MAHLE
BRAND VALUE
CASE STUDY
STORY
THE REAL WORK OF BRANDING IS DONE BEHIND THE SCENES. IT STARTS WITH A VISION AND ENDS WITH ACHIEVED GOALS. BUT THERE'S A LOT THAT HAPPENS IN BETWEEN. JACKSON CALLS THE "IN BETWEEN" THE BRAND VALUE WORKSHOP. OVER THE YEARS, WE HAVE COMPLETED COUNTLESS WORKSHOPS FOR CLIENTS ACROSS A RANGE OF INDUSTRIES, EACH ONE CUSTOMIZED TO THEIR UNIQUE NEEDS.
The workshop with MAHLE Motorsport was no different in that sense. Here's a look at what their Brand Workshop experience was like.
A LOT MORE GOES INTO BRINGING A BRAND TO LIFE THAN SIMPLY A FRESH NEW DESIGN DECORATED WITH SOME PUNCHY HEADLINES.
01/ IDENTIFY WHERE YOU WANT TO GO
THE FOUNDATIONAL STEP OF HELPING ANY BRAND GROW IS TO IDENTIFY THEIR VISION. IT'S LIKE DISCOVERING WHERE THEY WANT TO GO.
When JACKSON partnered with MAHLE Motorsport, we were working with an established brand seeking to grow one division of their business: pistons. So, we began the Brand Value Workshop like we begin every workshop—with homework.
HOMEWORK
The homework included a questionnaire that gave each client space to describe MAHLE's business goals, identify their biggest competitors and recognize opportunities. These questions, among others, would lay the groundwork for the rest of the workshop.
WORKSHOP
Once we reviewed the homework from each student—er, client—we pulled out the big ideas that showed up and compiled them into a presentation for our friends at MAHLE to see. Together, we looked for gaps and recurring ideas and then built a cohesive Strategic Marketing Plan that was simply a roadmap for where the brand wanted to go.
02/ ANALYZE WHERE YOU ARE
WITH A UNIFIED VISION FOR WHERE THE BRAND WANTED TO GO, IT WAS TIME TO DIG DEEP INTO ANALYSES.
- The SWOT Analysis gave us a pulse on the brand's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
- The Competitive Analysis showed us who the major competitors were, what they were doing, what was working, what wasn't, and most importantly, what MAHLE could learn from them.
- The Audience Analysis identified not just MAHLE's audiences, but also their specific needs and wants around pistons in the motorsports sector.
03/ DEFINE A STRATEGY
TWO KEY DISCOVERIES EMERGED DURING THE ANALYSIS PHASE.
First, was that MAHLE had a unique and superior product offering that lacked awareness. That product was the POWERPAK, a pack of pistons ready for engine installation right out of the box. No other competitor was offering this.
The second discovery was that MAHLE pistons had a lot of standard features that were considered upgrades by their competitors. This gave MAHLE not one, but two legs up on the competition, and we knew it was important to bring these differentiators to their audiences' attention.
04/ DETERMINE TACTICS
WITH THE POWERPAK LEADING OUR STRATEGY AS A WAY TO WIN INCREASED MARKET SHARE, WE LAUNCHED A DIGITAL AD CAMPAIGN TOUTING THE PRODUCT'S BENEFITS AND VALUE.
We prioritized engine builders who had a high-volume need, but also targeted an emerging market of DIY-ers and engine assemblers.
The added bonus of raising awareness around a product is that we simultaneously raised awareness for the MAHLE Motorsport brand.
05/ MOVE FORWARD TOGETHER
THE SUCCESS OF EVERY BRAND VALUE WORKSHOP LIES HEAVILY ON COLLABORATION BETWEEN JACKSON AND THE CLIENT.
While our team is highly skilled in motorsports marketing, we will never be experts on pistons to the same degree that MAHLE engineers are. But with our expertise combined—engineering and marketing—we were able to create an effective strategy that was relevant, ownable and differentiated.
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