Helsinki Congress of the International Economic History Association, 21-25 August 2006: Session 93 Equipment goods and mass brands American business spreading modernity into France? Strategies

71 Razel, which was very active in Africa, ordered the giant wheel loader Caterpillar 952.

72 Eric Orlemann, Caterpillar Chronicle, 2000, op.cit., p.139. “Cat machines are made to last, and that is why we have so many Cats still at work 15, 20, 25 or even 30 years after having been used for the first time. These ‘classic’ Cat machines form an important and growing group of working equipment which require the same maintenance and support from Cat’s dealership networks as do the new machines.”, in Cat Magazine. Un siècle de tracteurs à chaînes, in-house journal Bergerat-Monnoyeur-Cat, an issue brought out to commemorate the Caterpillar tractor’s centenary, 2004, p.19. See also: Robert Pripps, The Big Book of Caterpillar: The Complete History of Caterpillar Bulldozers and Tractors, Voyageur Press-Raincoast, 2000.

73 Advertisement in L’Expansion, June 1969.

74 Advertisement in L’Expansion, September and December 1968.

75 Advertisement in L’Expansion, October 1969.

76 Advertisement in L’Express, 6 April 1970.

77 Advertisement in L’Express, 8 May 1967. Dow installed two chemical plants at Terneuzen in the Netherlands and at Hambourg. It decided to establish a factory in France at Strasbourg in November 1968 (veterinary products for the poultry industry).

78 Advertisement in L’Expansion, 1968.

79 Advertisement in L’Express, 1965.

80 A double page advertisement in L’Express, 18 September 1967.

81 Advertisement in L’Expansion, October 1967. Honeywell launched itself into the computer industry in 1957 and climbed to the second spot by 1967. It sold some thirty computers in France, ten of which were for the Internal Revenue Department of the Ministry of Finance.

82 Advertisement in L’Expansion, May 1970.

83 Advertisement in L’Expansion, January 1972.

84 Advertisement in L’Expansion, 1968.

85 Advertisement in L’Express, 24 June 1968.

86 Advertisement in L’Express, 13 May 1968.

87 Advertisement in L’Express, April 1966.

88 Advertisement in L’Express, 26 April 1965.

89 Advertisement in L’Expansion, January 1972.

90 Advertisement in L’Expansion, November 1968. “Today, Alcoa France’s ultramodern factory, Châteauroux, manufactures products finished in Duranodic 300 for France and other countries. These new installations, which produce a wide range of shaped elements, have been added to the 25 other industrial complexes of Alcoa, which has a presence in 17 countries, from Europe to the Far East.”, advertisement in L’Express, January 1969.

91 Advertisement in L’Express, 7 April 1969.

92 Report published in L’Expansion, June 1971, pp. 77-82.

93 Advertisement in L’Express, 12 février 1968.

94 Advertisement in L’Expansion, June 1969. Similarly: “An ocean of fresh water (by Westinghouse) [...]. You are at peace with Westinghouse.”, advertisement in L’Expansion, November 1969.

95 Advertisement in L’Expansion, September 1970.

96 Advertisement in L’Express, 29 September 1969 and in L’Expansion, September 1969. A power plant in the Federal Republic of Germany. “Forty two more Westinghouse pwr nuclear power plants are presently functional, under construction or on order all over the world.”

97 Advertisement in L’Expansion, April 1973.

98 Advertisement in L’Expansion, November 1982.

99 Lizabeth Cohen, A Consumer’s Republic: The Politics of Consumption in Postwar America, New York, Alfred Knopf, 2003.

100 The Frigidaire brand had beeen launched in 1919 by the Guardian Frigerator Company, established in Indiana in 1916, before it became part of the General Motors group between 1919 and 1979.

101 Sud Aviation, an aeronautic public sector undertaking, channelized its know-how to the utilization of sheet metal in the production of refrigerators in its factory at Loire-Atlantique.

