Delivering increased sales for an industry leader with a printed catalog and direct mail campaign.
With over 100 locations throughout the U.S., Rush Truck Centers is the nation’s largest provider of premium products and services for the commercial vehicle market. The company had recently expanded its product offerings to include aftermarket parts, allowing them to service all-makes and models of commercial vehicles. As part of our strategic direction we created new marketing and sales tools to communicate the breadth of all-makes parts in stock at over 108 Rush Truck Centers dealerships across the country.
Marketing Objectives
S.O. CREATIVE designed and produced a new all-makes parts catalog and supporting direct mail campaign to introduce the expanded product offering in a new and exciting way without breaking from the existing brand guidelines. The following two target audiences were identified for the catalog and direct mail campaign: 1) Fleet Owners/Managers with fleets of 3–500+ trucks and 2) Owners/Operators with fleets of 1–4 trucks.
The messaging needed to promote the following about Rush Truck Centers:
- The breadth of quality brands and product in-stock at over 108 dealerships across the country
- The wide range of quality services solutions available
- The seasonal/monthly parts and service specials
- The high level of expertise and service
Flip through the full catalog below:
Strategic Messaging and Design
The company recently expanded its product offerings to include aftermarket parts, allowing them to service all-makes and models of commercial vehicles. With such an expansive and all-inclusive offering to the trucking industry, Rush Truck Centers already had a strong and well-backed brand promise of “Expect More”. To further build on this promise while effectively communicating a newly expanded offering, we used the following over-arching message of “More Parts. More Service. More Solutions.”
Rush Truck Centers started as a new truck dealership. In the new truck sales industry there is an emphasis on having a sleek and stylish body design. Showrooms are well lit to accent the new design and to highlight all the positive attributes of the truck. This is where the Rush Truck Centers brand got its start. These qualities speak directly to the sense of pride the target audience takes in owning/operating a truck fleet. S.O. CREATIVE was asked to create a catalog and series of direct mail flyers that had a new look and feel but maintained a strong connection to the well-known and trusted Rush Truck Centers brand.
To achieve this, S.O. CREATIVE worked within the existing brand guidelines to design a parts catalog and series of promotional mailers that felt as high-end as the level of service provided at every Rush Truck Centers location. To further elevate the brand, we incorporated custom beauty shots of the products for the catalog cover and section introduction pages. To create a cohesive system within the campaign elements, the style and treatment of the beauty shots used for the catalog were carried through to the cover 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 created as an 80-page resource featuring more than 6,500 popular all-makes parts. The broad but concise format is organized into 14 sections, representing more than 50 of the industry’s largest and most-respected parts manufacturers. Sections are further grouped into 64 categories and 228 subcategories, so customers can quickly and easily find the parts they need. Helpful cross-references allowed the salesperson and/or customer to quickly identify similar products, encouraging add-on sales. Content was key to success with convenient descriptions, application information, full-color product images, tech tips/product tips and a technology section. Careful attention was also given to the brand itself. In addition to selling parts, the catalog highlighted 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 direct mailer flyer featured 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 were strategically aligned to increase sales in specific product/service categories. Additionally, this further drove the message that Rush Truck Centers is the premiere choice for all-makes parts and services solutions.
Delivering Bottom Line Results
Success for the campaign was defined upfront on two key objectives, including 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 success of the catalog, Rush Truck Centers used Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) in two areas. First, financial metrics were defined, which included detailed sales reporting by product category and by sales person to help in monitoring inventory, margin and number of customer sales calls. Customer purchases were also reviewed Year Over Year (YOY) with the goal of improving customer spend overall, or in specific product categories they were not selling.
Secondly, customer metrics were used to gauge success. This included collecting customer feedback and success stories internally from regional and local sales teams. Success stories were shared on weekly conference calls and posted on the company’s intranet. Additionally, engagement metrics were gathered from the digital catalog, hosted via FlipViewer, 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
