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Thursday 16 January 2014

My Slideshow

Wednesday 15 January 2014

THE VISION OF 1961

SCHOLARSHIP TO THE USA 1961
A Study of American Marketing Developments

I can look back for more than 50 years on my first visit to the USA as a Travelling Scholar of what is now called The Chartered Institute of Marketing. I had won this award by obtaining the highest marks in the UK in the Diploma examinations in the subjects Marketing and Market Research.as well as writing a winning article on The Future of Marketing.
As a result of my 3 months stay in the USA during which I spent 4 weeks with Remington Univac   and Doyle Dane and Bernbach a leading Advertising Agency in New York, Johnson and Johnson in New Jersey, North American Philips in the USA and Canada - I completed a Report entitles -
Trends in American Marketing.

Here is s summary of the visionary trends that I noted from my research and as stated in my article.

SUPERSONIC TRAVEL
I suggested in my essay to the Scholarship selection committee that in the future British Airways would have flights to New York that would take only 3 hours.
This was many years before Concorde took to the skies.

DEVELOPMENT OF COLOUR TELEVISION
My study involved work with NBC - National Broadcasting Corporation and RCA -  Radio Corporation of America in New York and some of the leading TV channels in the USA. Colour Television was still in its infancy and it was unknown in the UK. I outlined in my Report some of the technological problems as well as the scope for Marketing in colour.

NOCTURNAL SHOPPING
Another trend that I studied - unknown in the UK at the time, was Nocturnal Shopping.
Today, Shopping Centres like ASDA, Tesco, Morrisons are open sometimes all night.

MARKETING SPECIALISM
In the UK in 1961, Advertising Agencies did not have separate Marketing Departments. In the USA, agencies such as Doyle Dane and Bernbach had well developed specialist Marketing Departments. They had also developed a stronger appreciation of Consumer Research and Customer Profiling.

MARKETING AS A PROFESSION
In 1961 in the UK the emphasis in Business was on Production and Selling in that order. Marketing as a prime driving force was not developed. In the USA Marketing as a professional tool was well developed.
I attended New York University classes on Marketing which made me realise the full potential of Marketing being a very important concept which the UK should embrace.

SIX YEARS ON 1967
I was fortunate in 1967 to be selected with some 40 other Senior British and American Executives to study at Harvard Business School. I remember listening to Professor Theodore Levitt talk about Marketing in depth - he wrote the famous book Marketing Myopia.  I also studied under Professor Ladendorf and Professor Ed Burske ( Editor of the Harvard Business Revue ). In 1967 thanks to the work of The Institute
of Marketing in the UK, the role of Marketing was becoming accepted by the business community It took a few more years before Marketing was recognised a s a profession.. I also remember the Professors predicting the Information Age - when computers would dominate communications and the spread of the Knowledge Society. How right they were.
As Chief Executive of Ofrex Limited, we had already installed an IBM 360 series computer - mainly for payroll work

THE NEXT 50 YEARS
What will be the trends over the next 50 years to 2064 ?
Perhaps you have the vision to predict the future just like my studies in the USA a long time ago.