Raybestos Powertrain

Product Roll Out Utilizes Plan That Includes "Channels of Communication"

Situation

Raybestos Powertrain, Inc. is one of the largest distributors of transmission-related friction products in the world. The company supplies OE-quality aftermarket products to transmission rebuilders including bands, clutch plates, torque converter wafers and Clutch-Pack® modules. Products distributed by Raybestos Powertrain are developed by OE-manufacturer Raybestos Products Co. and other OE manufacturers. In 2002, Raybestos Products Co. developed a revolutionary new clutch system for automatic transmissions that solved a particularly difficult problem for transmission rebuilders. Raybestos Powertrian made plans to offer the product to industry as the Z Pak™ Single-Sided Clutch System.

Problem

The decision to roll out a new product involves complex considerations that range from how to present the product to how best to target and reach potential customers.

Integrated marketing firms like MillerWhite, LLC can help clients make the best use of what is termed “channels of communication” to accomplish a new-product roll-out. This includes using:

• Public relations to build your brand or product identity through earned media, consumer relations and tradeshows.
• Advertising strategically placed to sustain your brand and drive traffic to your product.
• Interactive media to cost-effectively push or pull your brand through direct access to your audience. The Internet is perhaps the most versatile channel to support the rollout, make direct sales and much more.

Solution

MillerWhite planned a campaign for Z Pak that began even before the product was available, with an unveiling of the concept at industry trade shows. This was followed by placement of stories and product information in trade publications like Transmission Digest and GEARS Magazine. Full-page, full-color ads were run in the same publications, whose readership is directly involved in transmission rebuilds. Along with the ads, the product was promoted online and in the company's newsletter, which has a mailing list of more than 18,000. Then, timed to hit just as the product became available, a CD-Rom presentation was distributed in one of the trade publications and inserted in the company's new catalog.

Result

Even the early PR efforts had rebuilders asking for the product and by the time it was available, demand was high.