Vault's Scoop
Uppers
Above average pay;Reasonable hours;Good cafeteria;Discounts on company merchandiseDowners
Sometimes embarrassing product line;Managers must generate numerous reports
ABOUT THIS COMPANY:
Catering to the country's collectorsYou'd be surprised how many people buy those "Limited Edition Genuine Die-Cast Model T Replicas," "Commemorative Plate" collections, and "antique burgundy" leather-bound copies of Black Beauty. In 1996 MBI Inc., the company that operates Danbury Mint, Easton Press, and the Postal Commemorative Society, boasted $350 million in sales. Direct marketing is big business, accounting for 15 percent of all consumer purchases in America and 50 percent of advertising revenue. MBI opened its arms to American home shoppers in 1969 and the company's profits have increased every year since then. MBI creates and launches over 500 new products "designed to enhance the quality of life" every year and is one of the country's largest advertisers.
Get those plates out, fast!
The company's structure is based on the Product Group, and Product Managers are totally responsible for managing approximately one hundred products each throughout the year. The organization of the company is such that there are only three levels of upper management - program manager, division director, and president. Streamlined bureaucracy means that the turn-around time for developing and introducing a new product is only a day or two, hence the high volume of MBI's direct marketing. The company's major competition comes from home shopping networks (who thought Zsa Zsa Gabor could be so threatening?) and other direct-marketing companies, including the Franklin Mint and the Bradford Exchange. However, MBI's sales indicate that it is holding its own against Zsa Zsa and QVC. Go ahead and giggle at your Aunt Thelma's "Dolls of the Old South" collection; MBI is laughing all the way to the bank.
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