B2B Marketing is the number one resource for B2B marketers across the globe and the Elevation Awards USA recognize the best work of the year.

MILWAUKEE – June 2, 2022 – Nelson Schmidt Inc., a leading independent full-service marketing agency, has been awarded four awards in the B2B Marketing’s Elevation Awards. These honors are on behalf of client Maytag Commercial Laundry:

  • Best Lead Generation or Nurturing Campaign – Bronze – for the Maytag “Industry Insights” Campaign
  • Best Use of Thought Leadership – Silver – for the Maytag “Industry Insights” Campaign
  • Best Brand Initiative – Silver – for the Maytag “The Replacement Brand” Campaign
  • Best Channel Marketing Initiative – Silver – for the Maytag “WASH Partner Program” Campaign
Best Lead Generation or Nurturing Campaign for the Maytag “Industry Insights” Campaign

The legendary Maytag consumer brand doesn’t hold the same equity in the commercial laundry market. While laundromat owners certainly knew the brand name, many were unclear why they should consider Maytag over the more established competitors in the category. In an effort to expand its market share, Maytag Commercial Laundry needed to enhance its position in the mindset of commercial customers. This is typically done slowly, building brand credibility over time. But to reach its aggressive sales goals, Maytag needed to generate new leads more quickly. So we focused a portion of their marketing efforts on making an immediate impact by connecting the Maytag brand to a trusted industry thought leader.

We partnered with the Coin Laundry Association (CLA), the most trusted voice in commercial laundry, and designed their first-ever co-sponsored custom research program. The heart of the effort was conducting an in-depth industry study and turning the results into a downloadable report and roundtable-style webinar. This high-value, thought leadership content contained important data and insights that helped laundromat owners run a more profitable business. These gated, co-branded assets positioned Maytag as a trusted source of information in the industry, quickly elevating its status to a brand that owners wanted in their purchase evaluations. To generate attention for the custom research program, our sponsorship included promotion in CLA emails, newsletters and social media that led to a CLA-branded landing page. We also created a Maytag-branded campaign around the insights. This combined promotional effort provided the rapid brand lift needed to significantly increase sales leads.


(Cobranded Research Report)

 

Best Use of Thought Leadership for the Maytag “Industry Insights” Campaign

The legendary Maytag consumer brand doesn’t hold the same equity in the commercial laundry market. While laundromat owners certainly knew the brand name, many were unclear why they should consider Maytag over the more established competitors in the category. In an effort to expand its market share, Maytag Commercial Laundry needed to enhance its position in the mindset of commercial customers. This is typically done slowly, building brand credibility over time. But to reach its aggressive sales goals, Maytag needed to generate new leads more quickly. So we focused a portion of their marketing efforts on making an immediate impact by connecting the Maytag brand to a trusted industry thought leader.

We partnered with the Coin Laundry Association (CLA), the most trusted voice in commercial laundry, and designed their first-ever co-sponsored custom research program. The heart of the effort was conducting an in-depth industry study and turning the results into a downloadable report and roundtable-style webinar. This high-value, thought leadership content contained important data and insights that helped laundromat owners run a more profitable business. These gated, co-branded assets positioned Maytag as a trusted source of information in the industry, quickly elevating its status to a brand that owners wanted in their purchase evaluations. To generate attention for the custom research program, our sponsorship included promotion in CLA emails, newsletters and social media that led to a CLA-branded landing page. We also created a Maytag-branded campaign around the insights. This combined promotional effort provided the rapid brand lift needed to significantly increase sales leads.


(Print and Programmatic Ads)

 

Best Brand Initiative for the Maytag “The Replacement Brand” Campaign

The legendary Maytag residential brand doesn’t carry the same strength in the commercial laundry category. Maytag Commercial Laundry was struggling to differentiate itself in the saturated laundromat marketplace. To revitalize this venerable brand, we helped Maytag completely rethink their approach. We dug deep into the data of the category and uncovered an incredible insight. Nearly all manufacturers, including Maytag, were basing their sales strategies on the needs of the biggest laundromats in the nation. However, nearly 60% of laundromats were actually much smaller and had very different needs. This happened to align perfectly with Maytag’s product portfolio, which didn’t include the giant machines large laundromats require.

We commissioned sponsored research with the industry’s leading publication to identify the behaviors and trends of this ignored audience segment. We learned that the majority of these smaller laundromat owners kept aging washers and dryers much longer than what made financial sense. Data showed that if they replaced these machines sooner, the ROI far outweighed the purchase price. This idea of proactive replacement exposed a new category with a market opportunity worth $500 million. So we relaunched Maytag as the “replacement” brand, then built personas and buyer journeys to inform a full-funnel demand generation campaign – from brand advertising to channel sales enablement – that brought the revitalized brand to market.

 

Best Channel Marketing Initiative for the Maytag “WASH Partner Program” Campaign

WASH is one of the biggest commercial laundry distributors in the United States and is Maytag Commercial Laundry’s largest channel partner. WASH recently acquired another distributor in North Texas, which Maytag saw as an opportunity to show their commitment to their most important customer. Rather than a typical channel co-op program that required work from WASH to bring it to life, we created a complete turnkey lead-generation program on their behalf, targeting prospects in their new North Texas region. We developed all materials, bought and placed all media and tracked all results. Nothing says “thank you” like driving real business to a channel partner with no strings attached and no effort required.

This channel partner program was a win-win for Maytag Commercial Laundry. First, it showed their commitment to their largest distributor in a big way, which helped cement the relationship and preference for selling Maytag products. Second, it’s generating significant customer awareness and engagement for WASH in its new North Texas region.


(Maytag Gated Content)

 

Media contact: Jason Gantner, 414.244.0210, jgantner@n-s.com