Hottest Brand Going … The Conoco Story Part 2
By Wayne Henderson

With its corporate structure now intact, Continental set out to become one of the premier gasoline marketers. Much of the promotion centered around Conoco's "Travel Bureau", a mapping and routing service offered without charge to Conoco customers. Except in the largest cities, Conoco did not attempt to concentrate their marketing, rather electing to have a large number of service stations scattered over a large area, usually with only one or two sites in a town. Using this style of marketing proved profitable, as stations in areas where prices were depressed due to competition could be "carried" by stations in more profitable areas. Among the products offered in the 1930s were Conoco "Bronzzz" Gasoline (regular grade), Conoco Ethyl, and Demand (motor grade). Also heavily promoted were Conoco's "Germ-Process" Motor Oils, the unusual name originating from a refining process developed in Europe in the early 1920s and brought to this country by Marland in 1922. It would remain Conoco's top-line motor oil until 1938 when Conoco "Nth" was introduced.

As with all oil companies, Conoco contributed greatly to the wartime efforts, with much of the output of refined products dedicated to military use. Wartime rationing closed many stations, but not significantly disproportionate to the number closed by all other gasoline marketers. At war's end, Conoco's extensive marketing territory, from New Jersey and Georgia west to Nevada, was thinned but remained intact. The Baltimore refinery was fast becoming dated, however, and in 1950 Conoco elected to withdraw from East Coast markets, with terminals and supply contracts, jobbers and service stations sold to or leased to Cities Service. That is what had happened to the station in Hampton that I began my story with. It became a Cities Service station in the early 1950s, and the remnants of York Oil Company, which operated that station, distribute Citgo products today. So well sited and profitable were some of those former Conoco stations that they are, as well, still selling Citgo gasoline today!

Shedding the East Coast marketing served as the impetus for Conoco to promote itself as a Western company, with marketing themes from the 1950s to the present reflecting that image. Their "Hottest Brand Going" slogan is one of the few still in use today that dates from the 1950s. Even today, when marketing can again be found as far east as Virginia, Conoco retains the image of a lone Westerner.

Success in oil exploration and production came to Conoco in the 1950s, with offshore Gulf Coast efforts, as well as Middle-Eastern efforts, specifically Libya, proving to be among Conoco's most successful. Crude oil is profitable only when it is sold, and Conoco began again expanding its marketing efforts in many different directions. First off a large Northeastern fuel oil distributor was purchased. Then in 1959 Continental purchased two regional gasoline marketers, F.P. Kendall and Company of Chattanooga, TN and Western Oil and Fuel Company of Minneapolis, MN. F.P. Kendall marketed Kayo gasoline (See PCM, February 2000) through nearly 200 stations in the Southeast, with Western operating under the Mileage, DS and Western brands in the North Central states. These operations would remain relatively intact for many years. Expansion was accomplished in Europe in 1961 with the purchase of Britain's Jet Petroleum, Germany's SOPI, and Belgium's Seca Oil Company. Some of these European operations remain in existence today. Looking back to the United States, Conoco began eyeing the country's largest gasoline market ...California. In 1961 they purchased a large California independent, Douglas Oil, which operated hundreds of stations in parts of that state. By the mid-1960s some facet of Continental's marketing could be found throughout much of the United States.

The early 1970s saw the elimination of Conoco's famed "red triangle", which had been modified slightly in the late 1940s. The triangle logo was replaced with a capsule-like sign that remains in use today. Unusual among oil company logos is the fact that it appears two ways, with white lettering and outline on a red background and as red lettering and outline on a white background. Mileage and DS stations were rebranded to Conoco just prior to the introduction of this logo, while the Western brand was applied to a chain of pioneering oil company convenience stores. West Coast marketing exposed Continental, through Douglas, to volatile price competition and poor profitability. The Douglas operation was sold off in the early 1970s with most of the chain going to Texaco. Following the gas shortages of the 1970s, Conoco consolidated the Western and Kayo marketing networks, importing the Jet brandname from Europe to use on an expanded chain of convenience stores called Jet Mart. This operation paralleled Conoco's branded marketing, which was primarily jobber operated, with the first extensive chain of company operated stations in Conoco history.

In 1981 an unusual chain of events regarding control of Conoco's ownership of a Canadian production subsidiary put the ownership and management structure of Conoco in jeopardy. Within just a few weeks Conoco was no longer an independent company with ownership passing to chemical giant DuPont. The DuPont-Conoco combination proved to be a workable partnership, allowing Conoco access to financing courtesy of much larger DuPont, while DuPont gained access to Conoco petrochemical capability. The combined entity set out to strengthen their presence and brand recognition. In the 1990s unprofitable Jet Mart marketing areas were abandoned, and the remaining portions were branded to Conoco, where they remain a concentrated core of Conoco company direct retail operations today. Today the Conoco brand can be found in a widespread area from the Southeast to the Pacific Northwest, with much of the area being served by large regional Conoco independent distributors. Convenience stores are the rule, but it is certainly not unusual to pass through a small town in Missouri or Iowa or the Dakotas and find that on Main Street the Conoco logo still hangs above a dealer operated, repair oriented service station, typical of that from a generation ago. As of this writing, Conoco is in the process of being spun-off from DuPont control, and for the 125th anniversary Conoco will again be a lone independent in the Rocky Mountain and Great Plains West.

Article and image courtesy of ‘Petroleum Collectibles Monthly’