YRC Freight Accelerated: A Fast-Paced Product Launch Success Story

The final installment of a 3-Part Series: Recap of the TMSA Connections Seminar in Kansas City. Nearly 30 marketing and sales professionals in transportation and logistics registered to attend the TMSA Connections Seminar, held last month at YRC Worldwide headquarters in Kansas City. Matt Ferguson, Service Marketing Manager with this leading transporter of industrial, commercial, and retail goods in LTL shipping solutions, shared a recent story at the TMSA Connections Seminar.

Have you ever found yourself with a business opportunity for your company, yet you had but a small time-frame to seize on it? It’s a common occurrence in the world of today’s marketing department - and the team at YRC Freight can relate.

Accelerated, YRC Freight’s new faster standard service was launched after uncovering a need in the marketplace. “The purpose of launching this new service was to provide customers with additional choices by expanding our service portfolio,” says Ferguson. “Accelerated provides customers with faster transit times without the bells and whistles (and added costs) of an expedited shipment. This service was built from the ground up in a short amount of time and included customer research, service definition, project management, internal communications and training, a new brand name, logo and position and an external launch to customers and new audiences. The service has been well-received and is hitting its initial growth goals. Customers have responded favorably to having the service option available.” 

Ferguson explains the “accelerated” product launch of Accelerated: “Our team worked together to build the new Accelerated service from idea to launch in less than 5 months. The process started with a competitive analysis and survey of our customers.” Once the analysis was completed, the marketing team there worked to build out the following:

Service Definition, Naming and Positioning: Working with Operations, Technology and Sales Teams to define what the service would and would not include (including competitive analysis and customer insights).

Internal Communications, including internal training materials that included kits sent to each of the company’s 250+ terminals and 400 sales reps.

External Communications involving website enhancement, new sales tools, social media, and an official launch at a shipper conference. In addition, YRC now has ongoing communication and follow-up campaigns.

Of course, with any successful integrated communications campaign, YRC measured the results through digital campaign evaluation and results, return on advertising spend, total impressions, and total campaign conversation rates.

Like this mini case study?  View this successful case study in more detail - and many others in Integrated Campaigns, Direct Marketing, Digital Sales & Marketing, Advertising, Events, and more. TMSA Members have access to a full library of award-winning best practices in transportation and logistics marketing and sales.