Rush Truck Centers
North America’s largest provider of commercial-vehicle parts and service significantly expanded its already massive offering. We organized their aftermarket content into a comprehensive printed catalog, which in turn helped boost a 32% increase in traffic to their website.
Delivering Increased Sales for an Industry Leader with a Printed Catalog and Direct Mail Campaign.
With over 150 commercial truck dealerships and related businesses in the US and Canada, Rush Truck Centers is North America’s largest provider of premium products and services for the commercial vehicle market.
The company’s expanded product offerings include aftermarket parts, allowing them to service all-makes and models of commercial vehicles. As part of our strategic direction, we create marketing and sales tools to communicate the breadth of all-makes parts in stock at the Rush Truck Centers dealerships.
Marketing Objectives
S.O. Creative worked with Rush Enterprises Marketing to design a new all-makes part catalog, and has been instrumental in creating, updating, and producing the catalog for 8 years.
These have a long shelf life as a silent salesperson, and act as a great sales tool. Additionally, S.O. Creative helped launch a successful direct mail campaign as an introduction to the expanded product offering within the existing brand guidelines. The 2022 catalog increased traffic to the digital catalog by 32%.
Two target audiences were identified for the catalog and direct mail campaign:
- Fleet Owners/Managers with fleets of 3-500+ trucks
- Owners/Operators with fleets of 1-4 trucks
The messaging needed to promote the following about Rush Truck Centers:
- Expansive variety of quality brands and product in-stock at over 140 dealerships across the country
- Wide range of quality service solutions available
- Seasonal/monthly parts and service specials
- Elevated level of expertise and service
Strategic Messaging and Design
With such an expansive and all-inclusive offering to the trucking industry, Rush Truck Centers has a strong and well-backed brand promise of “Expect More”. To further build on this promise and effectively communicate a newly expanded offering, we use the overarching message of “More Parts. More Service. More Solutions.”
Rush Truck Centers began as a new truck dealership with well lit showrooms that accentuated and highlighted the new designs. These highly sought after qualities resonate with the target audience, and directly correlate with the sense of pride in owning and operating a truck fleet. Rush Truck Centers got its start by standing out
above the competition.
S.O. CREATIVE works within the existing brand guidelines to design a parts catalog and series of promotional mailers that mirror the high-end level of service provided at every Rush Truck Centers location. To further elevate the brand, custom beauty shots of the products are featured on the catalog cover and the section introduction pages. For consistency and cohesion, we carry the style and treatment of the beauty shots through to the covers of each direct mail flyer.
Catalog Structure and Content
The catalog was structured to be a robust sales tool illustrating the most popular products and part numbers offered by Rush Truck Centers. The catalog was started as an 80-page resource featuring more than 6,500 popular all-makes parts. The broad but concise format of the original catalog was organized into 14 sections, representing more than 50 of the industry’s largest and most-respected parts manufacturers. Sections were further grouped into 64 categories and 228 subcategories.
As of 2022, the catalog has grown into an in-demand 164-page resource, and features over 16,000 popular all-makes parts. In 2022 Rush printed 58,000 catalogs. Currently, the catalog is organized into 16 sections, with over 900 product pictures, and over 120 well-known vendors in the industry.
The layout makes parts easily and quickly accessible to customers. Cross references help identify similar products and also encourage add-on sales. Content is key to success with convenient descriptions, application information, full-color product images, tech tips/product tips and a technology section. Careful attention is also given to the brand itself. In addition to selling parts, the catalog highlights the full scope of premiere solutions offered by Rush Truck Centers.
The direct mail flyers were created as an extension of the catalog in design, content and messaging. Each flyer features seasonal service specials and a range of 10-14 parts specials with convenient descriptions, application and cross-reference information, and full-color product images. To enhance ROI, the featured product and service specials are strategically aligned to increase sales in specific product/service categories. Furthermore, this drives the message that Rush Truck Centers is the premiere choice for all-makes parts and services solutions.
Delivering Bottom Line Results
Success for the initial campaign was defined upfront on two key objectives. Increased awareness of the new all-makes parts and service offering, as well as increased overall customer spending in specific product categories.
To evaluate the ongoing success of the catalog, Rush Truck Centers uses Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) in two areas.
First, financial metrics are defined, which includes detailed sales reporting by product category and by sales person to help in monitoring inventory, margin and number of customer sales calls. Customer purchases are also reviewed Year Over Year (YOY) with the goal of improving customer spend overall, or in specific product categories they are not selling.
Secondly, customer metrics are used to gauge success. This includes collecting customer feedback and success stories internally from regional and local sales teams. Success stories are shared on weekly conference calls and posted on the company’s intranet. Additionally, engagement metrics continue to be gathered from the digital catalog, via PaperTurn, on RushTruckCenters.com.
“The catalog is truly the cornerstone of our all-makes parts strategy and is the beginning of our journey to create an all-makes culture.”
– Managing Vice President Parts, Rush Enterprises
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