Average manufacturer frequently has helped build private brand business, delivering largely the same qualities and styles in private brand merchandise as in branded. Moreover, the larger and more aggressive mass distribution outlets and chain stores have insisted on high quality -- and the customer seems to have caught on.

If you are up against private brand competition, have you formulated a long-term program for researching and strengthening your market position? If private brand competition hasn't been felt in your product field as yet, have you thought how you will cope with it if and when it does appear?

Display merchandising, backed by pre selling through advertising and promotion, will continue to make strides in the sixties. It has multiple implications and possible headaches for your marketing program.

How can you cash in on this fast-growing type of outlet and still maintain relationships with older existing outlets which are still important? If you have a higher quality product, how can you make it stand out -- justify its premium price -- without the spoken word? Salesmanship is still necessary, but it's a different brand of salesmanship.

Have you carefully examined the selling techniques which best suit your products? Have you studied the caliber and sales approaches of your sales force in relation to requirements for effective marketing? Are you experimenting with different selling slants in developing new customers?