The Challenge:
When we started this project, we quickly realized that after 60 years of selling high-quality automotive parts and racing products, Speedway knew what was under the hood of almost every car ever made. But they didn’t have a clear idea of who their customers really were. Spoiler alert: Not all gear heads are the same.
Discover
Through interviews, surveys, competitor analyses and demographic studies, Big uncovered everything we could about Speedway, focusing especially on the people who were buying from them. We found out the customer base straddled many groups and so set out to target them in the most effective way possible. The strategy we pinpointed categorized customers from a psychographic perspective—taking their values, motivators and common questions into account. From there, we identified seven customer personas.
Develop
Our new personas guided the creative. Instead of talking to a “Chevy Camaro” owner—like the site used to—we were now talking to a “nostalgic racer,” “street rod enthusiast” or “classic beginner.” That framing allowed us to hone our graphics, messaging and tone for each primary targeted audience while staying true to the brand.
Deliver
Once we knew who Speedway was speaking to, we could craft their story in a way that would really appeal to their customers. To cap off the relaunch, we put together a video that captured Speedway’s history and gave an emotional connection to the brand. The tune-up was just what was needed to create a smooth-running machine.
As a part of their brand overhaul, we tackled a wide range of research initiatives. For Speedway, the following was completed:
- Customer experience map
- Customer demographic model
- 4 competitor analyses
- 14 employee interviews
- 26 customer interviews
- 400 independent auto hobbyist survey responses
- 128 employee survey responses
- 2,916 customer survey responses
- Demographic study of Speedway’s current customer database
Speedway Motors’ customers work with many kinds of cars, so the company had been categorizing customers based on what type of car they worked on. Based on our research, we encouraged them to think of customers from a psychographic perspective—looking at their values, motivators, and common questions. From there, we identified seven customer personas. We now had primary target audiences based around factors that can be addressed in branding, tone, graphics, and messaging.
Big’s presentation was incredible – heavy hitting on a few areas we needed with really great insight, especially when it comes to branding and customer smarts. I’m grateful for the groundwork you’ve laid to make 2018 our best year yet!
Betsy Grindlay, Director of Marketing, Speedway Motors, Inc.