You might not know it, but two 25-foot-long, 12-foot-high, glow-in-the-dark, rolling “shock absorbers” are supporting the growth of your ride control business.
Fully embracing all meanings of the word “visibility,” Tenneco’s Monroe® brand is communicating the importance of replacing worn shock absorbers and struts by way of two of the industry’s most eye-catching marketing tools - the Monroe Shockmobiles.
Each Shockmobile is fashioned after a premium Monroe OESpectrum shock absorber. Massive fiberglass tubes are fitted to custom-built chassis and towed by specially equipped late-model crossover vehicles. Day or night, the Shockmobiles are impossible to miss - their translucent tubes are illuminated by internal LED lighting that highlights the Monroe brand’s reminder to “Inspect Your Shocks at 50,000 Miles.”
Consumer awareness
With visibility comes awareness, and Monroe’s striking, unconventional Shockmobiles are certainly turning heads and churning curiosity of passersby on their tours across the U.S. and Canada.
At Barry’s Auto Center in Union, N.J., owner Barry Hunt and technician Joe Jones spoke to the importance of checking shocks, especially in their pot hole-ridden state. “The problem is that people don’t know that they need to replace worn shocks. In fact, New Jersey vehicle owners should probably check theirs at 30,000 miles,” Jones stated.
“Another problem is that shocks go out gradually, and consumers can’t see them,” Hunt added. Since shocks and struts are out of plain sight, some consumers might not even know what one looks like. For those who are unfamiliar, the presence alone of the Shockmobile encourages questions. Whether consumers ask the Monroe brand’s “brand ambassadors” and drivers about the Shockmobile and what it represents and/or check out Monroe on social media, the Shockmobile prompts them to seek more information - which is always a good thing.
Maximizing visibility
Since the launch of the mobile tour, the two Shockmobiles have collectively visited 100 cities, more than 200 customer locations and 100 consumer events, gaining millions of impressions on the streets and online. Along with visiting national landmarks such as the Grand Canyon and the St. Louis Gateway Arch, the Shockmobiles make appearances in July Fourth parades, Major League Baseball games, county fairs, customer trade shows and other events to reach as many people as possible.
The highly visual — and photogenic — aspect of the Shockmobiles allows for greater visibility of the brand through social media. Who wouldn’t want to take a picture next to a giant shock — and better yet, post it to social media to share with friends? To encourage passersby to engage online, the summer tour vehicles advertise Monroe’s social media sweepstakes and corresponding hashtags. Monroe posts pictures of the Shockmobiles to social media to share the journey with its followers, often tagging the locations. By sharing each stop along the way online, Monroe reaches countless more consumers.
Shop stops
The mobile tour also has been advantageous to Monroe customers; the Shockmobiles keep the brand top-of-mind for consumers, which benefits every business that carries and installs Monroe products. Due to the success of the first summer tour and the overwhelming demand for more customer visits, Monroe christened the second Shockmobile in 2015. As I witnessed on our two-day tour, auto parts suppliers are excited to welcome the Shockmobile to their front doors and are eager to have it stop by again.
Doubling the fleet of the mobile tour also helped Tenneco to prepare for the celebration of the Monroe brand’s 100th Anniversary. The anniversary mobile tour actually kicked off with a three-week round trip to AAPEX in Las Vegas last November. The Shockmobiles donned the trade-specific campaign — “Made for the road ahead” — and the Monroe 100th Anniversary logo.
