UX STRATEGY LEAD
Bridgestone Tire Virtual Launch Kits
November 2021 - Present
Bridgestone and GS&F partnered together to create what we call a “virtual launch kit” for every new tire release in order to educate dealers on the benefits of the tire and how best to sell them to their customers in-store. I lead the digital strategy and UI design of these projects in partnership with Creative Directors Alex Miracle and Crystal Hubbard over the past four years. BSFS has loved these so much as an internal tool that they intend to repurpose them for their B2C marketing efforts.
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KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS
Over time, we’ve seen increased number of downloads of critical resources and printable sales tools through the virtual launch websites vs. the other learning tools and training programs the dealers have access to through Bridgestone.
Resource Downloads
We see a huge amount of returning site users, indicating dealers are using the launch kits as the educational resource they’re intended to be.
Repeat Site Visits
High engagement time can be a meaningless KPI on its own - in this case, its a huge indicator that dealers are watching the video, listening to the audio and taking in the multimedia content as intended.
Engagement Time
The Challenge
Expensive Physical Launch Kits: Prior to shifting to the virtual launch kits, Bridgestone/Firestone would send boxes of materials to the dealers to get them hyped up and educated about the product release. These boxes were crazy expensive to produce and ship around the country, and ended up in the recycling bin pretty quickly.
Budget Inefficiencies: BSFS would invest in sexy and premium footage of the tire and of b-roll for commercial spots and other materials, but wanted to see that investment reflected more in their other B2B and B2C materials.
Approach & Process
High Fidelity Designs: With this client and creative team, we all collectively like going straight into high fidelity designs and concepts as we collaborate. The visual identity of the brand is so important to how the RTBs of the tire are represented as part of their brand playbook, so a lot can get lost in the grey of the wireframe phase we otherwise always start with.
Iterative Approach: Initially, we took a different approach to the UI and visuals for each virtual launch site. This started to feel like too expensive an investment each time around, so in 2023 we decided to templatize the approach, brand it for both Bridgestone and Firestone brands, and optimize over time.
Key Insights & Decisions
Multimedia Focus: As marketers, we know that every person takes in information a bit differently. The multimedia approach to our final template includes b-roll, text, interactive elements, downloads, full length hype videos, and even audio from the engineers from the tires themselves talking through the benefits and technology. It’s hard for any key benefit or differentiator of the tire to get lost in translation, and maximizes engagement vs. previous approaches.
Resources & Key Information: Though dealers can find this information elsewhere in their learning materials and portals, ensuring that tire fitment guides, consumer personas, hype videos and printable downloads are easily accessible ensures that dealers don’t have to go to another site to grab the information they need.
Results & Opportunities
This virtual launch workstream has been ongoing for more than four years, and the investment in these B2B sites have really opened the doors for GS&F and for our BSFS client team. Our client wants to bring these interactive digital experiences to the B2C audience on the consumer websites, creating a huge opportunity to collaborate with more marketing teams at BSFS and to work with other agencies like Leo Burnett. Blending these highly engaging interactive experiences with the traditional product detail page content that exists on BridgestoneTire.com and FirestoneTire.com will ensure that consumers also reap the benefits of being able to engage in the content in the way that works best for them and their needs, and brings potentially millions of impressions to the content we’ve worked hard to develop over the last four years.