New owners bought an industrial petroleum company (A E West Petroleum) whose market share had slipped to a notation in the miscellaneous column.

The challenge was to build sales, but several obstacles were in the way. Sales were usually built on long standing and loyal relationships between petroleum distributors and their customers. Good sales representatives were not willing to leave an established company and secure accounts to work for a tiny company generating almost no sales volume.

Second, low price was critical in every selling situation. The greater the sales volume of the distributor, the greater was his volume discount, which resulted in a pricing advantage to the bigger distributors. Since A E West's sales were so low, they did not qualify for volume discounts, and could not compete on price.

In addition, the target market was very narrow. Trade journals and direct mail were the industry standards for advertising, but research showed that advertising in these mediums was almost irrelevant, since loyal relationships and the lowest price on preferred brands drove sales.

SOLUTION

Strategically, we took A E West's disadvantage and made it an advantage.

Many industrial petroleum buyers didn't even know A E West Petroleum. They had virtually no image. So we took that opportunity to create one. Somehow we had to shake up the market to get petroleum buyers to consider A E West when there was no reason to do so. We had to create awareness, excitement and anticipation of good things to come from A E West Petroleum.

Our solution was to break the mold. Even though the target market was very narrow, we chose to reach them with radio, because it presented the best, most economical opportunity to create a fresh new image. Our spots featured voice impersonations of John Wayne, Clark Gable, Jimmy Stewart, Walter Brennan, and other "characters" in entertaining situations. The spots were fun, yet promoted A E West, and people loved them...they looked forward to hearing them.

RESULTS

Suddenly, A E West Petroleum had a positive image in the market. Their sales representatives were greeted warmly. The fun, attention-getting radio campaign created the favorable impression that this company was different, imaginative, and worth talking to. This positive image led to an open mind. Soon, A E West was perceived as a "problem solving" company .

To reinforce this image, A E West negotiated large blocks of tickets to Kansas City Chiefs games as part of the radio buy. Tickets were then used as sales incentives to customers, and their best customers were invited to see the game in a luxury suite at Arrowhead. Soon, it was not a question of if people would buy from A E West Petroleum, but rather, did they qualify to be invited to the Chiefs games, and if so, would they get to see the game in a luxury suite?

Today, A E West Petroleum is one of the largest distributors of industrial oil products in 39 states.