From the manufacturer's point of view, the increasing cost of advertising and promotion is a very real problem to be faced in the sixties. It is accentuated by the need for pre selling goods, and private label competition.

How much fundamental thinking and research has your company done on its advertising program? Are you following competition willy-nilly -- trying to match dollar for dollar -- or are you experimenting with new means for reaching and influencing consumers? Have you evaluated the proper place of advertising and all phases of promotion in your total marketing program -- from the standpoint of effort, money, and effectiveness?

Practically all forecasts mention new and exciting products on the horizon. Will you be out in the market place with some of these sales building new products?

If competition beats you to it, this exciting new product era can have real headaches in store. On the other hand, the process of obsoleting an old product and introducing the new one is usually mighty expensive. As markets become larger and marketing more complex, the costs of an error become progressively larger.

Is your R + D or product development program tuned in to the commercial realities of the market? Are there regular communications from the field, or meetings of sales and marketing personnel with R + D people? Technical knowledge is a wonderful thing, but it's useless unless it eventually feeds the cash register.