3M Post-it Notes
Post-it Notes are the ubiquitous re-adherent pieces of
paper found in most office settings. Sticky notes, as they
are sometimes known, have a strip of repositionable ad-
hesive in a thin strip on the back. This allows the small
pieces of paper to be attached, detached, and reattached
to computer screens, papers, and many other surfaces.
Post-it Notes are used in a variety of ways, often to add
notes and reminders to work surfaces and completed
projects.
Originally, Post-it Notes were manufactured by 3M
Company (originally known as Minnesota Mining and
Manufacturing Company) as three-inch yellow squares.
The patent for the notes expired in the 1990s, and in the
early 2010s many manufacturers have their own lines of
sticky notes, although the Post-it brand of notes is still
manufactured by 3M and continues to be one of the most
recognized brands of sticky notes. The trademark for the
Post-it brand and the trademark for the distinctive yel-
low color of the original sticky notes is still registered and
owned by 3M.
The Three Main Characters
in the Post-it Story
Post-it Notes were made possible by the cooperation of
two men working in a specific corporate culture. The two
men most responsible for the development of the Post-it
Note were Spencer Silver and Arthur Fry. Silver studied
chemistry at Arizona State University and organic chem-
istry at the University of Colorado, graduating with a
doctorate in 1966. Immediately after graduation, Silver
joined a team of five people at 3M who were research-
Innovation Masters: History’s Best Examples of Business Transformation
(c) 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.
ing pressure-sensitive adhesives. By 2010 he was named
on over 20 U.S. patents, although he was best known for
developing the adhesive that allowed for the invention of
Post-it Notes.
Fry was an inventor as a child growing up in the U.S.
Midwest. As a young boy, he used scrap wood to design
toboggans. He went on to study chemical engineering at
the University of Minnesota, and while pursuing his de-
gree, he joined 3M’s new product development team. Fry
retired from 3M in the 1990s, decades after inventing the
Post-it Note using Silver’s adhesive.
3M itself was also a key character in the Post-it
Note story. According to Michael Gershman, in his book
Getting It Right the Second Time: How American Ingenuity
Transformed Forty-Nine Marketing Failures into Some of
Our Most Successful Products, the company was founded
on a failed concept. The original leaders of the company
believed they had discovered a source of corundum, a min-
eral used in abrasives. When the discovery was found to be
anorthosite (an igneous rock type) instead, the company
decided to create sandpaper out of the find, eventually be-
coming successful with this venture. 3M also attempted
to make a masking tape for the automobile industry. The
company failed at this as well, according to Gershman, but
instead developed Scotch tape, the best-selling adhesive in
the world and, until Post-it Notes were created, 3M’s big-
gest product.
According to Gershman, at the time Fry developed
the sticky note, 3M had in place a culture that allowed
inventors and workers to “bootleg” funds from one proj-
ect to another to continue research. The company also
actively encouraged idea sharing among departments and
employees.
1
 3M Post-it Notes
1 Other structures were in place at 3M to promote in-
2 novation and success, and it retained such practices in the
3 2010s. For example, the company gave the Golden Step
4 award to employees who developed successful products.
5 The company also had what was known as a “dual lad-
6 der” system of promotion. Employees were promoted for
7 professional success or for management. Fry, for example,
8 was promoted through this system until he reached the
9 highest status in the technical area of the company: cor-
0 porate scientist.
1 Fry did not immediately think of a way to use Silver’s
2 adhesive. However, a practical use for the product soon
3 The Glue That Led to the
4 Sticky Note
5 The Post-it Note was created almost as a response to a new
6 adhesive. Silver developed a pressure-sensitive and low-
7 track adhesive in 1968 while working for 3M. According
8 to a 2010 Financial Times interview with Geoff Nicholson,
9 the retired vice president of technical operations at 3M
0 research and development, Silver’s adhesive was in fact a
1 happy accident. Silver had been tasked with making very
2 strong adhesives for the airline industry. Silver said that
3 as an experiment he added more of the chemical reactant
4 that polymerised (joined together) molecules. The result
5 was, in his words, “quite astonishing. Instead of dissolving,
6 the small particles that were produced dispersed in sol-
7 vents.” Silver and his team were intrigued by this new re-
8 action and decided to experiment further. His experiments
9 eventually resulted in what Silver called a “high ‘tack’ but
0 low ‘peel’” adhesive that was also reusable.
