MBRP

A multi-channel digital experience for a brick-and-mortar enthusiast brand

MBRP

A multi-channel digital experience for a brick-and-mortar enthusiast brand

MBRP

A multi-channel digital experience for a brick-and-mortar enthusiast brand

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

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