Polaroid Dealer Announcement (1964)

meet one of this reporters best friends a news real camera cost about $3,000 worth every penny of it with it reports come alive gain meaning bring the world to your doorstep we have had this one out visiting photo dealers of all kinds we poked it into stores all across the country from Boston to San Francisco and a lot of places in between we talked to dealers and the dealers talk to us we even hid the camera so we could see life as it really is yes and we managed to get the camera into places where it wasn't supposed to be why what is all this about very simple we have been getting together a report on Polaroid Corporation and its products during the exciting year just passed and for the year that 1965 will be your reporter LEL Thomas and it's a real pleasure to make this report to you like millions of others I've watched Polaroid from afar unlike them I've had a chance to dig in and find out about it and it's quite a story here to help me today a man many of you have seen in your stores Take a Bow he and I will share the platform our intent to show where Polaroid has been where Polaroid is going and where you fit in the big story is the growth story 15 or 16 years in the marketplace have done nothing to dull the spontaneous kick people get out of seeing a finished picture on the spot I saw it wherever I went you see it every time you take demonstration pictures in your store begin to use a Polaroid Land Camera and a crowd gathers what's more the people pay strict attention and this appeal has been turned into a real growth curve for Polaroid from 1948 when Polaroid entered the business a steady rise until now the curve shows about 14 $ million a year how does the size of Polaroids stack up against the rest of the photographic industry I think you'll get a surprise out of this this bar represents the yearly dollar volume of all 35 mm cameras sold in this country this one shows the yearly dollar volume of all 8 mm movie cameras sold in this country now have a look at the yearly dollar volume of Polaroid land cameras just the camera not including film and accessories tells its own story doesn't it for the average dealer Polaroid cameras are a big piece of his Hardware business let's look at it another way total sales of imported cameras contrasted with Polaroid camera volume begin with the import of German still cameras and add to that the import of Japanese still cameras plus all the miscellaneous Imports include every still camera from Toy cameras out of Hong Kong to the most expensive Leica figure the dollar volume at the dealer level including import duties and distributor markup this is what you get the Polaroid camera figure here it is also at the dealer level unbelievable well there it is in black and white this position in the marketplace is no accident I found that out it has been carefully built and owes its growth to a good many factors the product line of course constantly improving constantly expanding film speeds have gone from 100 ASA to 200 to 400 to 3,000 even to 10 ,000 to say nothing about a lot of films for special uses transparency films both continuous tone and line 4x5 film a complete line and more recently infrared film it has taken a long line of cameras to support these films some 25 models over the years the first Polaroid Land Camera the old 95 graduating to to a group of coupled Rangefinder cameras this 800 is one of them then came the electric eye models and more recently the color pack cameras quite a product Story one of the major reasons for Polaroids fabulous growth but only one of the reasons I found there were others National advertising for example there have been many memorable Polaroid ads I'm sure most of you remember campaigns like this one this one too and this one small wonder they have carried off some of the most coveted Awards advertising can win of course the awards for 1964 haven't been made yet but let me nominate a couple that can't miss they are two commercials in color in my opinion some of the most sensitive and Powerful advertising I've seen let's replay them right now I can't help but wonder where I'm bound where I'm bound can't help but wonder where I bound if you see me passing by and you sit and you wonder why you wish that you were a rer too nail your shoes to the kitchen floor lace them up and the thank your stars for the roof that's over if you're not taking color pictures with the new polar color pack camera there's something left out of your [Music] life are [Music] [Music] you [Music] if you're not taking color pictures with a new Polaroid color pack camera there something left out of your life [Music] aren't those something creative product lines brilliant advertising those mean a lot but it takes even more to account in full for Polaroids growth and the folks at Polaroid weren't a bit shy in naming that most important ingredient in fact they asked me to tell you how well they know and appreciate how important dealer support your support is in all its aspects whether it be your skill and knowledge behind the counter your newspaper ads your window displays yes Polaroid does know and appreciate what dealers are doing to make such a success of instant photography because they do they're going to try an unheard of experiment they are going to share with you in great detail their plans for the coming year plans you will learn about in a little while for the new model 103 and 104 color pack cameras due to go on the market early next month the long awaited model 