1 In other words, while attempting to create a very
2 strong adhesive Silver created one that was merely sticky.
3 Indeed, according to William Lidwell and Gerry Manacsa,
4 in their book Deconstructing Product Design: Exploring the
5 Form, Function, Usability, Sustainability, and Commercial
6 Success of 100 Amazing Products, Silver’s initial discovery
7 would have been considered a failure at the time, since
8 adhesives were measured by their bonding strength.
9 The new adhesive was made from very sturdy but tiny
0 acrylic spheres. The unique thing about them was that
1 they would stick not only when they were flat up against a
2 surface, the way other adhesives did, but also would stick
3 when they were tangent to a surface. This meant that the
4 adhesive was strong enough to bind papers to a surface
5 but would allow the paper to be removed from the surface
6 without tearing the paper. The adhesive could also be re-
7 used repeatedly.
8 Silver saw the potential of the idea but had trouble
9 devising a profitable product from his invention. Initially,
0 he considered selling the adhesive as a spray-on adhesive
1 or as a surface on boards for posting and removing notices.
2 In fact, one of the earliest uses of the adhesive was at 3M,
3 where a bulletin board was covered with the adhesive so
4 that notices could be posted and then removed easily.
2 Innovation Masters: History’s Best Examples of Business Transformation
(c) 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.
The Post-it Note
For years, Silver gave seminars about his invention at 3M
and tried to get others interested in the new adhesive by
speaking about it at the company. In 1974 his colleague
Art Fry attended one of his seminars. Fry told the Financial
Times in 2010 that he heard about Silver’s seminars dur-
ing a golf game and decided to attend. At the time, Fry
worked at the 3M tape division laboratory, where his job
was to find new products and create businesses using those
products.
presented itself. As a member of the church choir at St.
Paul’s North Presbyterian Church, Fry needed a way to
mark pages in his hymn book without having bookmarks
fall out. In June 1974 he realized he had a use for Silver’s
adhesive.
Fry got a sample of the adhesive from Silver to cre-
ate a sticky bookmark for his hymn book. After trying it
out, Fry noticed that the adhesive left some residue on the
book’s pages but otherwise solved his problem. Fry experi-
mented until he developed a way of making the adhesive
less sticky on the pages. He then developed some more
sticky bookmarks.
Fry also created a report and placed one of his book-
marks on the front of the report with a question for his
supervisor. The supervisor wrote a reply on the same sticky
note and repositioned it on the front of the report. As Fry
said in his Financial Times interview, “It was a eureka,
head-flapping moment—I can still feel the excitement. I
had my product: a sticky note.”
Fry developed a proposal for his supervisors, who in-
cluded Bob Malinda, product manager for the commercial
tape division at 3M. He also began giving out samples of
his new idea to colleagues at 3M. Supervisors at 3M were
initially unsure about the effectiveness of the product, but
when they saw the enthusiastic response, they gave Fry per-
mission, a laboratory to develop his product, and the ma-
chines that would be needed to produce the sticky notes.
The Development of
Sticky Notes
The original Post-it Notes were in their distinctive ca-
nary yellow because of another happy accident. While Fry
and his team were experimenting with the adhesive, they
needed some scrap paper to experiment with. According
to the Financial Times interview with Nicholson, the team
went to another 3M lab on the same floor and were given
some scrap paper that happened to be yellow. Nicholson
called it “another one of those incredible accidents,” much
like the invention of the adhesive itself.
