There’s no question that electrification is the future. OEMs are investing billions in battery-powered vehicle technologies and manufacturing capabilities while collaborating with utilities and charging infrastructure partners; OTR and commercial fleets are in different stages of testing and readiness. And all are trying to figure out how to deliver value to customers, make a profit and win in a hyper-competitive market filled with uncertainties.
But that future is still years away from being viable for most. A 2024 report from the North American Council for Freight Efficiency (NACFE) found that the current lack of charging infrastructure and difficulties with performance data collection—as well as challenges with grid capacities and relationships with regulated utilities—are making the switch difficult. That means despite all this energy being directed to EVs (and alternative fuels in general), brands still need to win now with the internal combustion engines.
But what are brands doing to differentiate themselves? In our experience—not much. Taking a closer look at the category reveals a sea of sameness. And to win, brands must stand for something more than features and benefits.
Identifying a path towards successful differentiation is something we’ve done well. In fact, it’s our proprietary method: Making Fierce Friends®. We blend affection, relevance and trust to position clients’ brands as a trusted partner and the best solution.
Here’s how we did it for Daimler Trucks North America’s Freightliner On-Highway, Freightliner Vocational and Detroit Diesel businesses.
Freightliner On-Highway: Strategically Changing One Simple Word to Drive Brand Separation and Business Success.
Market research revealed an untapped opportunity that competitors had overlooked. While fuel economy is an important component of TCO (total cost of ownership), it’s not always the most important for a truck owner. For some, it could be uptime; for others, driver safety. In fact, TCO was much more involved, overused and tired. So Mower created a campaign no one else could match: Real Cost of Ownership (RCO). RCO is a comprehensive evaluation of a truck’s financial impact that considers both hard costs like fuel efficiency and soft costs like safety, connectivity, uptime, quality and driver experience. It gave Freightliner a new selling proposition by countering competitors’ TCO calculations and quantifying a truck’s lifetime savings and profitability impact beyond just hard costs. The campaign helped them gain a 19% market share increase over five years.
Freightliner Vocational: Elevating Its Leadership Position—And Results—By Recognizing Hard Work.
We were challenged with elevating perceptions of Freightliner’s heavy-duty vocational trucks and creating stronger relationships between truck owners and dealers, all while overcoming the misperception that Freightliner was only an on-highway brand. So, we went big. First, we identified the Hardest Working Cities across North America and the hard-working people who operate vocational vehicles, and then we celebrated them. We created a plan to:
- Tour a dozen cities hosting more than 20 events that drew significant trade and local media attention
- Partner with city officials who accepted our Hardest Working Cities award at dealer locations
- Honor 600 workers at those job sites
The program garnered more than 13.5 million media impressions and created positive engagements between dealers and customers across North America.
Detroit Diesel Power: Putting A Legendary Reputation to Work to Increase Penetration and Growth.
DTNA’s Detroit Diesel business makes components for the trucks it manufactures. It earned a legendary reputation for heavy-duty engines, but the company had grown, making axles, transmissions, integrated powertrains, as well as safety and connected-truck technologies. Our campaign leveraged that solid reputation when marketing new components, urging buyers to “Demand Detroit” when spec’ing their DTNA Truck. We innovatively showcased Detroit Diesel’s products, positioning the business as not just a components manufacturer, but as a technology company that keeps trucks moving and jobs profitable. The results speak for themselves:
- Heavy-duty class 8-engine penetration increased eight percentage points (ppts)
- DT12 Transmission Cascadia grew by 23 ppts
- Detroit Assurance Safety raised 13 ppts
- Detroit Connect increased 15 ppts
If you could use a marketing tune-up, reach out to our Transportation and Logistics lead John Leibrick at jleibrick@mower.com or 704.916.6125.