20 the black and white camera that will sell for about $20 yes you'll find out just where that one fits in finally the forthcoming model 180 a pack camera using an f4.5 lens that one will replace the old 110b it's being put on the schedule right now as these plans are spelled out I'm convinced you'll feel just the way I do the Polaroid growth story in the past it's just a taste of what is to come successful as Polaroid has been it has only scratched the surface let's see just why I say this here's a pie chart that shows the total number of Ste cameras sold each year in the United States about 6 million in 1965 it has been cut into two major segments this piece represents variable focus cameras the more expensive ones average dealer price $50 it represents only about 30% of the total with cameras at a dealer price near $100 twice the average Polaroid has done very well about 35% of the units and 60% of the dollars what will happen when the two new pack cameras hit the market look for Polaroid to gain an even larger share of this upper end of the still camera market and with the coming of the $20 camera in July Polaroid will move for the first time into that segment that represents the fixed focus camera let's not forget 70% of camera buyers fall into this group any guess as to how large a share of this Market Polaroid will take is just that a guess but don't be too surprised if in time it amounts to 1/3 perhaps even 1 half of the units in any event there doesn't seem to be much question that Polaroid product sales are going to continue to grow and grow a lot one thing I'm sure of Polaroid hopes you will join them in the massive growth that lies ahead but they know you will join only if it means profitable business for you their marketing people do not assume that every dealer is making a big profit on the Polaroid line as we poked around with our news real camera late last year we we found too many places where profits must have been low on the other hand there were many dealers who were selling at respectable margins even amazing margins in this day of heavy discounting one Mighty interesting thing showed up in the analysis Polaroid made of last year's business in many areas there has been a change of attitude at the retail level more and more dealers find that they can set prices at a profitable level and hold even increase their share of the local market how the answer seems to lie in Shifting the focus from Price selling to promotional selling and the fact seem to Bear out this finding for example during 1964 the average increase in Polaroid sales Across the Nation was about 133% but when some 50 dealers who ran three or more promotions in 1964 were stacked against this average well here's the increase thir 32% more than twice the average game did they do it at a profit Polaroid thinks they did these dealers repeated and repeated and repeated they spent their own money for ads direct mailings demonstration pictures special locally done signs in addition close study of these outstanding dealers showed they had used about every promotion polar came up with they went in big for tradein promotions and the Sixpoint camera check they made use of professional football stars scheduled the Polaroid camera girls and backed them up with ads and cashed in on the trip to Rome promotion they ran plenty of ads and kept the Polaroid name out front in their windows and counters when it came to price selling they concentrated on the model 101 but at the counter the prospect was traded up to the model 100 and sold a bag full of accessories what was the overall result this group of promotion minded dealers found they had sold the 100 at a ratio of four or 5 to1 compare that with the national average of two for one and it makes quite a picture did they feel it paid off will they spend their own money in 1965 to keep it up only one way to answer those questions send some staffers into the field and find out and that's just what we did first let's talk to a Man Who Sold about $18 in accessories for every camera he sold in 1964 meet Ed simillion of mass Motion Picture service Ed where do you operate L uh we have leased apartments in 17 stores throughout New England and upper state New York and did you have a good year I'd say so our units were up over 30% how many promotions did it take to get that kind of gain we ran 34 promotions during the year averaging about three per store and how did you do so well on the accessories well for one thing we had the Polaroid accessory tray in every store our people were taught to take it and demonstrate before the final tally was added up accessories are surprisingly easy to sell if you show them anything else boost your accessory sales Yes we made up some special kits here's our number one executive kit as you can see it's all packed in an attache case it holds the camera and Flash portrait kit self-timer developing timer black and white film Color Film cable release and two dozen flash buls what did that go for we sold this for 18888 and we sold a lot of them too and when we couldn't we dropped to our executive kit number two it contains less but brought us 15988 one final question did you sell many 101s no more than we had to we found it easy to trade up we sold more than 10 model 100s for every 101 what about size and location do you have to run a big city store to make promotions pay off this is lonia New Hampshire population 16,000 people when the skiers aren't in town people here see Polaroid camera commercials and they read life