102 In 1965, Pontiac stood first, followed by Frigidaire and Arthur-Martin. But the sales of household appliances remained meager. Frigidaire was sold by some 400 dealers and 3 000 agents – in the network of home appliances retail stores, prior to the advent of the specialized wholesalers.

103 Advertisement in L’Express, November 1964.

104 Advertisement in L’Express, 12 May 1969. Cf. also: « La montre Timex électrique à pile vous donne toujours ‘l’heure pile’ » (The Timex electronic watch with batteries is always in perfect time), Advertisement in L’Express, 23 November 1964.

105 The new battery powered Timex appeared in America in 1950: “The Timex brand became a household word during the 1960s [...], a revolutionary merchandising concept: the watch as an impulse item.” These watches were even sold in tobacco shops. Cf. the website [www.timexpo.com/timeline]. Timex: A Company and its Community, 1854-1998, Timex.com.

106 For example, the ads Levitt in L’Express of 8 November 1965, and 8 April 1968 (double page, for “the Lésigny park”, at Evry).

107 In 1965, Singer’s turnover in France amounted to 350 million francs, and rose to 415 million in 1968.

108 An Ideal Standard advertisement, L’Express, March 1967.

109 L’Express, February 1965.

110 The first advertisement placed by Scovill in L’Express appeared on 5 April 1962. It was for an electrical knife.

111 The first advertisement published in L’Express by Tupperware is dated 27 February 1967. Tupperware was a subsidiary of Rexall Drug & Chemical.

112 Richard Pells, “American culture abroad: The European experience since 1945”, in R. Kroes, R.W. Rydell & D.F.J. Bosscher (eds.), Cultural transmissions and receptions. American Mass Culture in Europe, Amsterdam, 1993, pp. 67-84.

113 Marc Meuleau, « L’introduction du marketing en France (1880-1973) », Revue française de gestion, September-October 1988, pp. 62-65. Richard Tedlow & Geoffrey Jones (eds.), The Rise and Fall of Mass Marketing, London, Routledge, 1993.

114 Frederick Dazell & Rowena Olegario, Rising Tide: Lessons from 165 Years of Branding Building at Procter & Gamble, Boston, Harvard Business School Press, 2004.

115 “A serendipitous contact with the head of the Paris branch of J.P. Morgan allowed Lingle [Walter Lingle, the “manager of foreign business’’ then “vice-president of the International Division”] to establish P&G’s first foothold. From his Morgan contact, Lingle learned that Unilever, which had recently built a detergent plant in France, lacked the capacity to meet demand. He also learned that a failing soap company in Marseille, Fournier-Ferrier, had started to build a new detergent plant but ran out of money before it was completed”, Dazell & Olegario, op.cit., p. 102.

116 Procter & Gamble bought a 50.3% stake in this historic factory of the L’Oréal group which retained 49.7% of this partnership venture. Note in the Investissements américains dans les sociétés françaises. Comité de coordination des études, 1964, Historical archives of the Crédit lyonnais, Deef 02067/1 be 0635.

117 “The Procterian Club is the oldest and certainly the most efficient of all ‘ex’ networks of a single enterprise. From Alain Cayzac, vice-president of Havas, to Jean-Claude Boulet, co-founder of the Bddp and Harrison & Wolf, not to speak of Dominique Reiniche, Chairman and CEO of Coca Cola France, or Bernard Brochand, former head of ddb, a whole galaxy of masterly marketers and communication czars began their careers at Procter & Gamble”, “Network. Procterians in the yearbook”, Stratégies, n°1353, 20 January 2005, p. 39.

118 “The history of Procter & Gamble in France”, website [www.fr.pg.com/notresociete/pgf_anniversaire.html].

