282  SELLING  LATIN  AMERICA

acter,  the  great  value  of  an  easily  discernible,
prominent  and  effective  trade-mark  becomes
obvious.  As  a  matter  of  fact  the  Indians  who
make  up  the  greater  portion  of  the  purchasing
public  of  these  countries  know  goods  only  by
brands  and  ask  the  storekeeper  for  them  by
their  distinguishing  names.
Another  feature  to  be  most  seriously  considered ­
  in  selecting  a  name  for  your  article  in
Latin  America  is  that  the  Spanish  alphabet
contains  no  “W.”  This  letter  is  formed,  when
it  is  necessary  to  use  a  word  employing  it,  by
combining  two  V’s,—thus  VV.  Even  to  the
educated  native  this  letter  is  unpronounceable.
It  is  therefore  quite  obvious  that  no  word  containing ­
  it  should  ever  be  used  for  distinguishing ­
  any  brand.  Such  a  trade  mark,  for  instance, ­
  as  “White  Wings”  instead  of  attracting
custom,  would  act  otherwise,  owing  to  the  extreme ­
  sensitiveness  of  the  native  in  fearing
criticism  in  pronouncing  the  words.
Once  your  trade  mark  is  established,  no  matter ­
  how  crude  it  may  be,  never  change  it.  I
know  of  a  firm  in  Baltimore  who  formerly