and look just like the folks in the city they also respond to Promotions as Jim Wilson of aldri photo found out in 1964 in this small store with his first Sixpoint check Jim Wilson moved out 10 cameras what did you think about that I was amazed before it happened I wouldn't have bet anyone that I could sell 10 cameras at $159 in a single day but I did which just proves you never know so what did you do after you sold that many in one day why I booked another one just as fast as I could the promotion plus the fact that it was just before Christmas moved out another 15 cameras I never saw anything like it those 25 cameras were oneir of my total Polaroid volume and how did 1964 stack up against the previous year oh I did twice as many cameras any complaints yes sir I started promoting too late this year I know better I'll be off and running this spring well how about it will this be your story in 1965 what do you do when the competition all around you has driven prices down to Rock Bottom level some dealers like Charlie Welch down in Fort Worth at the camera shop have an answer ignore them and promote heavily at a price level that makes it all worthwhile Charlie how many Polaroid promotions did you run this past year about eight or nine um we began last June with three ads in the local newspapers on the new model 101 camera and then uh we ran one a month to the fall and stepped it up to uh to two monthly in November and December what kind of promotions well just about everything that dick Johnson the Polaroid rep suggested uh we had a couple of Sixpoint promotions uh several tradein and we even ran asked to sell the used cam took in on trade these Camas up here and were your prices high enough they're never quite High Enough of course but uh we're uh getting $139.95 for the model 100 and that's about $20 higher than theow Market uh more than most cam stores around here but could you sell at those prices we sure could in 1963 we sold 122 Polaroid cameras and due to Promotions we increased our sales to 159 Camas this past year about a 30% increase and what was the mix of 100s to 1001s about 91 100 C were sold for every model uh 101 going to promote in 1965 you been sometimes in this business almost unbelievable things happen out in North Hollywood California Jack Williams of Hooper Camera Exchange got so excited about the success of his promotions he paid a tribute to Polaroid in a very special way just what was it well after Jim Moran set up several promotions and helped me sell a lot of cameras I agreed to give him an endorsement you mean you wrote a letter for him better than that he was running a training session for woodall's camera over in Glendale I showed up stood before the group and told him how well we had done and how we did it that was a crazy thing to do wasn't it go help a competitor I know it but then I owed Polaroid a big favor you see my camera sales jumped over 33% last year and best of all the dollars were were higher all but 4% of the cameras went out as kits if I roll like this in 1965 I've told Jim I'll address another meeting for him for a competitor store oh no not again I don't mind sharing my secrets but the next time I want to do it 40 Mi down the freeway now that we have heard from across section of us dealers let's visit one of our Canadian neighbors over in Windsor Ontario this is Frank wbur's camera shop what kind of a year did you have Frank tremendous we moved 30 poroid cameras as compared to 10 in 1963 and that's a 200% increase only 30 cameras I know it doesn't sound like much compared to the States but don't forget our costs are higher and our average sale is about $75 and we're right across the river from Detroit did you promote yes we did here are a couple of successful ads we sold six cameras on a Sixpoint check and moved quite a bit of film and accessories at an owner Clinic how do you feel about 1965 real good I plan to promote early and expect to double my volume in cameras and Fel well you've heard it for yourself that about wines up this report for myself the deeper we dug the more exciting the prospects became on the basis of what I have seen it sure seems as if the success found by many dealers in 1964 will be overshadowed by what can happen in 1965 now you'll want the details I promised you a few minutes ago so I'll turn the meeting back to your host the best of luck to you in the the coming year it's all [Music] yours Polaroid introduces an economy model of the famous color pack camera for half the price of the original same great film same fast loading same electric eye yet it's half the price of the original model you get the same beautiful Color Prints in 60 seconds black and white in 10 in the same big size yet it's half the price of the original model isn't it your turn to own a Polaroid color pack camera if you were wishing for it way back last Father's Day and you had to go through the whole summer without it you kept your fingers crossed on your birthday but no luck and she didn't even come through on your anniversary then you kind of looked for it at Christmas but uh-uh Mister maybe your time has come at last Polaroid announces an economy model of the famous color pack camera for half the price of the original same great film same fast loading same electric eye you get the same beautiful Color Prints in 60 seconds black and white in 10 seconds in the same big size yet Polaroid is figured out a way to bring it out for only half the price of the original model who knows maybe she's wrapping it up right now