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Sanditens' fiist store in Okmulgee Oklahoma
THEY GAVE AWAY 1800 LIGHTERS!
A loft-over diri<i»tnia!ii ^it item opened the door of radio to Oiiialiouia Naniliten i»rothers
spot
There's a big profit in auto accessories. Sam Sanditen, Lithuanian, looking through the windows of his Okmulgee, Oklahoma, gasoline station in 1918, decided that for the retailer oil and gas weren't the way to make big money. He knew that he made a higher margin of profit on the little side items he was selling than on pumping gas.
Was there any real money in the Sanditen family?
No.
Even after Sam brought in brothers Maurice and Herman, there was only enough cash to open one store in Okmulgee. The brothers Sanditen sold a few auto accessories and second-hand tires.
Just as Sam thought, there was profit in the accessories business. A second store was opened in Henryetta (also in Oklahoma) and then a third, in a new oil town, Tulsa. Every store made a profit, the hard way. Business didn't flow to the
stores. Diiect mail (a favorite Sanditen way of reaching customers 20 years or more ago) produced, but slowly. From 1918 to 1932, the Oklahoma Tire and Supply Company, as the Sanditen brothers called their business, grew from one to 12 stores. In 1931 they were spending $7,500 for direct mail, $2,200 for newspaper advertising. Their advertising budget for 1932 was to be the same.
The outlook for '32 wasn't good. The depression was at its height. Taking stock after the Christmas season wasn't a happy post-holiday chore. Checking the odds-and-ends left over, the inventory showed 1,800 cigar lighters. The lighters were a holiday number. The chances of anyone's buying the things, after the gift-giving spirit had left them, were nil. Brother Maurice went to brothers Sam and Herman and said he'd like to give the things away as a store traffic builder.
The brothers asked "how?" No sending
good money after bad.
Maurice had an idea. Could he buy just two oh-so-cheap time spots on Tulsa's KVOO and tell everyone to get one?
"How much?"
"Less than $10."
"What can we lose?"
Their plate glass windows were damaged. Policemen were called out to keep the crowds under control. An extra spot announcement telling KVOO listeners that all the 1 ,800 lighters were gone— "so please stay away from Oklahoma Tire and Supply Company stores, p-1-e-a-s-e," had to be bought.
For every lighter (cost six cents) that the Sanditens gave away they did over $2.00 worth of business — the under $10 of broadcast advertising delivered roughly $3,600 worth of business. Even if the cost of the lighters were included in the advertising costs it would have meant only $108 plus $10 or $118 to bring in $3,600 worth of business — an advertising cost of less than 3-1/3 cents per dollar.
That was far lower than the cost of (Please turn to page 96)
One of Sanditens' 1 75 stores that cover Midwest through direct-selling newscasts over KVOO and a host of stations at cost of SI 00,000 a year