Autobiography - RO 1980’s - In Chaos There is Opportunity

When Don Fergusson ( third generation owner) graduated from Northwestern University with his MBA he brought a new perspective to Rust-Oleum.  Not surprisingly the company was sales focused because it was being run by the VP of Sales and his seven headed snake the regional managers. Don had the vision that Rust-Oleum should be marketing driven.  I had mentioned previously that my loyalties sided with Fergusson’s.  Don brought in some intellectuals from Northwestern.  There could not have been a greater antithesis of perspective between the sales and marketing teams.  One of the new hires became my boss.  Mike Hobor was an intellectuals intellectual.  He was an ancient historian that related our marketing strategies to the Peloponnesian war.  It was my job to out live Mike because he would not survive long in the RO culture.

There were several other implants and consultants.  I had one incident where I was at risk.  In my industrial marketing role I had identified the ready-mix concrete industry as a target market.  The owners liked their concrete trucks to look new and shinny.  We had just developed a new polyester polyurethane coating that was ideal (almost) for this industry.  We bought a list of all the ready mix concrete companies in the US and assigned them to each sales person.  We created a special deal to get a 50% discount on the coating to paint one truck.  Just when we were ready to launch our promotion with a national advertising program and targeted literature a situation developed.  Back in the early 1980’s RO still used leaded pigments for red, green, orange and yellow colors. When the cement trucks returned to yard at the end of the day they were washed down with a acid solution to remove the cement residue.  It turns out the acid reacts with the lead in our paint and changes the color.  Oops!  This could be career ending.  I quickly met with my associates in technical service (friends) and R&D (friends). Roy Carlsten had the solution.  He said all we had to do was coat the leaded colors with a clear polyurethane to protect them from the acid.  Eureka! This was a way to sell even more paint.  

I met with my boss Mike Hobor and explained the situation.  He had a habit of sitting back and scratching his chin while humming when deep in thought.  Then he stared straight up at the ceiling and said “you make hundreds of decisions every day and few have a major impact.  You made a decision to go after a target market.  This has an impact.  We shall see.”  Fortunately I came to him with a solution. Then he talked about when the Spartans attacked the Athenians they cut down all the olive bushes.  It would take 20 years to regrow the olive bushes.  I survived that one and I survived Mike Hobor.  Mike had two sons.  He named them Justinian Ram and Aquinas after Thomas Aquinas.   

Throughout all the chaos many good decisions were made.  The 4-wheels supply division was shut down.  This upset the regional managers because they owned the warehouses used by 4-wheels supply and charged RO monthly rent.  The sales management team was terminated.  Rust-Oleum began its transition to become a marketing driven company.  In chaos there is opportunity and I was able to find a path to greater success.  All my sales mentors Bob Zobel, Dick O’Malley and Buddy LeFevbre were terminated.