According to Gershman, Fry ran into a few problems
initially. One was that marketing professionals at 3M were

not sure how to market his idea. Second, while Malinda
was supportive of his idea, others were not as enthusias-
tic. As Gershman wrote, at 3M “No one said ‘No’. . .but
then, no one said ‘Yes’ either.” Fry also had another, lo-
gistical, problem. For more than seven decades 3M had
been selling its most successful adhesive products in the
form of rolls. The company therefore had experience with
adhesives on cellophane rather than paper. All the machin-
ery was designed to create adhesives on rolls, whereas Fry
imagined a pad of sticky notes.
Fry created the prototypes for what would become
Post-it Notes in his basement. After months of work, he
succeeded in creating a machine that could create the
sticky note pads he envisioned. Malinda and Nicholson,
as well as other 3M personnel, visited the house to observe
the progress. They were impressed with the machine and
wanted it moved to the 3M building, but the machine was
so large that the company had to send construction work-
ers to Fry’s house to dismantle a wall, move the machine,
and then repair the wall.
Early Marketing Efforts
Fry initially called his sticky notes “Press ’n Peel” notes,
and his first attempt at marketing was to hand out free
samples of the notes to 3M employees. He kept track of
who received samples and how long it took each person to
request refills. Nicholson also handed out free samples to
3M employees and realized that people were visiting his
office very frequently for refills. The success of the notes
within the company led 3M to try to take the sticky notes
to market.
In 1977 3M launched the sticky notes under the
name “Press ’n Peel” in Denver, Colorado; Tampa, Florida;
Tulsa, Oklahoma; and Richmond, Virginia, as part of a
small-scale marketing effort. Before the test, 3M handed
out samples of the products in standard sizes and in 8
1/2-by-11 inch format to retailers in the four cities. The
company also ran advertisements in local trade magazines.
In addition, 3M sent product samples and descriptive bro-
chures to companies in the test cities.
The product did not elicit much interest from con-
sumers, and the limited test launch was considered a failure
at 3M. According to Gershman, the marketing test in the
four cities was a “cool disaster.” Response was lukewarm
in Tulsa, Oklahoma and Denver, Colorado. In Richmond
and Tampa, no one was interested in the new product.
Joe Ramey, the new general manager of the 3M divi-
sion responsible for the product, traveled to Richmond,
Virginia with Nicholson to find out why the test had not
been a success. Nicholson and Ramey made cold calls in
the test cities and even visited businesses in Richmond
to find out what had gone wrong. They determined that
no one knew how to use the new products. Nicholson
Innovation Masters: History’s Best Examples of Business Transformation
(c) 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.
3M Post-it Notes
and Ramey gave personal demonstrations and found that
they placed orders each time they did so. Ramey con-
cluded that the communications package for the mar-
keting test had not been enough. Although the concept
seemed simple, and although 3M promoted the notes
with the slogan “Press it on, peel it off ” to help cus-
tomers along, it was not enough without samples and
demonstrations.
Post-it Success at Last
The sticky notes were withdrawn from the test markets,
and 3M launched another attempt. New merchandising
materials were created and the company decided to try
again with a seeding trial. The company sent free samples
to CEOs across the country, asking the CEOs for input as
to how the sticky notes could be used. According to Paul
Marsden, in his essay “Seed to Spread: How Seeding Trials
Ignite Epidemics of Demand,” this was the turning point
for the new product, as the seeding trial “generated good-
will and advocacy” from the CEOs, who were flattered to
be included in the trial.
In 1978 3M also handed out free samples of the notes
in Boise, Idaho, purchased eight advertisements in the
Boise Statesman, and used promotional pricing, ceiling dis-
plays, counter displays, and window displays to promote
the sticky notes. The company also hired temporary staff
to visit companies in Boise to hand out free samples of the
notes and to demonstrate their use. The Boise campaign
was a success. Ninety-five percent of those who tried the
free Post-it Notes in that city said that they liked the prod-
uct and would buy it.
