All work

MAN Energy Solutions

Turning regulatory changes into increased sales

Summary

MAN Energy Solutions saw upcoming regulatory changes as a thought leadership opportunity. Together we created a campaign to position them as industry experts, increasing sales by 288% on a key product line.

About MAN Energy Solutions

MAN Energy Solutions enables its customers to achieve sustainable value creation in the transition towards a carbon-neutral future. Addressing tomorrow’s challenges within the marine, energy and industrial sectors, MAN Energy Solutions improves efficiency and performance at a systemic level.

Target audiences were led to a campaign-specific landing page, providing MAN with valuable visitor data and engagement opportunities.

Challenge
The 2020 Global Sulphur Cap regulations posed a major challenge for the international shipping industry. With just one year to go, time was running out for ship owners and operators to secure compliance before the start date, and their competitiveness thereafter. However, many ship owners were waiting to see which fuel type the industry favoured before making any commitments ahead of 2020. For them, there were simply too many unknowns, and to make the wrong choices could be fatal.

MAN Energy Solutions saw an opportunity to create a sense of urgency around the deadline, and to position themselves as the engine partner with the expertise and engine solutions to guide businesses through this transition. The objective was to drive retrofit sales as soon as possible, in order to avoid a bottleneck as the 2020 deadline approached.
Solution
The campaign targeted a niche target audience within the shipping industry. While CEOs and managing directors have overall business responsibility and set the strategic direction, fleet and technical management are focussed on technical operations and make recommendations to top management.

Launched in January 2019, the campaign highlighted the risks of non-compliance and the diminishing timeframe, as well as how MAN provides the optimal solution. It was supported by a wealth of information, from ads and expert interviews to a thoroughly researched industry trends white paper, all of which was shared with – and by – target audiences over multiple channels.
Challenge Solution
The 2020 Global Sulphur Cap regulations posed a major challenge for the international shipping industry. With just one year to go, time was running out for ship owners and operators to secure compliance before the start date, and their competitiveness thereafter. However, many ship owners were waiting to see which fuel type the industry favoured before making any commitments ahead of 2020. For them, there were simply too many unknowns, and to make the wrong choices could be fatal.

MAN Energy Solutions saw an opportunity to create a sense of urgency around the deadline, and to position themselves as the engine partner with the expertise and engine solutions to guide businesses through this transition. The objective was to drive retrofit sales as soon as possible, in order to avoid a bottleneck as the 2020 deadline approached.
The campaign targeted a niche target audience within the shipping industry. While CEOs and managing directors have overall business responsibility and set the strategic direction, fleet and technical management are focussed on technical operations and make recommendations to top management.

Launched in January 2019, the campaign highlighted the risks of non-compliance and the diminishing timeframe, as well as how MAN provides the optimal solution. It was supported by a wealth of information, from ads and expert interviews to a thoroughly researched industry trends white paper, all of which was shared with – and by – target audiences over multiple channels.
MAN Energy Solutions | A series of attention-grabbing visuals and headlines were developed to engage different target groups | CBC
MAN Energy Solutions | A series of attention-grabbing visuals and headlines were developed to engage different target groups | CBC

A series of attention-grabbing visuals and headlines were developed to engage different target groups.

Key deliverables

  • Creative concept
  • Tactical roll-out plan
  • Expert interview videos
  • Industry trends study
  • LinkedIn campaign
  • Campaign video
  • Email campaign
  • Industry trends paper

Impact

The email campaign had a staggering 42% open rate and a 23% click-through rate – this is double Mailchimp’s average open rate, and nearly 10x the average click-through rate.

Across Facebook and LinkedIn, the campaign achieved an impressive 255k organic impressions and 7.3k interactions within a niche target audience and in just two months. Compared to the same period last year, sales increased 288% on a key product line.

Based on original research, an ‘industry trends’ whitepaper was highly effective in positioning MAN as a solutions partner and driving engagement.

MAN Energy Solutions | A LinkedIn campaign with expert interviews enabled MAN to position itself as 'the' solutions-led partner to help guide vessel owners through the regulatory transition | CBC
MAN Energy Solutions | A LinkedIn campaign with expert interviews enabled MAN to position itself as 'the' solutions-led partner to help guide vessel owners through the regulatory transition | CBC

A LinkedIn campaign with expert interviews enabled MAN to position itself as ‘the’ solutions-led partner to help guide vessel owners through the regulatory transition.

A campaign video was developed to expand the story and USPs, and to highlight the need to take action well ahead of regulatory deadlines.