Leading with a Label

Labels

As much as she didn’t like to label herself, she realized that what her products really needed were some good labels. Heck, trying to make it as a female entrepreneur in the dog-eat-dog man’s world of the 1950s New York business scene was hard enough already. The lack of a good label just made it all that much harder. But she was fierce, she had a good idea, and she was determined to see it through.

The power of the label rose with the Industrial Revolution of the 1800s. The mass production of products brought with it an unprecedented call for marketing. All of a sudden there were large rival corporations all vying for that coveted spot in the sun. Often enough, the business that pulled ahead was the one with the more appealing label.

By the 1950s, big business had gotten the art of the label down to a science. Men in three-piece suits sat in plush rooms sipping cocktails, smoking cigars, and coming up with branding that would set the tone of the nation.

Our fearless entrepreneur was, at the time, selling mail-order goods out of her apartment. Her business was small, but the purses, belts and other accessories she offered were of high quality. With a newly designed label and some black and white ad space, she launched her mail-order campaign. In less than twenty years she would have a multimillion-dollar company.

Considering the fierce competition and oversaturated markets of today, having an appealing label is even more important now than it was in the time of our persevering 1950s entrepreneur. Any business owner will find great benefit in a label that is intelligently designed and aesthetically beautiful. In a field where many other players are offering similar goods, the quality of your label might very well mean the difference between someone buying your product, or the one next to it.