Terrence M. ”Terry” Johannes has a dilemma and an opportunity.
Boss of a muffler shop chain, Johannes has the best telephone number possible for his category: 1-800-Muffler.
That number, obtained a year ago when Johannes and other franchisees acquired the Fair Muffler Shops chain, is such a formidable marketing weapon that at least one of his competitors wanted to buy it. No dice, of course-”
it`s too valuable for us,” says Johannes.
The other side of the coin: Competing against other muffler shop chains, many of them much bigger, Fair isn`t quite yet at a higher level of promotional spending (perhaps $200,000 a year in media spending, essentially radio) and operational size to more fully benefit from telemarketing.
But Johannes, president of the parent Fair Undercare Inc., and his associates, John Lahola, VP-operations, and John Pelino, secretary-treasurer, are eyeing an ambitious expansion program from the existing 22-unit chain that will fully capitalize on the 800 number when more ad dollars are plugged in.
Currently with four company-owned and 18 franchisees, Fair expects to open two more units this year and perhaps another 2 or 3 in 1992, in the Chicago area, and maybe 5 to 8 the following year. The latter number may well involve expansion outside this area, markets perhaps like Madison, Wis., Indianapolis and Minneapolis, where, as Johannes believes, ”we would like to be, eventually; where we could gain a greater impact” from promotion and telemarketing.
Down the road, perhaps 7 to 10 years, Johannes is looking at perhaps as many as 100 shops.
Fair has had opportunities to immediately step up its expansion program but decided to put them on hold until a move in June from present Oak Forest offices to a new combination headquarters-warehouse in Alsip (4851 W. 115th St.), that will be substantially larger.
”With this new complex, we`ll be able to better service our franchisees, and in this business, that`s paramount,” says Johannes, 32, a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, where he was a Division II All-American free-style swimmer. He has a master`s degree from Governors State University in University Park.
A decade old, Fair`s business hasn`t been doing badly, considering the economy, which actually favors firms in the category. Whereas as recently as 1985 the average car owner kept it 3 or 4 years before trading it in and buying a new one, that figure now is eight years. This means repairs: exhaust systems accounting for 65 percent of the typical Fair shop, another 25 percent in brake jobs. Fair`s 20 units in 1990 turned up total volume of $7 million-plus; this year that figure is forecast at $8.5 million.
And how did Johannes and his colleagues dial in that 800 number?
With Fair already holding a 312-Muffler number, ”we got into a brainstorming session one day with Bernie DiMeo (of the firm`s DiMeo Rosen Partners ad agency) wondering how we might maximize our promotion
capabilities,” Johannes now recalls.
Says Johannes: ”An 800 number, we reasoned, would give us a promotional edge.” That such a number was available is surprising, especially when, in the instance of Fair, it gives prospective customers a freebie call.
Yet, armed with the strongest 800 number in the muffler business, Fair`s success will depend on the extent of promotion behind it.
SWEET FOR CRAMER-KRASSELT
Kraft General Foods` Jacobs Suchard International subsidiary in Northbrook retained Cramer-Krasselt Chicago for domestic advertising, the initial assignment involving its Toblerone candy bar. This is believed to be at least a mid-six-figure budget. Suchard also has other products, and Cramer- Krasselt will have the ad assignment on those, as well.
– Phoenix-based Dial Corp. appointed Rosenfeld, Sirowitz, Humphrey & Strauss-New York for advertising of its Breck`s hair-care line acquired last year. Rosenfeld, Sirowitz thus joins three other agencies, including DDB Needham Chicago, on Dial`s roster.
On the move: Timothy Kane, a group creative director at J. Walter Thompson USA Chicago, and Raymond J. Marione, a management director at the agency, elected senior VPs. . . . Michael L. ”Mike” Sirota, an attorney in Leo Burnett Co.`s legal department, elected a VP; the agency added Mark Hart as a public relations associate.
Strictly Personal: Birthday greetings to Cindy Harris and Mary E. Harris. Veteran AT&T telemarketing executive R.J. ”Bob” Lumley joined JJ Enterprises, a Glen Ellyn consulting firm specializing in telemarketing and seminars, as an associate. With AT&T for 35 years, Lumley helped develop AT& T`s ”Phone Power” sales seminars. John J. Malley, head of JJ, also is a former AT&T telemarketing executive.
Ogilvy & Mather New York (billings of more than $750 million) has a new president, Rochelle Lazarus (no relation) being named to the post that had been vacant for about a year. Lazarus, 43, a 20-year veteran of O & M, recently was president of Ogilvy & Mather Direct-New York.
