Word: moorman
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...expensive ($35-$150) watches, and a sudden surge in the sales of lower-priced pin-lever (i.e., non-jeweled ) watches captured 45% of the market. At first, Elgin tried to offset its watch losses by diversifying into electronics and abrasives. That failing. President James Shennan called bright, aggressive Sylvester Moorman, 46, to Elgin...
...Competitive Edge. Moorman, former vice president for sales and advertising at Schick, candidly admitted that when it came to watches, "I'm a moron." He set out to learn about watches-and what was wrong with Elgin-by paying $50,000 for market surveys. The surveys showed that Elgin simply was not making what buyers wanted. Men were found to prefer round watches (most of Elgin's were rectangular), to like functional stainless steel water-and shockproof cases (Elgin's were mostly yellow gold), to want sweep second hands (only 15% of Elgin's models...
Elgin traditionalists objected, argued that they had tried a low-priced line under the Wadsworth label, and that it did not sell. Of course not, countered Moorman-nobody knew the name. "Use your competitive edge." said he. "An Elgin selling for $20 has an advantage over any other $20 watch-the name...
Road to Recovery. As company losses mounted, Elgin finally had no choice except to follow Moorman's advice. Employees agreed to work for 15% less on the new line. Breakthroughs in automated production methods, e.g., a drilling and cutting machine that performs in less than one hour what used to take four workers seven or eight weeks to do, helped to trim costs. By last June the first new Sportsman and Starlite watches, priced at $19.95 to $29.95, were on the market. They sold well-400,000 by year...