Sometimes you have to take a risk to get to where you want to be. We have put together five examples that show how some brands took one courageous leap and were catapulted into the history books as some of the best in the business. Introducing the top five “shrewdest, smartest maneuvers you’ve ever seen in business.”

Steve Jobs And Apple Branding 

Before the distinctive designs of headphones after 2001, the accessories were usually dark-grey or black. Of course Steve Jobs came up with something to make the launch of the iPod something that would always be remembered. Jobs made everything about the Apple brand like a walking advertisement. The product accessories were all to be white and crisp. “iPods became the only music players with white headphone leads. Even if you couldn’t see the iPod, you knew what it was,” and we still do today.

Pelé Ties His Shoe For Millions

Football isn’t just a game between the players on the field, it’s also been known to start quite the brand war. When sport brands Adidas and Puma were in the middle of a fight to win World Cup fans over, they made an informal agreement. This stated that neither brand could advertise themselves using football legend Edson Arantes do Nascimento, better known as Pelé. Puma representative, Hans Henningsen, went behind Adidas’ back and paid the star over R1 million to tie his Puma shoe before the final match.

Oakley Gets Free Marketing

Probably one of the greatest forms of strategic marketing has to go to Oakley. When the horrid Chilean mining ordeal was going down in 2012, the brand cleverly donated 35 pairs of sunglasses to the miners before they were rescued. The concept was drawn from the fact that the miners had not been exposed to light for almost 69 days, and so Oakley was there to protect their eyes. According to CNBC, the brand gained over R400 million worth of free publicity.

Liquid Soap Dispensers

Back in the 70’s, liquid soap was only sold by one small company: Robert Taylor’s Minnetonka. When the company decided to penetrate the big markets, there were threats of rival companies copying them. But there can be no liquid soap without dispensers. Before the bigger companies could have a sniff at the market, Taylor dipped into his funds and purchased every single plastic pump that could dispense soap. About R120 million later, the man had purchased everything from the only two producers of the product.

Eventually Colgate Palmolive were forced to buy them out.

Coca-Cola Bottle Design Competition

In 1915, a lawyer for the Coca-Cola Company, Harold Hirsch, came up with a design competition. The contest challenged bottle designers from all of the world to compete in creating the most recognisable bottle of all time, “a bottle which a person could recognise even if they felt it in the dark.” Earl R. Dean was the winner of this distinguished bottle patent that was accepted in 1916.

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[Source: Business Insider]