The Empire Builders Podcast

By: Stephen Semple and David Young
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  • Summary

  • Reverse engineering the success of established business empires.
    The Empire Builders Podcast
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Economics Leadership Management Management & Leadership Marketing Marketing & Sales
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Episodes
  • #202: Sour Patch Kids – Gummy Bears Meet Cabbage Patch Kids

    #202: Sour Patch Kids – Gummy Bears Meet Cabbage Patch Kids
    Apr 23 2025
    Sour Patch Kids were the result of paying attention to the industry and the wants and delights of the world at large. And delivering what the people wanted. Dave Young: Welcome to the Empire Builders Podcast, teaching business owners the not-so-secret techniques that took famous businesses from mom and pop to major brands. Stephen Semple is a marketing consultant, story collector, and storyteller. I'm Stephen's sidekick and business partner, Dave Young. Before we get into today's episode, a word from our sponsor, which is, well, it's us, but we're highlighting ads we've written and produced for our clients. So, here's one of those. [Waulkie Feet Ad] Dave Young: Welcome to Empire Builders Podcast. Dave Young here, along with Stephen Semple. All Stephen told me for this episode is that he's excited about doing it because it's got a Canadian tie-in, but he didn't whisper the name of the company or anything into my ear as we counted down. Stephen Semple: I forgot to. Dave Young: Yeah. Stephen Semple: Oh, I forgot to. Dave Young: He just stood there looking at me. Stephen Semple: I'll tell you now, Sour Patch Kids. You know the candy? Dave Young: Sour Patch Kids. Oh, gosh. Are they the origin of all the little sour candies that are out now? Stephen Semple: It's always hard to say if they're the exact origin, but they were certainly one of the first ones that went big, for sure. Dave Young: And the candy was after most of my candy-eating days. So let's dive in. Stephen Semple: So you're trying to tell me you eat no candy now? None? Dave Young: Well, that's what the doctor says should be happening. But as a child, I'm just too old to devour a lot of Sour Patch Kids, I think. Tell me when this started. Stephen Semple: So the Sour Patch Kids started basically in the early 1970s, is kind of when they came out. It was a Canadian company, but the other thing is it didn't, first of all, start as Sour Patch Kids. It was actually first called Mars Men. And in 1985, they renamed it Sour Patch. Dave Young: Okay. I was adulting by then. Where did this start? Wait, Mars Men? Stephen Semple: Mars Men. Dave Young: Yeah, that's not a good name. Stephen Semple: No. So today, it's part of a big conglomerate, it's part of the Mondelēz Group, and it's estimated that there's about $248 million worth of Sour Patch Kids sold every year. So that's a lot of little kids. And it was started by a little Canadian company. There was a guy by the name of Frank Galatolie who was working at Jaret International, and he was admiring the American candy revolution, and he was the sales and marketing manager for Jaret. And what Jaret did was they were an importer of food that foreign transplants would like. So they would go out and they would find some sort of food that people from India would like and bring it in or from Poland and they would bring it in. So basically, they really specialized in this whole idea of finding foods that foreign transplants would like. Dave Young: Interesting. I like that idea. Stephen Semple: And he wanted to do a twist on gummy candy. So in 1920, Hans Riegel, in Germany, made the first gummy, and that was like a gummy bear. And they were really popular in Europe, but they weren't super popular here. And he didn't want to do a traditional sweet candy, and Halloween was really growing candy, and candy could now be found in different places, and all of this other stuff going on. And he also started to notice that there was an emergence of a different type of candy, like the Atomic Fireball came out and sour Lemonheads came out. So he was noticing that there was this desire for stuff that was not just sweet, and they were really the first to do this whole idea of sour and sweet. So they combined two acids, so it would be super sour and that super sour would drop off and then would come back as being sweet.
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    16 mins
  • #201: Cabela’s – From Furniture to Fishing Flies

