Lures

by Ed Newman
AMSOIL Marketing & Advertising Manager
This article appeared in National Oil & Lube News, August 2001

Something interesting happened last weekend. We drove out to the end of Park Point here in Duluth to see an art fair. Artisans from far and wide were in attendance, displaying their works. It was a beautiful day and a fun thing to do, but not the interesting thing. The interesting thing was the Lure & Decoy Show taking place at the same time up in the main building where the restrooms were.

I was admiring the contents of a rusted tackle box when a wiry fellow with splayed out whiskers leaped to assist me. I'd been trolling for a story idea and lures had been my theme. He showed me a Woods Doddler, ideal for bass, pike and walleye, followed by a Heddon 200. "It's called that because a guy caught 200 bass in one day with this lure." I liked the Pflueger Globe, a 1920's lure with a spinning head that real fishermen use to catch muskie and pike.

Sure enough, I was on the right track when he said, "This one's called a Killer. And this one's The Persuader." I had my story.

A Brief History of Lures
One of the oldest known manufactured lures was the Phantom Minnow, an English-made lure of the early 1800's. The Phantom Minnow had a metal head with metal fins on a soft body, usually of silk. With both barbed and treble hooks, this popular lure remained unchanged for the next 80 or so years. An 1890s William Mills and Sons catalog shows the "Celebrated Phantom Minnow" as available in 12 lengths and "very fine for black bass and pickerel."

The first American lure incorporating wood as a component was patented in 1876. It was called a "Floating Spinner" and consisted of a red-painted wooden cork float mounted on the shaft of a revolving spinner.

It was popular for turn of the century lures to look like other critters, such as frogs, mice, crawfish and minnows. Before long the U.S. Patent Office began receiving applications for various lure innovations, including lures with propellers, hinges, illuminators, swivels, gears, wings and even zippers.

What Lures Do
Early catalogs featured a wide range of lures with cool sounding names. Abercrombie & Fitch catalogs featured the Jamison Coaxer (1909) and the K & K Animated Minnow.

But the real objective of all this inventiveness is to catch fish, and so many of these tools have been aptly named. Check these out: The Captor (Fischer-Schuberth Co. 1914), the Bite-Em Wiggler, the Victory, the Ketch-Em and the "Neverfail" Hook hanger (1911, E.A. Pflueger, Patent No. 1,007,007).

Another facet of lures that is instructive: lures are crafted for differing objectives. There are lures for bass and lures for muskie, lures for perch and lures for walleye. Fly fishermen carry an unbelievable array of flies for the various conditions in which they are pursuing trout. It's not a "one size fits all" affair.

Webster's uses words like "enticement" and "appeal" when defining the word lure. The whole point of lures is to entice fish into making a response. It's a lot like the goals of advertising and promotion. We craft messages designed to attract consumers. We don't just throw anything in the water to see what floats. We first consider the interests and appetites of our target, then forge our message accordingly.

Fast Oil Change Lures
There are a number of lures quick lubes use to draw traffic. Diligent reading of this magazine and attending AOCA conventions are two ways to put new tools in your tackle box. Signage, banners, brochures, all help attract business. A clean, well lighted place is important. Friendly, informed personnel will increase business as well.

Ultimately, car owners don't exist for us or our brands. They live for their own purposes. They do their own things. They want what they want. It's our job to find out what "they" want and offer it to them in a way that motivates them to take the action or actions that we want them to take. After all, that's what promotion is: the art of offering what your target audience will respond to.

Here are four hot buttons that are important to today's motorist. They are not, however, equal in importance for all consumers. Your sales pitch, to be truly effective, should be designed around the kind of "fish" you wish to attract.

Convenience
Convenience is a pre-eminent value for many motorists. They do not want to change their own oil and, if it were possible, they wish they never had to think about it. The oil change ritual is a necessary evil. To satisfy this fish you want to make it as fast and easy as possible. And if you carry an extended drain synthetic oil, you can make it even more convenient by charging a bit more and having them come in less often. (They'd love you for it if you could design a way for them never to come in at all.)

Savings
There are some whose whole life revolves around ways to save a buck. Frugality is a virtue that dominates all purchasing decisions for certain people. Like the convenience buff, this fish would also prefer not to change his oil, but in his case its to avoid spending the money. The oil change again becomes a necessary evil.

Education is one way to help this consumer feel better about parting with his or her money. There are great savings involved if you can avoid costly repairs caused by gunked up engines. Synthetic motor oils have additional benefits, but since you are charging more, you must be sure they understand the value of what they are getting.

Protection
There are many who understand that an engine needs protection. These are some of your best customers, almost ritualistic in their oil change routines. I met a man with an SUV who changed his oil every two thousand miles. He said he knew oil got dirty and broke down and he wanted his dream machine to last a long, long time. For this man a 3,000 mile oil change interval was extended drains, but he was very open to learning more about synthetics, how they resist oxidation, their superior film strength and other benefits. This kind of customer would pay an arm and a leg for an oil change if it promised greater protection in the heart of the thing he really loved.

Environmental Concerns
They're out there. And if you have a lure that will catch them they're loyal. Green is their favorite color; Earth Stewardship is their pre-eminent value. Extended drain intervals has a very strong appeal to many in this camp. They are not unwilling to pay more if you can satisfy their desire to create less waste and use fewer resources. They feel good when they are being responsible in this way.

Conclusion
In real life, most of us are ruled by a combination of motivations. Nevertheless, by observing behaviors you'll see that each of us has one or two supreme values to which other considerations fall aside.

Every facet of your business can be a lure or a turn-off for potential customers, from the way you dress to the way your phones are answered. You're not just selling oil. You're selling comfort, peace of mind, protection or a better world.

I'm very serious about all this. You want to catch fish? Re-evaluate your tackle box.