MBRP is one of the largest manufacturers of exhaust systems in North America, specializing in premium aftermarket products for automotive and powersport vehicles. They started out of a Canadian single-car garage in 1996. MBRP maintains high product standards while providing value to their customers, becoming the market leader for enthusiasts who won’t compromise between quality and affordability.
Company Highlights:
• Founded in 1996
• Family-grown business
• Industry leader
• 100-150 employees
Industry:
Automotive
Market:
B2C
Scope of Work:
User Research, Go-To-Market Strategy, Information Architecture, Content Production, E-commerce Management, Digital Marketing, and more
Project Results:
800%
Growth in DTC sales over 3 years
8X
Blended ROAS in 2023
3,800
Content assets produced
100K+
Data points tracked and managed
Challenge
Putting growth into gear
MBRP is a market leader with a loyal customer base. Over twenty-five years, they established a physical brand and built that loyalty the old fashioned way: connecting with enthusiasts through events, car shows, and sponsorships.
They maintain a strong presence at brick-and-mortar shops. But they knew the industry was changing. Even though they maintain robust relationships with their dealers and distributors, they wanted to build a platform to sell directly to their customers. A whole new generation of automotive enthusiasts now wanted a different kind of brand relationship. We needed to take MBRP’s stellar reputation and translate it into a digital experience.
Approach
Studying shop talk
We began to help by getting hard data from MBRP’s existing customers and fans. We created an “Inner Circle” group of purchasers and enthusiasts to identify the gaps and growth areas hidden in the customer experience. With rigorous interviews and detailed surveys, we checked our assumptions and built a strategy to clarify MBRP’s best path forward.
Our goal wasn’t just to fulfill their expectations and increase their sales–our goal was to develop a new sales funnel they could build on for the next decade.
A quote from the client
"Sawmill brings the added depth that we need in e-commerce and digital marketing.
Martin Barkey
CEO, MBRP
Work
Customize your car from the browser
We discovered MBRP’s most loyal customers needed a better online shopping experience. Finding the right automotive system is usually a hassle, even for automotive enthusiasts–and MBRP allows for further customization even after you’ve found the exhaust to match your vehicle.
We knew we needed a website that could handle all the specifics of MBRP’s massive inventory, along with updating the backend to accommodate their ever-increasing product offerings.
Work
Product information architecture
The automotive aftermarket industry is dynamic and constantly evolving. We knew a critical problem to solve had to start on the back-end: how do you keep track of such a large product offering of over 1700 SKUs? And then, how do you coordinate all the information so that every team–from internal management to sales and marketing–can quickly reference and utilize the information?
We built a master product sheet to do just that.
Not only did we help MBRP keep track of each individual product they created for almost three decades of business–we coordinated all of the marketing content and promotional materials that were created for those products, too.
With this information architecture in place, we were able to ensure all our other marketing efforts could be measured and scaled up at the pace of MBRP’s ambitious growth.
Work
Making sense of the stock
Upon the launch of the new website, we clarified MBRP’s visual identity language. This simplified the consumer experience. This was an essential step in building trust: at a parts store, a salesperson can help you find what you’re looking for. Online, you have to feel confident that the part you’re looking at is the right one for you.
The product photography, graphics, typography, and color palette were refined to create a visual system to allow the customer to understand–even at a glance–the products they were considering.
Work
What a sale sounds like
Furthermore, we wanted consumers to see and hear the products they were considering. They wanted to consider MBRP’s product against the stock system they already had on their vehicle.
But with such a massive, customizable inventory, we knew our team would have to build a system to create an equally large catalog of audio and video previews for potential buyers.
Over the course of a year, we sent teams to their manufacturing headquarters to produce this library of content–beginning with their most popular exhaust systems.
A quote from the client
Our consumer relationship is stronger than ever now, thanks to our work with Sawmill."
Martin Barkey
CEO, MBRP
Work
Revving up the content
Once we had MBRP's e-commerce platform and brand identity in place, we launched a targeted set of ad campaigns and social media content around several big objectives.
First, we wanted to drive traffic to the MBRP website and make customers aware of their DTC offerings. But second, we wanted to increase the sense of community among MBRP’s most loyal fans and automotive enthusiasts.
Work
Keeping customers on track
Finally, we built a way of retaining and cultivating future leads for MBRP through email marketing. Although most consumers have a limited number of exhaust systems they can upgrade, we discovered just how intense and passionate devoted automotive enthusiasts are.
We created a system of email flows and evergreen campaigns to support ongoing long-term relationships with those customers–making future promotions much easier for MBRP to leverage.
The results
Before we started, only a small portion of MBRP’s annual revenue came from e-commerce. Within the first year of launching the new website and subsequent ad campaigns, MBRP experienced a 300% increase in direct-to-consumer sales.
Their new advertising content and digital marketing campaigns resulted in an 80% lower cost-per-click when compared to the automotive industry average.
Now, MBRP is moving into their future with confidence–having a stronger relationship with their enthusiasts without decreasing their existing market presence across North America.
800%
growth in DTC sales over three years
5X
lower cost-per-click when compared to industry standard
100,000
data points tracked and managed in our product architecture
3,800
content assets produced
8X
blended ROAS in 2023
Content
Brand Messaging
Visual Design
Digital Ad Design
Product Photography
Social Media Content
Commercial Video Production
Content Campaign Development
Digital Marketing
Market Analysis
User Research
Campaign Development
Go-to-Market Strategy
Social Media Management
E-mail Marketing
Analytics and Reporting
E-commerce
Information Architecture
Product Information Management
Prototyping Sprints
UI Design
Website and App Design
Full-Stack Development
CRM Implementation and Management