    #201: Cabela’s – From Furniture to Fishing Flies
    Apr 16 2025
    1000 fishing flies and an ad that failed turned a furniture store family into a sporting goods store empire. Way to go Cabela's. Dave Young: Welcome to the Empire Builders Podcast, teaching business owners the not-so-secret techniques that took famous businesses from mom and pop to major brands. Stephen Semple is a marketing consultant, story collector, and storyteller. I'm Stephen's sidekick and business partner, Dave Young. Before we get into today's episode, a word from our sponsor, which is, well, it's us, but we're highlighting ads we've written and produced for our clients. So, here's one of those. [No Bull RV Ad] Stephen Semple: Hey, David, we're going to do something different here. Dave Young: Okay. I'm all ears. Stephen Semple: Because you have a special history with this company. So we're going to talk about Cabela's. Dave Young: Okay. Okay. Stephen Semple: Because of the fact that Cabela's started in your little town in Nebraska. Dave Young: Kind of. Kind of. Stephen Semple: Kind of. Dave Young: Yeah. Stephen Semple: So we're going to do this completely unrehearsed, Dave running with things, and I'll fill in certain- Dave Young: You're going to Google dates and names in the background? Stephen Semple: Yeah, that's what we're going to do. So let's give that a roll. Cabela's is an interesting story. Dave Young: It really is, and it still is a brand, right? It's still around, but it's owned by the Bass Pro Shop guy, Johnny, whatever his name is. I didn't get to know him because that's a Missouri thing. So Sidney, Nebraska- Stephen Semple: We don't like talking about those people. Dave Young: Well, he came in and bought it up and saved the company. That's part of the story. But Sidney, Nebraska was the home of Cabela's, the family and the corporate headquarters for years and years. It started, though, in a town about 30 miles away, a town of Chappell, Nebraska. Stephen Semple: Right. Yes. Dave Young: 1962. Stephen Semple: Well actually, you're really good. According to what I have here is December, 1961, but 1962 is a month later. Dave Young: Yeah. '62 is what was always on their logo. Stephen Semple: Okay, cool. Cool. Dave Young: And the shirts you could buy, like Cabela's EST 1962, but yeah, December '61. So Chappell, Nebraska, their dad is in the furniture business, and- Stephen Semple: I didn't realize he was in the furniture business. Okay, cool. Dave Young: Yeah, and the story. As I recall, is that two of the sons, Dick and Jim, well, at least it was Dick that went to the furniture show with dad in Chicago, where you see all the furniture that you're going to buy for your store and you make deals with the manufacturers and all that stuff arrives then over the course of the next year. Well, he found a company that he bought like a thousand Chinese-made fishing flies. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Dave Young: Little flies for fly fishing. Stephen Semple: Right. And what I have here is it cost him like 45 bucks. Dave Young: Oh, yeah. Yeah. Dirt cheap. Didn't know what he was going to do with them, but he bought a thousand of them and brought them home. Takes out a little ad in a Wyoming hunters' newspaper or newsletter. All right? And he- Stephen Semple: Sports Afield is the name of the- Dave Young: Sports Afield, and the ad, if... So yeah, gosh, now I feel like I'm doing this story and Stephen's fact checking me, live. So this is, I think, from an ad writing perspective and a business making an offer, this is actually the pivotal moment in the genesis of the Cabela's story is that they ran this ad in Sports Afield and nothing happened. Stephen Semple: Right. I think they got one response or something like that? Dave Young: Yeah, but it was the offer. The offer was buy, I think it was 12 hand-tied fishing flies for a dollar,
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    24 mins
  • #200: Happy Meal – 35 Billion Served

    #200: Happy Meal – 35 Billion Served
    Apr 9 2025
    Because of the Happy Meal McDonalds is the world's largest toy distributor. Larger than Hasbro or Mattel. This is an Empire! Dave Young: Welcome to The Empire Builders Podcast, teaching business owners the not-so-secret techniques that took famous businesses from mom and pop to major brands. Stephen Semple is a marketing consultant, story collector, and storyteller. I'm Stephen's sidekick and business partner, Dave Young. Before we get into today's episode, a word from our sponsor, which is... Well, it's us, but we're highlighting ads we've written and produced for our clients. So here's one of those. [Out Of This World Plumbing Ad] Dave Young: Welcome back to The Empire Builders Podcast. Dave Young here, along with Stephen Semple, and I was ranting and raving about a new book I'm fascinated with and crazed about. And Stephen hit the record button and decided we were going to talk about Happy Meals instead of that. So here we are. Happy Meals, huh? Stephen Semple: Happy Meals, yeah. Dave Young: The McDonald Happy Meal. The precursor to the Playland. I've always enjoyed going through the McDonald's drive-through and ordering a happy meal, whether I had a kid in the car or not. Stephen Semple: I could see you doing that. Dave Young: And then sometimes they look and go, "Well, where's the kid?" I'm like, "Hey, mind your own business about the kid." Stephen Semple: They're in the trunk. Dave Young: There's a kid somewhere. Give me my damn toy. Stephen Semple: I was going to ask, what's your favorite part? Is it the toy? Dave Young: Absolutely. You can get a nugget, a few of them. Stephen Semple: Well, here's the crazy thing is it is the most sold meal in history. There's been like 35 billion happy meals sold. Dave Young: Is it, really? That's a lot of happy. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Dave Young: Sure. Stephen Semple: And it actually makes McDonald's one of the largest toy distributors in the world. They've given away billions of toys. Dave Young: Oh, sure they did. Stephen Semple: More toys than Hasbro or Mattel. Dave Young: And just controversy like when they were giving away Beanie Baby toys. Good Lord, people were losing their minds. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Yeah. Dave Young: I'm trying to think of who this is. It might be our mutual friend, Gordon. Somebody in our circle tells a story about their dad driving the family through McDonald's when they were kids and everybody getting really excited because like, "I'm going to get a Happy Meal." And their dad orders one cup of coffee and just keeps going. I'm like, "Oh, man, that would suck." Stephen Semple: That would be a very unhappy car. Dave Young: So when did the Happy Meal start? Stephen Semple: There's a bit of a debate about who actually created the Happy Meal. So we're going to explore a couple of the different stories, but it was basically 1974. Dave Young: Okay. Yeah. Stephen Semple: One of the stories is it was created in Guatemala by Dona Yoly and her husband who opened the first franchise in that country. Dave Young: Wow. Stephen Semple: And Dona wanted her restaurant to feel like a family restaurant. Look, she understood things had to be done the McDonald's way- Dave Young: Sure. Stephen Semple: ... to the corporate standards because McDonald's even has a Hamburger University- Dave Young: Oh, yeah. Yeah. Stephen Semple: ... which was a brainchild of Fred Turner, and it's a training program for franchisees. We could even do a thing on Hamburger University because it was the first of its type. It was the first training program of its type for franchisees. So there's always this thing that McDonald's is trying to set where there's this goal of a consistent experience, but they also want to give franchisees some freedom because what they have found is that franchisees oft...
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    20 mins
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