Planting seeds for the future

Abstract

In 1974 Champion International Corporation could be described as a company in search of an image. In spite of being the nation's fourth‐largest forest products company at the time, with net income just under $100 million, Champion was a relative stranger on Wall Street — the result of what the company concedes was a lack of corporate direction, coupled with a poorly managed publicity campaign accompanying Champion's switch from the U.S. Plywood‐Champion Paper title in 1972. As Champion spokesperson Sallie Vandervort explains, “A company that has no image has a negative image.” Owing in part to this perception and in part to the company's desire to project itself as a positive, forward‐looking company, Champion mounted a $6.8 million advertising program, beginning in 1979, that stressed the importance of the future. Says Ms. Vandervort, “Champion's goal was double‐edged. We wanted to conduct a viable and legitimate corporate campaign to improve our recognition in the business community. And, at the same time, we wanted to give the public a little food for thought.” Ms. Vandervort noted that, since Champion's resources take anywhere from 25 to 60 years to develop, the company wanted to demonstrate its concern for the future, while stimulating public thinking about some of the issues and trends that will command society's attention over the next 20 years. The following article is condensed from a booklet of the same title that is distributed nationwide as part of Champion's advertising program.

Citation

Cornish, E.S. (1982), "Planting seeds for the future", Planning Review, Vol. 10 No. 5, pp. 8-45. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb053998