Read the case study and Answer the questions at the end of the case study.

Sources: "Ron Popeil, He of the Pocket Fisherman and Spray-on Hair, Has Perfected His Formula for Success: Invent, Market, and Sell with a Passion,"BusinessWeek, October 3, 2005; Brent Hopkins, "How Ron Popeil 2. Explain how Popeil's selling tactics allow him to close Invented Himself," Knight-Aldder/Inbune Business News, August 31, 2005; Matt Myerhoff, "Infomercial King the sale. Sells Company Ronco Goes Public for Expansion," Los Angeles Business Journal, July 29, 2006, p.1; "Super Bass-o-Matic 76,"Saturday Night Live Transcripts, http:/snitranscriptsjt.org/75/75qhassamatic phtml. QUESTIONS 1. What does Ron Popeil bring to personal selling that makes him so effective? Do you think it is likely that America will ever see someone like Ron Popeil in the future? Why or why not 2 CASE STUDIESCHAPTER 1 7 RON POPEIL RUN PUPEIL WHEELS. DEALS. HAS MASS APPEAL 3 At age Y6, Ron 'Ftonco" Pop-ell is an avid inventor, tireless Eentrepreneur, clever marketer, and master salesman all g in one. He just happens to be an American icon, too. The 35 godfather of the infomercial, Popeil even has his famous Eyeg-D-Matic on display in the Smithsonian Institution as 2 an American cultural artifact. His other famous products '3 include the food dehydrator, the Ronco spray gun, and the E Popeil Pocket Fisherman. % As a teenager, Popeil helped his father sell his kitchen 3 gadgets at local Woolworth's and later, in the I9Ss, on the for four installments of $39.95 each, the rotisserie alone has grossed over $1 billion in sales. During the taping of the infomercial for that product, the live studio audience was treated to yet another of Popeil's catchphrases that has become part of the fabric of American speech.\"Just set it and forget it!" is now used to sell all kinds of non-Popeil products from l.I'CRs and digital video recorders to ovens and coffeemakers. Through the medium of television, Popeil was able to reach tens of millions of people. With an innate ability Chicago fair circuit. That is probably why his famous shtick, which included such memorable catch phrases as \"But wait, there's more,\"Pn'ced so low,\"r a nd \"Operators are standing by,\" always seemed like a blend between sincere eccentric in- ventor and exdtablecamival barkerThe combination suited him well and brought him enough nancial success that he could afford to take his act to television. In the 1960s, he in- corporated Ftonco, and its name became synonymous with gadgets like the smokeless ashtray and Mr. Microphone. Regardless of the product he is selling or the catchy pitch phrases he invents on the fly to sell them, Popeil is al- ways sincere.\"The easiest thing to do in the world is to sell a product I believe in," he has said.'lfl spent two years cre- ating a product, conceiving it, tinkering with it, I can get up and sell it.Who can sell it better than the guy who invented it?\" Len Green, a professor in entrepreneurship at Babson College, says, \"Ron is one of a kind. He is different from the rest because he not only invents, he sells. Most entrepre- neurs come up with a concept and then give it to others to manufacture or sell. He's his own best salesmanT'Though Popeil has suffered his fair share of flops, like spray-on hair and a brief bankruptcy in 193?, he has always managed to bounce back. Returning from bankruptcy, he relaunched the popular food dehydrator in 1990, and eight years later he designed and sold his most successlbl product ever, the Showtime rotisserie BBQ. Having sold over F million units to invent or improve on everyday household products, his live product demonstrations captured the imagina' tions and dollars of generations ofconsumers. In 1916, he was even the subject of what was probably Dan Aykroyd's most famous bit on Saturday Night Live. Pa rodying Popeil, Aykroyd hawked \"Super Bass-Cl-l'u'latic 'T',' which was ca- pable ofturning a bass or any other\"small aquatic creature\" into liquid without any \"scaling, cutting or gutting." H avi n g recently sold Honco to an investment g rou p for over 555 million and accumulating a personal net worth of over Sl million, Popeil has had the last laugh. He has continued to serve as a product developer, pitchman, and consultant for the new company and already promises an even bigger hit than the Showtime rotisserie. Having iden- tied a market of over 20 million Americans who fry tur- keys every year, Popeil says he has a new fryer on the way that will make it possible to safely fry a ZED-pound turkey in Ft} minutesindoors. Given that he has created over 150 products and invented personal selling via the mass mar- keting medium, there is little reason to doubt him. As Barbara Gross, professor of marketing at California State University, Northridge, states, \"His success speaks for itself; probably that has more to do with his personality. He's comfortable and sincere. He comes across like he re- ally believes in it. When you hear him talk, you never feel like he's lying to you." CASE STUDIES 1