sticky stuff. 

The good sticky stuff = caramel + brand equity. (via See’s Candies)

If you don’t believe me, you’ll have to See’s for yourself. 

(This is where I’d put a See’s discount code, if I had one. SEE’S, EMAIL ME!)

MARKETING CHEAT SHEET (WHAT TO LEARN FROM THIS STORY):

1️⃣. Turn product trial into a ritual.

See’s made the free sample a repeatable acquisition moment, not a perk.

Today it gives away 1M pounds of free samples each year, sustaining interest in bestsellers, like Scotchmallows (Ari’s fave) and Toffee-ettes and driving trial of newer treats, like Apple Pie Truffles. 

2️⃣. Make the making visible.

While other businesses cut back during the Great Depression, See’s invested in product theater with Mary See’s Sunlit Candy Studio. 

If a brand’s commitment to quality is a differentiator, “watch it happen” public experiences like kitchens, windows, tours, and exhibits grow trust at scale.

3️⃣. Brand equity becomes pricing power.

Consistent quality—in both products and customer experience—over several decades gave See’s pricing power and capital efficiency. 

Berkshire Hathaway bet on pricing power when it acquired See’s for $25M, 300x its book value. The bet paid off: Berkshire Hathaway’s seen an almost 8000% ROI since 1972. 

Plus, I’m pretty sure Warren Buffett eats all the Peanut Brittle he wants.

IN A MEME

Ahh, the bell has rung. Please be sure to do the reading (follow The Marketing Millennials on LinkedIn and me, Professor Millennial, on X).

Off you go, passing period is only 11 minutes and there’s already a line at the vending machine that sells See’s Maple Cashew Brittle.

Until next time,

Professor Millennial

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