Delivering a winning formula to achieve growth in the US motorsports industry.

1. pantone cmyk
CMB Automotive serves up a bigger
slice of American Pie for DCE
DELIVERING
A WINNING
FORMULA CASE STUDY

2. Delivering a winning formula
in US motorsport
Background
DCE Inc. is a leading manufacturer of
custom‑built electrical systems to the
motorsport industry. Manufactured in Essex, UK
and Mooresville, USA, their key products include
wiring looms, control panels, Electric Power
Assisted Steering (EPAS) systems and ECUs.
Their products are used by championship
winning teams in many motorsport series,
including Formula 1, NASCAR, Indy Car, NHRA,
Le Mans Endurance Series, World Rally,
Superbikes and F1 Powerboats.
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3. Objectives
CMB was hired to improve DCE’s brand profile
in the US market place, drive engagement with
customers and ‘open doors’ with specific hot
target prospects.
Insight
The US motorsport market is vast, worth over
$13.5* Bn and stretching more than 2,000 miles
from coast to coast. With many different race
series and full schedules, key decision makers are
‘off site’ for significant periods of time. During this
period, there is only one thing on their minds…
WINNING.
There is a short off-season from October to
December where teams take stock and gear up
for the coming year. This off-season culminates
annually in the largest motorsport trade show in
the World - The Performance Race Industry Show.
Everyone in professional US motorsports visits PRI.
EVERYONE.
The target market was team principals and chief
engineers from various racing teams and series.
With previous experience of targeting engineers,
we knew whatever we did had to speak to them
directly and to the point, no fluff.
The US market likes buying American made
products. Although the UK is held in high regard
for technological innovations, Americans still put
preference on US products.
In addition, DCE had developed two new EPAS
products and wanted to launch these into the
US market. They asked if we could build this into
the strategy.
Challenges
Although established in Mooresville since 2012,
DCE Inc. struggled to gain significant brand
recognition in the US motorsport market.
Despite winning contracts with high profile teams,
in most major US motorsport series, restrictive
trading conditions, NDAs and a sensitive commercial
environment, DCE recognised they needed help
to extend their brand presence in the US.
DCE had a one-size-fits-all approach with marketing,
with no major distinction in between US and
European market places. This lead to confused
messaging, leaving their US market unclear to how
they were relevant.
RAISE BRAND AWARENESS
ENGAGE CUSTOMERS
CREATE NEW LEADS
T: +44 (0) 1327 856102 | www.cmbautomotive.com
* Source: The Motorsport Industry Association
“Right from our first meeting, it was clear CMB understood
the US motorsport market. This, along with their
US presence, gave me the confidence they would be able
to support our needs better than any other agency.”
David Cunliffe, CEO - DCE Inc.

4. What we did...
After analysis of the key benefits of DCE’s
products and expertise, we aligned them to best
appeal to their target market and developed
a ‘formula’ designed to appeal directly to the key
needs and drivers of the team principals.
Called ‘The Winning Formula’, it became the
basis of our campaign. It was used in marketing
communications as a recognisable ‘strap line’ to
build recognition and interest.
Brand messaging and marketing
communications included:
n Custom website landing page (with all
campaign click-throughs directed to it)
n Copywriting
n Personalised direct mail
n Email marketing, optimised for mobile phones
n Highly personalised individual printed invites
n Social media strategy
n Press releases
n Show support including personal introductions
with ‘hot target prospects’
Performance Racing Industry Show (PRI)
The PRI show became a tactical ‘tool’ and
became the focus to build our campaign around.
It would allow us to have an excellent platform
to reach out to customers and build a real
opportunity to meet them face to face. To us,
Marketing Gold Dust!
If you build it,
they will come...
DCE had previously participated in the PRI show
for 10 consecutive years. They had never fully
promoted their presence at the show and relied
on a ‘if you build it, they will come’ approach.
Clearly this wouldn’t be enough to raise
brand awareness and attract their hottest
‘VIP’ prospects.
The right message for the
right audience
Knowing that personalised communications
deliver greater response rates, we took the
decision to segment our data base of customers,
prospects and our ‘VIP’ list..
All marketing collateral was personalised to the
individual recipient, (with name, team details
and even race series they participated in)
including email communications and printed
direct mail pieces, achieved through variable
data printing technology.
P(erformance)xWIN= R(eliability)+Ctrl
CMB Automotive Marketing | T: +44 (0) 1327 856102 | www.cmbautomotive.com

5. “My cell phone has exploded!”
(and our apology to Erica...)
DCE’s US admin clerk, Erica, manages their social media channels. Her cell
phone is set up to alert her with a ‘bleep’ on notifications from social
channels. After implementing our social media strategy, Erika expressed
concern that her phone had ‘exploded’ caused by the increase in social
media activity. Sorry Erica!
Made in the USA
Armed with the insight of US buying preferences
(for US made products) we emphasised DCE’s US
connection and ensured all communications came
from their Mooresville base, using US contact
details, website URLs and telephone numbers.
Direct mail was printed and posted in the US.
Product Launch
We used PRI as a platform to launch DCE’s 2 new
EPAS products in to the US market. This gave
us the additional opportunity to generate more
media buzz and formed the basis of a direct mail
promotion.
CMB Automotive Marketing | T: +44 (0) 1327 856102 | www.cmbautomotive.com

6. Results
Having attended the PRI show in person
and visiting DCE throughout the show days
we could see for ourselves how busy their
booth was.
DCE management reported that PRI 2015 had
been the busiest and most successful show
they’d ever attended, including AutoSport
International (UK) and PMW (Germany).
In addition, DCE have say they feel that
awareness of their brand in the US has
increased significantly, particularly with the
key targets on their database and their VIP hot
prospects. They have had conversations with
several of these companies and are well along
the path to winning new clients and contracts.
“CMB challenged our existing marketing ideas and gave us confidence
to engage with new strategies. The campaign they produced dramatically
improved our brand profile with key targets in the US motorsport market.
They were the defining factor in our most successful trade show to date,
delivering invaluable leads and introductions to new clients.”
David Cunliffe, CEO DCE Inc.
What we say...
“The overall success of the campaign was great
to see first hand. It’s always satisfying to know
we’ve done our job well and that a client has
really benefited from our work. I’m confident the
work we’ve done has set DCE up to get a bigger
slice of the US motorsport pie.
Subsequently being hired to be DCE’s marketing
agency for their UK and European operations,
well that’s just the cherry on top!”
Chris Bowers, CEO CMB Automotive Marketing
2 high-profile prospects from
DCE’s VIP list introduced during
the show
+ 2 Additional VIP visits planned
Significant increase of footfall
at booth from previous years
40+ Qualified leads from show
32% Open rate on email marketing
Improved brand awareness
in US motorsport market
CMB Automotive Marketing | T: +44 (0) 1327 856102 | www.cmbautomotive.com