The Generosity Store

For over a century, generosity has been a crucial part of the DNA of Anton Berg, Denmark's biggest chocolate company. The founder was even famous for offering free chocolate to the customers waiting patiently outside But over the years, the brand began to lose its relevance to cons We needed people to rediscover Anton Berg and the positive effects of being generous. T But only 1 out of 10 experience generosity in their everyday life. If only Anton Berg could inspire people to be more generous, we wouldn't just live in a happier society, we'd sell more chocolate. So we decided to conduct a little experiment. In February 2012, we opened a chocolate store in the center of Copenhagen. But it was no ordinary store. We didn't accept cash or credit cards as payment. We only accepted the promise of a generous deed towards a person you care for. We called it the generous store. We priced each chocolate differently, so people could choose a box according to the good deed they were willing to do. To ensure people made good in their payment, their generous promises were posted on Facebook. People happily waited in line for 1 and a half hours to get inside the store. And they left even happier. On the street, more than 100,000 people saw the pop-up store in the five hours it was popped up, making it a pretty effective billboard. The buzz created on the day ensured earned media across national newspapers and news sites. And the pop-up store started a wave of generosity, quickly spreading through 150,000 Facebook feeds in just 24 hours. More than 20% of all customers posted pictures of their good deeds to Anton Berg's Facebook page wit A week after the store launch, we seeded a film of the event online. And in just two weeks, t From here on, the idea traveled the world and was featured on more than 1,000 influential sites. Reac At best of all, Anton Berg sales rose by 12% compared to the same month last year. So apparently, generosity does pay.