119 “As a director attracted by this star from its very beginnings in France, the Grey agency set forth, from 1966 to 1999, the ‘power’, ‘brilliance’ and ‘genius’ trilogy in its publicity films and its ads in women’s magazines.”, from Jean Watin-Augouard, “Saga Monsieur Propre”, Prodimarques, la vie des marques, the website [www.prodimarques.com/sagas_marques/monsieur_propre/monsieur_propre.php].

120 Colgate-Palmolive France was created in 1964 by renaming Cadum Palmolive. Cf. the website [www.colgate.fr/about/history].

121 The factory was dismantled in 1940 and mothballed during the Occupation. It was then re-assembled in 1945. Gillette, p. 42. On Gillette’s history, cf. “History of Gillette razors”, in [www.executive-shaving.co.uk/gillette-history.php] and Jean Watin-Augouard, “Saga Gillette”, in [www.prodimarques.com/sagas_marques/gillette/gillette.php]. Cf. also Gordon McKibben, Cutting Edge. Gillette, op.cit.

122 The Jex scouring pads belonged to Williams, another American group.

123 Scott Paper was then the 142nd American company with a turnover of over 3 billion dollars. Bouton-Brochard was a family-owned business which held 10 percent of the tissue paper market.

124 The French subsidiary’s sales touched 312 million francs in 1968, with its Krema-Hollywood range of confectionary and its Sulta range of spices. In 1925, General Foods was formed by the merger of eleven American companies. Cf. the website [www.kraftfoods.fr] because Philip Morris, which controlled Kraft since 1988, acquired General Foods in 1989. Cf. also the website [www.kraft.com/100/timeline/time].

125 The National Biscuit Company was created in 1898. In the early 1960s it owned some sixty factories all over the world with 30 000 employees.

126 Marie-Louise Sabrié & Pierre Dottelonde, Belin, 90 ans de passion, Paris, Belin, 1992, pp. 73-74.

127 In 1965, Belin entered the salted biscuit market by acquiring exclusive rights for the manufacture in France of Ritz and Triangolini crackers which, up till then, had been produced by Motta under license since 1962 and 1964 respectively. It then launched the snacky Belin and stepped into the extruded food segment with the Chipster, in 1970. In 1967, it stood number one in the sales of salted biscuits with a 30% share of the French market, far ahead of the Belgian brand Parein and the French L’Alsacienne. In 1975, the group had 1,900 employees with 40% of the market in salted biscuits and 15% of the salty and sweet varieties combined.

128 Cf. The website [www.generalmills.com/corporate/company/history]. Inheritor of a corporate lineage stretching back to the 1860s, General Mills came into being in 1928. Cf. the book General Mills.75 years of innovation, invention, food and fun, 1928-2003, downloadable.

129 The Union française d’industries which owned the food brands Ufima (itself the holder of Maison du Café and the Caïffa brand names) was bought over by Van Nelle’s and Standard Brands’ Dutch subsidiary (which was established in 1959). Later, this subsidiary formed part of the Dutch firm of Douwe-Egberts which was bought over in 1979 by Sara Lee, an American conglomerate.

130 “Pillsbury’s first European acquisition was Etablissements Gringoire, with headquarters near Paris. It was an important purchase for Pillsbury, as the 100-year old Gringoire name was well-respected, and it had several market-leading products”, General Mills.75 years, op.cit., p. 82.

131 The first bottling plant was established by the Société française des breuvages naturels on the avenue Félix-Faure, right in the middle of Paris.

132 Thomas Olivier, La vraie coke story, Paris, Michel Lafon.1986. Gérard Cholot, Daniel Cuzon Verrier & Pierre Lemaire, Coca-cola : les plus belles affiches, Paris, Denoël, 1994.

133 The factory was modernized in 1950-1955 with equipment imported from the United States.

134 Rosy made a turnover of 46 million francs, Warnaco of a billion!

135 Note by Jean Rivoire, Sociétés à participation américaine en 1963, Archives historiques du Crédit lyonnais, daf 02067-1.

