User:DrewMAPR/sandbox/Max Appel

Max Appel

Max Appel (born January 24, 1932) is an American entrepreneur most notable for founding Orange Glo International, the cleaning-products company that is known for OxiClean and Kaboom. He founded and led Orange Glo from a startup in 1986 to become a $330-million company in 2003 when Appel and his wife Elaine were named to Fast Company magazine’s Fast 50.

Early Life and Education

Appel was born in Denver and grew up on the city’s West Side. Born at Saint Anthony’s Hospital in 1932, Appel is a graduate of North Denver High School. He received his bachelor’s degree (sociology and journalism) from the University of Colorado Denver and attended Boston University’s graduate school of public relations and communications. Appel never finished his thesis and thus never received his higher degree.

After college, Appel was hired by United Jewish Appeal and traveled throughout the midwest fundraising on their behalf. During the 1980s, Appel earned significant fundraising experience as a professional fundraiser for various organizations and charities leading efforts for organizations such as National Jewish Hospital, Jewish Hospital of St. Louis, St. Jude Children’s Hospital, National Asthma Center and the AMC Cancer Center as well as several environmentally focused organizations.

Career/ Orange Glo International

Appel and his wife Elaine co-founded Orange Glo International in 1986. After experimenting with natural ingredients in his family’s garage, Appel discovered the natural cleansing powers of orange oil and set out to develop a healthier, more natural household cleaning product.

The first product he developed was Orange Glo Wood Cleaner & Polish, which was first demonstrated to the public at the Arizona State Fair in 1986. From there, Appel began selling products directly to consumers at home fairs and trade shows in cities across the U.S. and Canada.

Early on, Appel and his wife worked as a team. Appel mixed and sold the wood polish and Elaine managed all other operations, including filling and labeling bottles, processing orders and handling all aspects of shipping. In 1992, Appel introduced Orange Glo to the retail market, making products available through grocery stores.

Orange Glo increased operations after it began to reach television audiences in the mid-1990s as the company quickly sold 4,000 bottles of Orange Glo Wood Cleaner & Polish after the Home Shopping Network (HSN) featured the product in 1996. Following some word-of-mouth and other distribution success, Appel invested profits in the first Orange Glo infomercial.

In 1997, Orange Glo introduced a fabric stain and odor remover to the market known as OxiClean. That same year, Appel elected to promote the Orange Glo line of household cleaners, OxiClean, Orange Clean and Orange Glo, on on the Home Shopping Network. However, it was not until the company began running infomercials featuring charismatic pitchman Billy Mays that the brand took off.

Appel and Mays met pitching different products at the 1993 Pittsburgh Home and Garden Show, and the two men developed a mutually beneficial partnership. When Mays began appearing in OxiClean infomercials, sales immediately increased, and much of the credit for the success of the infomercials went to Mays. All OxiClean TV advertising continued to feature Mays until his death in the summer of 2009.

After Orange Glo's first infomercial appearance, during which the product completely sold out in minutes, Orange Glo International quickly scaled up to more than 20,000 units per month of OxiClean and Orange Glo, and revenues grew to $500,000 per month on HSN alone. The company began producing several infomercials for a number of products, seeing several years of infomercial success and distribution at major retailers. Many believe the product’s visibility stems from the infomercials starring Mays.

Per Ad Age, “OxiClean ads are a combination of classic, breathless direct-response copy and classic package-goods product demos.” The infomercials highlight the product’s effectiveness while touting the product as “safer and more pleasant” than chlorine bleach or other household cleaners.

In the time between its first infomercial and the year 1999, Orange Glo acquired retail space for its products in many regional and national retail chains, including Target, Walmart, Sam's Club, Walgreens, Costco and others. In 1999, Orange Glo ranked fourth on Inc. magazine's list of the 500 fastest-growing private companies in the year 2000.

In 2000, Orange Glo introduced the Kaboom brand of household cleaning products and sold the line through retail stores and infomercials. While Orange Glo slipped to number 10 on Inc. magazine’s list of the 500 fastest-growing private companies in 2001 despite posting nearly $240 million in revenue, success was witnessed in the brand’s numerous competitors launching new imitation products based on orange and oxygen.  

In 2003, Appel and his wife were recognized by Fast Company, earning a spot among the 2003 Fast 50 for building Orange Glo into a $330-million company that offers more than 20 cleaning products used by consumers in 15 countries.

In 2006, Church & Dwight acquired Orange Glo International for $325 million, giving them the OxiClean and Orange Glo lines of household cleaners. The Appel family helped to integrate Orange Glo with Dwight & Church.

Personal Life

Appel served in the United States Navy in 1950 and was stationed in Guam for a year and a half.

Appel and his wife, Elaine, met while studying at the University of Colorado in 1956. Together, the couple raised four children, and they built and sold a household cleaning products empire. All four children (David, Joel, Amy and Linda) all eventually went on to work with Appel at Orange Glo.

Awards

Alongside his wife, Elaine, Appel was named to Fast Company’s Fast 50.

Present Work

Today, Appel is leveraging his more than 40 years of experience in creating cleaning products to create a new all-in-one cleaner, Powerizer.

External links

• www.example.com