IMPROVED CONDENSING and Cooling of Reflux
MARKETS >
G e t Better Control of Distillation Product Φ Liquid or vapor temperatures are always held constant by the Niagara "Balanced W e t B u l b " control method of evaporatively cooling o r condensing, which automatically varies the cooling effect p r o p o r t i o n a t e l y to t h e load. T h e distillation product is therefore uniform throughout all c h a n g e s in c l i m a t i c conditions the year around; it is the same in the heat of summer as in the freezing cold of winter. Continu ous maximum production is thus insured. N o t t - c o n d e n s i b i e s are effec tively separated at the condensate outlet, with notable sub-cooling after separation for greater vac uum p u m p efficiency. NIAGARA AERO HEAT E X C H A N G E R S give sustained full capacity in cooling and con densing with no dependence on cooling water . . . e l i m i n a t i n g problems of water supply, avail ability, temperature, or quality. Write for full information; ask for Bulletin 120. Address Dept. CJV,
ΝI AG AR/^BLÔ WE R COM PA Ν Υ 405 îexinaton^ve.. New York 17, NY. District Engineers in Principal Cities of U: S. andCanaaQ.
4076
C&EN A U G . 2 0,
1956
Monsanto finds that selling consumer items is a hectic business—with problems quite different from the ones encountered in marketing basic chemicals
Selling in the Supermarkets Monsanto, like some other m a j o r chemical c o m panies, looks t o w a r d consumer products f o r sales JLF CURRENT CONSUMER MARKETING TRIALS by chemical companies are suc-
cessful enough they may be the forerunners of a considerable change in the pattern of chemical business. Immediate additional profits to be had from formulating their basic chemical materials into products for sale to the mass markets are not the only reasons why manufacturers are looking at consumer business. The thought of having the company name become a household word is attractive for other reasons—the most tangible being the help it gives in corporate financing through selling new securities, more and more of which are being bought by the general public. Near the front of the pack of major chemical companies entering the consumer field is Monsanto. Recently, Monsanto introduced its third "all" product, a concentrated liquid starch, in some dozen eastern market areas. "AU" detergent came on the market eight years ago, and was followed later by Dishwasher "all," a detergent
especially formulated for electric dish, washers. These products, along witb. certain garden products and wood finishes, are handled by the company's consumer products division. Monsanto has also adopted the consumer approach in marketing agricultural products to farmers by selling more formulations of agricultural chemicals under its own label, in addition to selling basic materials to formula tors. A large chemical company is singixlarly well equipped for consumer products from a manufacturing and researdh standpoint because most new consumer products are built on chemistry. Buut in Monsanto's 55-year history there has been little to guide it around the pitfalls of the hectic consumer marketing field. And consumer marketing can be hectic. When a big detergent maker lets loose a multimillion-dollar advertising campaign, and the housewife is suddenly hit with full-page newspaper ads and magazine, radio, and TV assaults, t h e marketing situation can change overnight. And the products themselves
BRIEFS
far buyers of
He treats our caustic drums rough. A customer in tlae Pennsyl vania oil fields m a d e oixr salesman wince. Said he likes our flsdte caustic soda drums, because th-ey m a k e it easy t o distribute caustic in the field. H e just shoves the drums off the tail gate of his truck, lets ttaem bounce. He's been doing it for some time without handling losses. W e certainly d o n ' t advise this pro cedure, but i t does provide a dramat ic testimonial. Six lugs g r i p the lid of every drum of Hodkerr flake caus tic soda—the best way we've found to keep the caustic dry aoid pure for your processing or repa-ckaging. T h e d r u m comes to y o u full of clean, uniform flakes—regular, fine, or crystal—or powdered caustic. T h e picture below demonstrates how dust-free the flakes are. *Xhe coupon offers a helpful booklet ou buying caustic soda.
Caustic S o d a Aluminum Cliloride Sulfur Chlorides
t a l s of this sensitive chemical lose their shape, a n d most of their punch a s catalysts. We avoid such damage to our alu minum chloride by using a special packaging room that is air-condi tioned. I t gives us complete control over humidity. Regardless of outside weather conditions, we can package aluminum chloride all year 'round. T o you the room means a contin uous, dependable supply of fullstrength aluininum chloride. And y o u always get the size you want for your process.
y o u r eyes—in from 2 t o 2 0 seconds. T h i s drying process works on paper, wood, cloth, metal, glass» plastics. M a y b e there's a place for superfast drying i n your company. If you t±dnk so, write us for t h e name of the process licensor. P e r h a p s you're already using S O b i n a less glamorous b u t equally use ful way. Whatever the need, you can answer it by specifying Hooker sul fur dichloride. A n d if it's chlorination you're do ing, you m i g h t be happy, t o know we also m a k e i t s versatile chemical cousins, sulfur monochloride, sulfuryl chloride, and thionyl chloride. Sources we've checked indicate we're the only producers of all four of these chlorides. We'll b e happy to provide ( a ) d a t a sheets o n a n y of them, if you'll check t h e coupon; (b) samples, if you'll just write on your letterhead outlining your needs.
Check items you'd like to receive: Speaking of size, you have a choice of four from Hooker—extra fine, fine a n d coarse grinds, and coarse screened. Send the coupon for a data sheet t h a t gives complete specifica tions on all four or write today on your business letterhead.
Hew t o dry paint in 2 seconds. Why we air-conditiora our aluminum chloride.Even slightly humid air reacts swiftly with alumi num chloride. W h e n it does, the crys
HOOKER ;CHEfyilC/XI-S
β
HOOKER
M a n y paints, inks, and varnishes take from 24 hours to a week to dry thoroughly. But pass them through sulfur dichloride vapor, and they dry before
ELECTROCHEMICAL
COMPANY
6 0 8 FORTY-SEVENTH STREET, NIAGARA FALLS, Ν. Υ.
