Project:

Woodway Military Marketing Campaign

Services Provided:

• Advertising: space ad design
• Direct Branding: market-specific research and theme development
• Direct Mail: list research and development, design, development and execution
• Microsite: design and development

Woodway asked Johnson Direct to develop a marketing campaign targeted at the military market.

Woodway's products are especially applicable for this market because many servicemen and women require specialized training. The technology behind Woodway’s equipment, combined with its durability, functionality and reliability, make it the best choice for our troops.

Objectives:

Enjoying victory as a leading manufacturer of treadmills for 87 professional sports teams and 22 university training facilities, Woodway is positioning itself to gain similar success from the U.S. Military market.

Woodway's treadmills are designed specifically for performance and functional training - serious running at every level. As a result, 95 military installations, including 12 U.S. ships and one in the residence of the Commander-in-Chief, have already realized the benefits of their Woodway treadmill investment. Woodway's biggest challenges in further penetrating and aggressively competing within the military market are "visibility" and "differentiation." Prior to this campaign, Woodway estimated that 70% of the military market was not familiar with Woodway or its premier treadmill brands, The Force, DESMO and Wide Path.

While our campaign was designed to increase the number of military GSA inquiries, Johnson Direct's strategies also met two other important objectives:

1. Create demand from the recreation/fitness director for the high quality Woodway products
2. Educate military purchasers as to the long-term cost and efficiency benefits of a Woodway product

Strategy:

Stretching Woodway's budget for marketing to this segment was critical. Johnson Direct's marketing strategists determined the best way to make the greatest impact for short and long term success were to:

• Develop a military-specific theme (look/feel, tone, key messages) that would resonate with specifying fitness and recreational directors and practical GSA purchasers
• Design a full-page military-focused treadmill space ad (to replace the generic ad Woodway was placing in Government Recreation and Fitness magazine) that incorporates the military-specific theme, key messages, compelling offer, call-to-action and supporting visuals
• Research and develop a high-quality, targeted mailing list to reach fitness and recreational directors and purchasers within all branches of the military
• Educate target audiences with a large self-mailer direct mail piece that incorporates the military-specific theme, key messages, compelling offer, call-to-action and supporting visuals
• Support the entire campaign with a microsite that features an easy to use form to enable qualified prospects to (request a quote) at www.woodwaymilitary.com.

Results:

The September 2005 issue of Government Recreation and Fitness featured the first placement of our new ad. The direct mailer dropped mid-September, delivered to more than 1,000 military fitness and recreation directors and purchasers.

The first converted lead nearly returned Woodway's entire investment in the multi-channel campaign.

In September alone, the sales value of the leads generated was estimated at more than five times the campaign investment.

The September mailer and ad produced a 2.5% response rate within eight weeks.

Over the eight week period following the ad launch and direct mail drop, 25 requests for a quote were made via the microsite. Since then, an average of 12 quote requests per month have been generated via the microsite.

The microsite continues to deliver an average 3% response rate each month.

Five months later, unit sales have paid for the campaign nearly five times over. The same amount in sales is currently pending.

More than 400 unique visitors continue to land at the microsite each month. Initially, the ad and direct mailer were the primary drivers of traffic. Now, the organically search engine optimized site receives most of its visitors from Woodway's main website and search engines like Google and MSN.

At the microsite, military personnel have the option to download a military-specific product brochure, request a free demo unit and/or receive a price quote. Ten percent of visitors download the brochure. More than 75 percent of all requests made are for a quote only.

Testimonial:

“Thanks for integrating our advertising and stretching our budget for maximum impact in this key market.”

Eric Weber
National Sales and Marketing Manager
Woodway