Marketing research contributions and opportunities in insulation markets

A great many statements have been made by various business and economic experts about opportunities expected to materialize during the decade — now hopefully being referred to as “The Soaring Sixties”. A number of these statements have proven — at least for the present — to have been overly optimistic. However, one prediction about this decade — which incidentally went almost unnoticed — is continually evident to those of us in the field of marketing. This was the prognostication that the 1960's would be a decade of change — even if the only predictable change seems to be change itself. Significantly, it is also becoming the decade in which the marketing function is maturing and taking its place at decision making levels of management. That these two phenomena are occuring simultaneously is not surprising, as it has been evident to a number of farsighted individuals — and some corporations — for a number of years that sales management and top management are being forced to make a good many decisions in response to changing market conditions without adequate knowledge of marketing facts affecing the situations involved. In other cases, facts concerning various marketing problems have been erroneous or evaluated inadequately at organizational levels below that at which final decisions must be made. Thus, it has become apparent that a real need exists for professional marketing staffs capable of assimilating statistical and other factual data, analyzing and evaluating this and other pertinent information and recommending to policy making levels of management desirable marketing actions to be taken. The increasing rate at which markets, products, lines of distribution and pricing, and other policy changes, now occur, has served as a final stimulus to many managements to acquire such personnel and to place them in positions of suitable responsibility. For these executives realize the only certainty is that things will change a great deal faster tomorrow than they are changing today and that successful businesses will be the ones which can discern these changes at an early stage and gear company marketing programs in such a manner as to fully exploit the opportunities created by changing business environments. In this connection, it should be kept in mind that change generally brings more opportunities than problems — although unfortunately, most of us tend to acknowledge only the latter. A skilled marketing group however, can keep management informed about current problem areas and what to do about them and also provide information as to the opportunities presented by continually changing patterns of business. This second area of marketing responsibility is no less important in our highly competitive business society than the first — indeed, it is through this type of approach that a major portion of future economic growth must occur.