Post-it Notes Everywhere
In 1980 3M launched the product, under the name Post-it
Notes, across the United States. By 1981 Post-it Notes
were being sold in Europe and Canada. They were 3M’s
most successful product by 1984. According to Anthony
Rubino, Jr., in Why Didn’t I Think of That?: 101 Inventions
That Changed the World by Hardly Trying, Post-it Notes
generated US$15 billion in sales for 3M by the 1990s and
by 2010, the company had sold more than a trillion Post-it
Notes. In 1995 3M was the recipient of the National
Medal of Technology, in part because of the Post-it Note.
The notes have been displayed in museums and have been
recognized by historians as one of the most important of-
fice inventions since the paperclip. By 2009 Post-it Notes
were generating US$1 billion in annual sales.
Post-it Notes have become a constant presence in
homes, workplaces, and just about any setting where tem-
porary notes, comments, or reminders need to be posted.
The notes have also developed some unique uses. Artists
routinely use them to develop Post-it Note art works, for
3
 3M Post-it Notes

1 example in 2000 designer Ilze Vitolina created 11 dress
2 designs using Post-it Notes.
3 According to the 3M website, the Post-it brand had
4 more than 4,000 different products as of 2011. Post-it
5 flags, developed in 1987, are used for tagging places in
6 books. In 1991 3M released pop-up Post-it Notes, which
7 came in an easy-to-use dispenser. In 1994 3M released a
8 “Art Fry & Spencer Silver.” Cambridge, MA: Massachusetts
Post-it easel pad, with adhesive-backed sheets that could
9 stick to most walls. In 2003 Post-it Super Sticky notes
0 were released, with a stronger adhesive that could stick to
1 surfaces that normal sticky notes would not adhere to. In
2 2009 the company released a line of Post-it brand remov-
3 able labels and Post-it Notes made from recycled paper.
4 That same year, 3M launched Post-it Flag Highlighters,
5 with a traditional highlighter tip, and Post-it book flags
6 located near the top of the pen. Oprah Winfrey featured
7 the pens on her talk show, creating an interest that paved
8 American Ingenuity Transformed Forty-Nine Marketing Failures
the way for 3M to market ballpoints, permanent markers,
9 gel pens, and combination pens and highlighters with the
0 flags.
1 Post-it Sticky Boards were also invented by 3M.
2 Post-it Sticky Boards are covered with the famous adhe-
3 sive, so that notes can be attached and moved around on
4 a board surface. Repositionable Post-it craft paper with an
5 adhesive back is also available from the company, as well as
6 Post-it Clear Pockets, which are were plastic pockets with
7 an adhesive back.
8 Minneapolis, MN: Rockport Publishers, 2009.
Post-it Notes became available in electronic form.
9 Marsden, Paul. “Seed to Spread: How Seeding Trials Ignite
Microsoft’s Windows 7 has a sticky note application that
0 allows computer users to post an electronic version of the
1 Post-it Note on their computer desktop. Post-it also has
2 its own version of Digital Notes, which allows users to
3 download the application to apply digital sticky notes to
4 their desktop background. The Digital Notes, which are
5 downloadable from the 3M website, include photo clip-
6 ping and web-tagging options.
7 /en_US/Post_It/Global/About/.
8 Rubino, Anthony, Jr. Why Didn’t I Think of That?: 101 Inventions
9 Evaluating the Post-it Note
0 The Post-it Note story shows that a series of early failures
1 does not necessarily preclude long-term success. Post-it
2 Notes failed in some way at almost every step of their ex-
3 istence. Silver developed an adhesive that was the very op-
4 posite of the super adhesive he was trying to achieve. He
5 then had trouble finding an application for his invention.
6
7
8
9
0
1
2
3
4
When the first sticky notes were developed by 3M, early
marketing tests were not successful. Despite these failures,
however, Post-it Notes became one of the most popular
office products in the world.
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