•
Caustic Soda Buyer's Guide · A helpful pocket-size booklet full of information and pic tures on forms and sizes; shipping methods and con tainers; the economics of 50% vs. 73% solutions (with nomo graph to help decide which is youx best buy) ; and technical service.
Keep your file up-to-date with technical data sheets on these Hooker chemicals: • Aluminum choride • Caustic soda (standard grade) • Caustic soda (rayon grade) • Sulfur dichloride D Sulfur monochloride • Sulfuryl chloride • Thionyl chloride Clip and mail with yoxxr name, title, and address.
NIAGABtA FALLS · TACOMA - M O N T A G U E . MICH - NEW Y O R K · CHICAGO · LOS ANGELES
AUG.
2 0,
1956
C&EN
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MARKETS
c h a n g e because of c o n s t a n t improve ment. ί Personnel and P r o m o t i o n . T h e biggest oi^anizational changes Mon santo has h a d t o mabe for its consumer products venture are i n advertising a n d sales promotion. Perhaps four-fifths of t h e personnel in this department a r e n e w . Some of tliern c a m e into t h e company w h e n Monsanto first entered t h e consumer market w i t h Krilium soil conditioner. Others c a m e with t h e acquisition of Detergents, Inc., a small firm in Columbus, Ohio, which pack a g e d "all.** Still additional people h a v e been recruited elsewhere. "Selling t o a woman is tough," says o n e Monsanto consumer p r o d u c t s man. ^Market research work for consumer products is entirely different from what -we were used to. We can't just ask our secretaries h o w they like a product. W e have t o ask thousands of women— a n d if w e w e r e selling primarily to men w e would h a v e a different set of prob lems." Promotion costs a r e also much greater for consumer products. Many well established household products h a v e died from faulty promotion. Ad vertising h a s to be carefully placed, a n d t h e whole promotion effort carried on with detailed planning. For consumer testing research Mon santo, like other companies, relies on outside agencies. C o n s u m e r packag ing, for example, is b o t h a science and an art. Besides strength a n d conven ience, appearance is a tremendous fac tor in a package. A.n immense amount of thought a n d discussion goes into a decision o n such things as t h e exact shade of color, or w h e t h e r or not the label is too high. A whole battery of "shelf tests" for packages exists. One example is the flash test, in which a.n observer sits in a darkened box and t h e package is illuminated b y increasingly long light flashes to determine the time required for recognizing the package. If this time is more than a small fraction of a second, something i s wrong with t h e package. There are also tests which determine whether t h e p a c k a g e can b e recognized from an angle—as t h e house wife may see it when s h e glances at a supermarket shelf, • Additional Facilities. T h e com pany also h a s had to invest in additional packaging a n d manufacturing facilities. Detergents a r e packaged at Columbus, Ohio, a n d Kearny, N. J. Monsanto sells its consumer products through brokers—the usual p r o c e d u r e when a manufacturer has only a few consumer products. As the line gets longer, companies work t o w a r d direct sales forces. Warehouses at strategic loca tions around the country become more 4078
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important with consumer products. Lightning changes in the market m e a n that stocks must b e o n hand for instant movement. Chemical manufacturing operations a r e n o t necessarily affected appreciably by a switch t o consumer products. A t Monsanto the older divisions continue to manufacture consumer products, just a s they d o basic chemicals. I n r e search, while a new department h a s been a d d e d , t h e r e have been n o whole sale additions to the staff. However» research in t h e manufacturing divisions, as well a s central research, will b e oriented toward developing consumer products.
Aside from t h e problems arising from n e w promotional methods, com panies veering t o w a r d consumer prod ucts h a v e t o face t h e possibility of losing their t i g customers b y b e a m i n g competitors instead of suppliers. B u t M o n s a n t o has chosen its consumer p r o d u c t s carefully t o avoid this. F o r example, its low-suds **all** detergent w a s different from t h e big boys in t h e household detergent market when it w a s introduced, so the d r o p in deter gent phosphate sales to other com panies h a s been low. "As long as w e don't actually enter the lion's lair w e a r e probably safe enough," Monsanto feels.
Hormone Sales Climbing Market expands to $ 2 7 . 8 million a year and new synthetics may push it further; vitamin volume up . A N T I B I O T I C S are still a dominant p a r t of medicinal chemical volume but t h a t share is not a s great a s it was formerly. Of last year's total sales of medicinal chemicals totaling $465,121,000, a n t i biotics accounted for $268,497,000 o r 5 7 . 7 % . T h e industry sold more of these dings into manufacturing, w h o l e sale, and other distributive channels, and still t h e antibiotic share did n o t come up to the 6 2 . 5 % it h a d in 1 9 5 4 . T h e wonder drugs are still t h e i n d u s try's most powerful w e a p o n against d i s ease and its biggest money makers, a n d w e c a n look for continued contributions
in this field. At t h e same time, manu facturers a r e pushing development a n d production of other medicinals, a n d this will reduce t h e antibiotic percent a g e in total sales. T h e hormone group, for example, has experienced a considerable rise in an nual sales. Sales of these products were a little over $12 million in 1954, and last year t h e total rose to $27,865,000. Cortisones, including t h e corticol stimulating types such as ACTH, are in this larger sales total. Hydrocortisone acetate, much longer established, and t h e "synthetics" such
Medicinal Chemical Sales, 1 9 5 5 Millions of Dollars ;
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Total Medtcînàts
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Antibiotics Vitamins Hormones Aspirin Amino Acids Caffeine PAB Derivatives and Salts
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