TKE Group Buy Program
A fun, useful swag hack to help a company on the road to rebranding
This program came about when the brand managers at industrial engineering firm Thyssenkrupp, one of my largest clients, broke the news to me that the elevator division of their firm was spreading its wings and becoming a company unto itself. It was getting a separate name, TKE, and a separate look to boot. TKE needed new merch to match its new image, but wasn't sure about the best way to acquire said merch, especially given that the purchasing managers across the company's 130+ locations were used to going onto the Thyssenkrupp website and ordering supplies at their leisure. Now that they were no longer Thyssenkrupp, and the new TKE's website was not quite up and running yet, what were they to do for swag? Especially at a time at which it was crucial to promote the new company's brand image?
Enter the TKE Group Buys! The TKE Group Buy program was devised as a way to not only address the inherent merchandising problem at hand, but to do so in a way that would be engaging and garner company-wide interest well into the future. The premise of the program was simple: instead of buying, stocking, and ordering branded from a warehouse via a pricey web store as the primary means of accessing new merch, we would do the opposite -- we would stock nothing at all. Instead, we would curate a limited selection of items of interest to the new TKE-ers, mock them up in the new brand image, and lean heavily into effective email marketing to advertise pre-ordering the items. The more pre-orders per item, the lower the cost to everyone buying.
This program ended up being a WIN-WIN-WIN! Preorders vs. stocking prevented TKE from having to pay for pricey storage fees and kept costs down for clients by using economies of scale. Changing out the selection of items monthly helped generate continued interest and enthusiasm for the program because there was always something fun and new to look forward to. And the progam served as incredible insight as to which items would do well on the new TKE website once it was finally up and running.
Key Skills: Project Management, Engagement Stratetgy, Vendor Management, Graphic Design, Marketing Management, Relationship Management, Copywriting, Product Development
Power in Numbers
130
Over 130 locations serviced across the USA, Canada, & Mexico
80
Over $80K in sales generated in the program's first year
6
An average of 6 fun, themed items were offered each month
Project Gallery
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