After doing business as “The Maytag Store” for decades, the name of this appliance store was changed to “Appliance Solutions” to appeal to a larger audience. And while they had successfully built a following of loyal customers and raving fans, name recognition and brand awareness took several steps backwards…essentially to square one. In the minds of consumers, Appliance Solutions was a new, unproved entity. Coupled with the fact that traditional mass media wasn’t generating the traffic and ROI required to keep pace within a very competitive, price-driven space, Appliance Solutions was in need of measurable and scaleable marketing solutions that moved the needle (and appliances into customers homes). Enter Hampton Creative.
The Approach
Our first step was to develop authentic and memorable positioning which Appliance Solutions could own, and which would allow them to carve out mind space – and market share – within a market crowded with heavy-hitting big box stores and retailers with big advertising budgets. Taking a cue from Appliance Solutions’ expertise and unique approach to customer service and their ability to provide customers with significant value (and discounted pricing), we developed the succinct tagline, “Legendary Service. Crazy Good Deals.” This positioning provided the platform to stimulate brand awareness and trial, and help Appliance Solutions distance itself from the dubious title of Tulsa’s Best Kept Secret.
The Strategy
Realizing we couldn’t outspend our competition, our strategy focused on finding creative ways to outsmart them. By shifting precious advertising and marketing dollars away from traditional media towards measurable digital channels, we were able target segmented audiences and drive qualified traffic to their new website (now featuring transparent pricing) or a conveniently-located Appliance Solutions showroom. And while we’re not able to divulge all of our secrets here, we can say that our integrated digital marketing efforts – including SEO, paid search and social media advertising – have yielded results which have allowed the campaign to scale and evolve over the course of 2017.
The Results
While we tend to geek out over new appliances (watching Netflix on your fridge, anyone?) the real reward of our partnership with Appliance Solutions was taking a classic David vs. Goliath situation and walking away with a significant marketing victory. In addition to increasing website traffic by 50% and website sessions by 71% year-over-year, we were able to help Appliance Solutions exceed sales goals by 83%.