136 Mira Wilkins, The Maturing of Multinational Business, p. 404. Another source (L’Express) said:

Parts de segments de marché détenues par des entreprises d’origine américaine en 1964Rasoirs mécaniques, lames de rasoir87 %Machines à laver27 %Réfrigérateurs 25 %Rasoirs électriques6 %

137 Denis Lacorne, Jacques Rupnick & Marie-France Toinet (eds.), L’Amérique dans les têtes. Un siècle de fascinations et d’aversions, Paris, Hachette, 1986.

138 Philippe Lefournier, « L’Amérique incertaine », report in L’Expansion, November 1968.

139 Ludovic Cailluet, « McKinsey, Total-Cfp et la M-form. Un exemple français d’adaptation d’un modèle d’organisation importé », Entreprises & histoire, n°25, October 2000, pp. 26-45. « Le rapport MacKinsey », in Pierre Cayez, Rhône-Poulenc, 1895-1975, Paris, Armand-Colin-Masson, 1988, pp. 283-296. MacKinsey had been established in 1910. Cf. Matthias Kipping & Lars Engwall (eds.), Management Consulting. Emergence and Dynamics of a Knowledge Industry, Oup, Oxford, 2002. “After having consulted the MacKinsey cabinet in 1968-1970 and the Kearney cabinet in 1970-1971, Merlin-Gerin developed and implemented a new strategic organization, which would henceforth remain systematized”, in Félix Torres, Une histoire pour l’avenir. Merlin-Gerin, 1920-1992, Paris, Albin Michel, 1992, p.138.

140 Advertisement in L’Express, 25 November 1968.

141 Cf. the infomercial which appeared as a double spread in the L’Express of 8 January 1968.

142 “Why and how did Mickey’s friends also turn into Kiri’s friends. The cheese for the little gourmets in shorts”, Advertisement in L’Express, January 1970.

143 “American agencies started coming in around the 1920s : Dorland, MacCann Erickson came with their own heralds, which facilitated their implantation. Though they re-opened their subsidiaries soon after the War, the major American offensive began after the 1960s, when the budding Eec made the European market very attractive. That was when Bddo, the sixth largest ad agency in the world, and Young & Rubicam, the fourth largest, opened their agencies in Paris”, Marc Martin, Trois siècles de publicité en France, Paris, Odile Jacob, 1992, p. 364.

144 Cf. the advertisements which appeared in L’Expansion in October 1969 and in April 1973 and in L’Express 18 October 1965.

145 Regarding Scm equipment, see the website [www.oldcalculatormuseum.com/scm240sr].

146 Advertisement in L’Expansion, xxxxx.

147 Cf. David Kearns & David Nadler, Prophets in the Dark. How Xerox Reinvented Itself and Beat Back the Japanese, New York, HarperBusiness, 1992. Cf. the website [www.xerox.com].

148 Advertisement in L’Express, 27 September 1965.

149 Advertisement in L’Express, 11 October 1965 and 27 September 1965.

150 In 1981, Rank Xerox owned five factories, two in the United Kingdom, one in the Netherlands, one in Spain and the one at Lille (Neuville-en-Ferrain).

151 Advertisement in L’Expansion, October 1969.

152 The permanent workforce rose from 65 in 1963 to 300 in 1969, with 6 to 10 000 temporary workers coming every day. Cf. Michaël Grunelius, Du travail et des hommes, Paris, Perrin, 2003 (the history of Manpower France, written by its founder and director). Cf. the website [Westinghousew.manpower.com/mpcom/history].

153 The capital, made up of the contributed [assets / shares] rose to 10 million francs in 1955.

154 Hubert Bonin, Cfao, cent ans de compétition, 1887-1987, Paris, Économica, 1987.

155 Note 10557, Investment of American private capital in French Africa, 24 February 1954, according to an American Finance Minister’s note in 1953, Archives historiques du Crédit lyonnais, Deef 59912. The balance 4.4 million was made up by investments in the wholesale trade, and especially, in the means of transport (fleets of buses and truck – 2 million dollars).

