Radio age research, manufacturing, communications, broadcasting, television (1941)

By Frank M. Folsom Executive Vice President in Charge of RCA Victor Division Excerpts from Address by Mr. Folsom at Symposium, Conducted by Brand Nam,es Foundation. Brand Names are Trusted Consumers' Faith in Established Trade-Marked Products Will Remain Unshaken, Folsom Says, Only as Long as Products Maintain Reputation for Excellence. store cut the price of the Dream- lands to $34.50, five dollars less than the Simmons-labelled mattresses. In the first four hours, customers bought 32 Simmonses against four Dreamlands. The Dreamlands were then marked down to $29.50. Before the store closed, 14 more Simmons were sold as against 13 more Dream- lands at ten dollars less for exactly the same product. Here is a clear-cut demonstration of the American con- sumer's faith in brand name products. Let me give two other instances. Immediately after the war ended, quantities of unknown brand radio sets hit the market. Because of the pent-up consumer demand, sales were good. But, as soon as brand name sets began to flow into the stores, the unknowns backed up drastically and dealers who had stocked up on them scrambled to unload. Faith Built Battery Market For a final illustration I would like to mention RCA's experience with radio batteries. Up to two years ago, RCA had never sold batteries. But because we were in the radio business, it seemed logical for us to enter this allied field. We did so, and we packaged the product to feature prominently the well-known RCA brand name. In two short years we were doing excellent business in batteries. Although it was a new product, consumer faith in the RCA brand name created high acceptance for the batteries. Our country's founding fathers, and Americans ever since, estab- lished and embraced the democratic form of government because of a strong and unswerving belief that it does the greatest good for its citi- zens. So long as that form of gov- ernment continues to do that job, then America's faith in democracy will remain strong and unshakable. But if, for any reason, it should cease doing that job, then and only then will the American public think of casting democracy aside for a form of government that will. Our FAITH is not an intangible thing. It is something tangible, some- thing definite and concrete, whether it be faith in brand name product, brand name advertising or in a re- ligious concept, in democracy, in free enterprise. Faith is belief. It is the fruit of our experience and knowledge. Consumers' faith in brand name products is based on favorable ex- perience with those products and services. Only by maintaining that favorable experience can we hope to maintain the brand name buying habit in the American public. Only by continuing that favorable experi- ence enjoyed by consumers can we hope to reinforce America's faith in brand names and brand name adver- tising. Test Shows Brand-Name Power Last year. Lit Brothers of Phila- delphia advertised a sale of "famous make" mattresses. Forty-eight Sim- mons mattresses were displayed. Half of them bore the Simmons label. From the rest, the Simmons label was removed and a fictitious label, "Dreamland" was substituted. Both were priced at $39.50 and both given equal display prominence. At the end of the day, 23 Simmons mat- tresses were sold compared with six Dreamlands. The next week, the answer to those few voices who would change our form of govern- ment is to see to it that democracy continues to work for the greatest good. In this way, America's faith in democracy will be reinforced. Similarly, we accept the principle of a free enterprise system because it has demonstrated that its fruit is the greatest good for the greatest number of people. Under the free enterprise system, our country has made tremendous strides economic- ally and socially, and today what has been termed the American way of life is indeed the envy of people around the world. The free enter- prise system is a force for good, and America will continue to embrace it as long as it achieves good. The American public's faith in brand name products and in adver- tising will remain firm and unshake- able just as long as they stand the test of experience, that they are as good as we say they are. Quality and value—these are the cornerstones upon which brand name products firmly rest. The brand name prod- ucts we manufacture today have a heritage that in most instances go beyond our own span of years. As manufacturers we are entrusted with the responsibility of maintain- ing and advancing that product heri- tage. Expands Radar and Radio Service in Gulf Area Radar and radio service has been expanded in the Gulf of Mexico area by the Radiomarine Corpora- tion of America through the open- ing of a new service station at 239 Tartar Street, Pasadena, Texas. According to George F. Shecklen, Executive Vice President of Radio- marine, this latest addition to the Company's chain of twenty-three service stations in the Gulf and Mississippi areas is equipped to provide installation, maintenance and inspection of all types of radio- telegraph, radiotelephone, direction finder, radar and loran marine ap- paratus. The new station is ideally situ- ated in the heart of the Gulf ship- ping area, midway between the oil refineries at Baytown and the freight warehouses at Houston, to serve tankers, cargo vessels and rivercraft. [22 RADIO AGE]