1. H.J. Heinz, 1897

During an early wave of public concern about food safety, the ketchup king became the first CEO to open his factory for tours.

The impact: Facility visits quickly drew 20,000 visitors annually, and Heinz kept using transparency to build consumer trust, promoting federal regulation to transform the entire food industry.

2. Coco Chanel, 1910

As a young milliner, Chanel first won business by parading around Paris in a daringly small hat, prompting women to want what she had.

The impact: Chanel replicated the stunt a decade later by spritzing her new perfume in public. Her lifestyle-branding savvy has been emulated by Ralph Lauren, Tory Burch, and social influencers.

3. William Wrigley Jr., 1915

Wrigley decided to try to boost sales of his chewing gum brands by sending free samples to the 1.5 million U.S. homes with a telephone.

The impact: The gambit worked, and Wrigley invented direct marketing in the process. Today, direct mail is a $42 billion business; search marketing, its digital equivalent, is almost as large.

4. Walt Disney, 1954

When the cartoon mogul designed a new amusement park called Disneyland, he got ABC to fund its construction in exchange for a Disney TV series.

The impact: The weekly anthology show, Walt Disney’s Disneyland, was an amazing promotion for the theme park, and it would air for 30 years. Disney created modern entertainment synergy.

5. Katharine Graham, 1971

The Washington Post’s publisher risked the ire of the U.S. government by joining The New York Times in printing the Pentagon Papers—which she didn’t have to do—before her company’s IPO.

The impact: Graham shared in a landmark victory for press freedom, inspiring a media generation to challenge power, while also elevating the Post.