WeatherTech Proves That Advertising — a lot — Works

What was WeatherTech doing among spots for Jeep Jeff Goldblum MampampMs Danny DeVito Mountain Dew Morgan Freeman and Michelob Ultra Chris Pratt And what does it make Floor mats You39re kidding meYes indeed WeatherTech manufactures and sells lasercut precisely fitting allweather floor mats amp8212 as well as trunk liners pickup bed liners mud flaps pet feeding systems and seat protectors Welcome to one of the most amazing advertising stories of the decadeDavid MacNeil who came to the US from Canada as an infant got his start as a manufacturer in 1988 after serving as a US vice president for Mercedes39 tuning shop AMG and noticing that its buyers got fast cars and crummy floor mats He took out a 50000 second mortgage and began with an import business that brought in goodquality mats from EnglandSoon he was making his own weather protection products and since 2009 manufacturing them at his own factory in Bolingbrook Ill near Chicago The company didn39t make him an instant success but learning how to sell his products with targeted advertising worked wildly wellToday the privately held WeatherTech is a halfbilliondollar enterprise with at least 1100 employees and 11 factories and another one on the way And MacNeil amp8212 who gave a million dollars to Donald Trump campaign entities but has stopped contributing to candidates who are in favor of closed borders amp8212 is now a very rich man with a fortune estimated at more than 400 million He sails superyachts pilots planes and has a car collection that has included no less than 10 Ferraris including a 250 GTO number 4153 GT that he reportedly paid 70 million to acquireHere39s how he did it Singlemindedness helped Chris Arkell a managing director at Pinnacle Advertising WeatherTech39s Chicagoarea agency since 2009 described MacNeil as quotvery relentless and very consistent His genius is in building a better mousetrap and using a specific formula to build the business and then reinvest revenues in the advertising strategyquotThe last point is key because WeatherTech advertises everywhere in print bucking current trends digital social media and all forms of broadcasting WeatherTech is routinely the largest advertiser in any car magazine you pick up sometimes with spreads of up to 10 pagesIn contrast automakers have been dramatically cutting back on their ad support for the buff books even though the periodicals retain large core groups of enthusiastic readers quotWe still advertise in the magazines and see them as key partnersquot said Patrick Leitch Ford39s truck integrated communications manager But the most recent issue of Motor Trend had a fourpage layout from WeatherTech and nothing even remotely comparable from an automakerPart of that may be loyalty because car magazines were the goto place for the company to advertise when it was starting out That39s because their readers really care about their rides and want to protect them from snow ice mud and leaves And they39re willing to pay for premium items which in the case of floor mats average 180 a set If the ads worked the next month the magazine got a bigger oneAll the ads prominently display the quotMade in Americaquot message and 95 percent of the company39s products are in fact created here Mike Magnuson Pinnacle39s chief executive officer said that MacNeil has quota very strong philosophy that manufacturing in America is a significant part of what a company can do for the working population It39s important for him to manufacture here and create jobs He wants to show that betting on America can be done successfullyquotAnd the message resonates quotTen years ago WeatherTech was a healthy business but nothing like it is todayquot Magnuson said quotPeople liked the idea that the mats were lasercut and an Americanmade hightech product that fit properly the first timequotEarly ads on Chicago television in 2009 were successful and Magnuson said the company has quotbeen on the air every single week since thenquot But the ads are national these daysMagnuson declined to specify the company39s annual spend on advertising but Kantar Media pegged the figure at 74 million on measured media including radio TV and print in 2013 The figure jumped considerably in the years after that because the company started advertising on the Super BowlMagnuson said that the company is routinely bombarded with letters and emails from people who say they bought the product because it39s made in the US quotIt does resonatequot he said quotIt means something to the American publicquot MacNeil is doubling down on the approach because quotit worksquot Magnuson added quotHe wouldn39t be continuing to invest in something that doesn39t give you a good rate of returnquotMacNeil who declined a request for an interview drove this point home in an interview with the Chicago Tribune in 2017 quotI39m a businessmanquot he said quotI try not to do things without a benefit to the company my community myself If we39re throwing money down a hole that39s not something I39m going to do twicequotWhy the Super Bowl quotBrand names in America mean a lot especially good brand namesquot MacNeil told the Tribune quotWhere do the big boys advertise They go to the Super Bowl because it gives them a level of stature and credibility and that name starts to become a household namequotWeatherTech also advertises in major print media including the front section of the New York Times The newspaper quotdoes a good job of reaching its core audiencequot Magnuson said That again was opposite to the conclusion of the auto companies which failed to support the newspaper39s standalone quotAutomobilesquot sectionMacNeal has been able to turn his authentic passions into advertising vehicles On a recent visit to Lime Rock Park in Connecticut amp8212 one of the places the company races amp8212 the WeatherTech logo was omnipresent WeatherTech has sponsored since 2016 the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race series whose next event is at Sebring International Raceway on November 8WeatherTech39s name also adorns the storied Laguna Seca racetrack in Monterey Calif MacNeal has consistently shown that he will spend what it takes to get the company name in front of the publicIn 2019 WeatherTech had two short Super Bowl ads quotScoutquot for the Pet Comfort feeding system and the other a spot for a novel phone holder that fits into a car39s cupholder Though the ads aren39t focused on those Illinois factories populated by American workers both end with the company logo and that message quotMade in AmericaquotClick the social buttons to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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WeatherTech Proves That Advertising — a lot — Works

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Jim Motavalli

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