Ahearn Equipment

SHIFTING STRATEGY FOR GROWTH

Ahearn Equipment engaged Idea Agency to help them capitalize on a new area of growth for the company by understanding and attracting the right type of customer.

Taking a big-picture perspective

Feeling like their previous agency wasn’t taking a strategic approach to marketing, Ahearn Equipment engaged Idea Agency to help evaluate their marketing efforts, and ultimately, reposition the company to better align with Ahearn’s business goals.

Branding from the inside-out

Through our PURPLE process, we helped this well-known and trusted family dealership capitalize on their strengths and appeal to their range of audiences: from contractors to homeowners. With an inclusive position of treating their customers like family, we developed the “Get Dirty with Us” campaign that manifested first internally at a special launch event as t-shirts, brand guidelines, an employee manifesto, and pocket-sized core values cards.

A strategic approach to marketing

With a primary objective of increasing sales of heavy equipment to contractors – a key growth area identified by Ahearn – we conducted a motivational research study that provided important insights about contractor attitudes. Armed with invaluable information that ranged from motivations to media consumption, we developed a LinkageTM marketing plan that included everything from in-store collateral to direct mail postcards and radio advertising with messaging that resonated with key audiences.

Success realized

After implementing this rebrand, Ahearn Equipment saw a nearly 50% increase in revenue over the previous year; sales of heavy equipment grew to become nearly 30% of the business when it was previously under 10%: reflecting an increase of roughly 400%.