Strive Logistics Marketing Strategy

I was team leader for the three-month-long project overseeing six marketing graduate and undergraduate students. The project was fairly open-ended as long as the strategy was focused on increasing sales. My team developed a three-part plan to capitalize on the benefits of customer retention while expanding the customer base for a relatively unknown company that included the following steps:

  • Raising awareness to gain new customers

  • Increasing the effectiveness of sales calls and existing media

  • Improving customer retention through promotions and transparency

Aside from overseeing the project acting as project manager, I contributed to multiple parts of the project:

  • I created the visual design for the booklet and the PowerPoint presentation

  • I designed a magazine advertisement using Adobe Photoshop

  • I developed a mockup of a customer dashboard based on an initial sketch concept using Adobe Photoshop

  • I created a marketing plan for adopting the content management system Drupal explaining the costs and benefits

We presented the project to company executives and were awarded a runner-up place. Considering we were competing against student teams lead by capstone-level MBA students, I’m especially proud my own accomplishments and the success of my teammates.

Custom Dashboards

We designed custom dashboards for Strive Logistics's user portal to help customers track loads and manage billing. The primary goal of the dashboard was to improve customer retention by increasing visibility. The portal also provided a way for customers to quickly and easily rate loads. Lower-rated loads (three stars or fewer) would send a notification to the customer service representative for the load, identifying that there is a problem that needs to be solved.

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Magazine Advertisement

We recommended placing a magazine ad in three issues of a print and digital logistics publication for business leaders. We chose the issues based on the topics for each publication in relation to Strive's goals.

We designed the advertisement to be both clean and eye-catching. The goal of the advertisement was to entice potential customers who had not heard of Strive to call or visit the website.

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CMS Strategy

We developed a strategy for strive to implement the content management system, Drupal, to house and manage their current website. The goal of this strategy was to reduce the number on their website such as disappearing navigation. The CMS strategy was my contribution to a larger sales software strategy.

Leadership

The biggest challenge was taking on leadership despite lacking self-confidence because I had less marketing experience than my teammates. I decided to apply Kogon, Blakemore, and Wood’s strategies for project management to improve as a leader. Rather than attempting to fix problems myself, I pulled the group together to discuss concerns. I also held accountability sessions every week before class to see where each teammate was. I ensured I showed respect for each teammate, and displayed understanding when someone couldn’t complete a task. Finally, I assured my teammates that I was always available to meet with them. My team grew to trust and respect my leadership by using these project management methods, despite having the least marketing experience of the group.