156 Kaiser Aluminium & Chemical diversified into nickel. A first agreement was concluded in 1967 for a partnership in a factory in order to export nicked to the United States (via the two companies, the Néo-Calédonienne de Nickel and Kaiser-Le Nickel Corporation). A second agreement in 1970, saw Nickel finance the installation of two furnaces which consolidated the factory at Doniambo-Noumea, in exchange for a share of its production.

157 Advertisement in L’Expansion, February 1970.

158 Advertisement in L’Expansion, June 1969. Worthington was established in 1840. In the 1980s, Dresser, Ingersoll-Rand and Worthington (which had turned into Turbodyne in 1970) were gradually merged to form Dresser-Rand. cf. the website [www.dresser-rand.com/aboutus/history]. Dresser restarted a Turbodyne factory at Bourget, but soon shut it in favor of consolidating all its French products in the factory at Havre, which remains one of the group’s major hubs in the 21^st century and the headquarters of the group’s “European Served Areas”.

159 Advertisement in L’Expansion, March 1972.

160 Advertisement in L’Expansion, September 1971.

161 Advertisement in L’Expansion, April 1971.

162 Advertisement in L’Expansion, March 1971.

163 L’Express, n°803, 7 November 1966, an issue which attracted many advertisements because of the end of the year buying season.

164 Unilever (37 million francs), Cadum-Palmolive (26.5), Procter & Gamble (19.8), Renault (18.1), L’Oréal (16.8), Philips (13), Nestlé (9.2), La Samaritaine (9.2), Lesieur (8.9), Unipol (7.8).

165 Note Investissements américains dans les sociétés françaises, 1964, Archives historiques du Crédit lyonnais, Comité de coordination des études, Deef 02067/1 be 0635. The turnover rose to 650 million francs in 1970, when Hy.Bergerat-Monnoyer had 3,000 employees, of which 430 were engineers and executives and an after sales network which employed 1,400. Cf. the advertisements in L’Expansion, June 1971, p.138 and May 1971, pp.24-25.

166 Fenwick had begun to represent the Sunnen brand of machine tools since 1947, Johnson outboard motors since 1945 (which launched a major publicity offensive in managerial publications during the 1960s and 1970s when it was in direct competition with the Mercury brand), Bell helicopters in 1950 and later, planes from Cessna. It must be remembered that Fenwick had also represented Yale vehicles since 1904, and ended up by acquiring its license in 1927. It was bought over by the German company Linde in 1970.

167 Note Investissements américains dans les sociétés françaises, 1964, Archives historiques du Crédit lyonnais, Comité de coordination des études, Deef 02067/1 be 0635.

168 Thomas Olivier, La vraie coke story, Paris, Michel Lafon, 1986. Bob Stoddard, Pepsi Cola, 100 years, Los Angeles, General Publishing Group, 1997. Cf. also Coca Cola Enterprise’s internet site, which summarizes the main activities of the group and its dealers in France from 1989 onwards (and under this appellation in 1996).

169 In 1959 Sylvania merged with General Telephone to form Gt&e (gte in 1982, today known as Verizon).

170 Manufacture of light bulbs, fluorescent lamps, radio tubes. Sylvania took 24 % of the capital with payment deferred over ten years with the help of patent royalties. Note Participations des sociétés américaines dans des sociétés françaises en contrepartie d’accords de collaboration technique, 9 April 1954, Archives historiques du Crédit lyonnais, Deef 10577/59912.

171 Thomson, which then began manufacturing these tubes in its factory at Romilly (Aube), came into direct competition with Radiotechnique-Compelec, the French subsidiary of the Philips group.

172 Westinghouse gave Merlin-Gerin the license for a low voltage circuit breaker. Cf. Félix Torres,