THE CHALLENGE
When faced with the opportunity to help launch Freightliner's new state-of-the-art on-highway truck and enhance Freightliner's brand and market leadership position, HMH poured it on.
At a time when the trucking industry has been plagued with increasingly strict regulations, driver shortages and high fuel prices, Freightliner was not content to simply comply with EPA exhaust emissions regulations or to just look for cost savings they could pass along to their customers. The company set out to build a completely new kind of on-highway truck, a truck that would appeal to large fleets and independent owner-operators alike.
Called the Cascadia, Freightliner's new on-highway truck truly embodies the Freightliner brand's "Run Smart" philosophy. The Cascadia was engineered to achieve the highest levels of satisfaction through advanced aerodynamics for superior fuel economy, driver comfort, ride and handling and overall performance.
HMH's mission was to effectively and efficiently target both fleets and independent owner-operators to build awareness, excitement and, ultimately, convince them that choosing the Freightliner Cascadia is the smartest business - and lifestyle - decision they could make.
THE APPROACH
HMH determined an aggressive mix of media tactics was critical to reach the defined target audience and accelerate awareness and interest. This called for an array of traditional and nontraditional marketing vehicles to blanket the industry, let customers experience the product first-hand, and give dealers a wealth of tools to sell the Cascadia. It was time to rally HMH's integrated services teams and hit the ground running.
THE WORK
To build momentum, the campaign began with a series of teaser ads featuring a dark, mysteriously lighted photo of a sheet-draped truck conveying, "The shape of things that have never been." This bold creative ran in key industry publications including Transport Topics, Fleet Owner and Heavy Duty Trucking. The big reveal was held at an extravagant press event inside Charlotte's Bobcat Arena, complete with fireworks and a movie star-like debut of the sheet-draped Cascadia. Two weeks later, the dealers were introduced to the Cascadia on board the USS Midway in San Diego.
After the grand unveiling to the press and the dealers, HMH kept the momentum going with ad insertions in eleven publications, on-line banner ads, radio commercials, truckstop wall posters and fuel pump toppers, trailerside graphics, dealer kits, brochures and point of sale materials.
THE RESULTS
The Cascadia has been well received by the industry press. In fact, more than 150 articles have been written about this revolutionary truck. Just one month after the May, 2007, launch, all 6,600 units slated for production had been sold. Our ads increased web hits by a whopping 60 percent, and the truck generated excitement among dealers that bolstered their commitment to the Freightliner brand.
