Working with The Apprentice...Stepping in for a pretty busy fellow..

The client..

MotorPride is an online community for automotive enthusiasts with unmatched interaction between its members. Individuals can build websites featuring their cars and find easy ways to communicated with other like minded enthusiasts. The founder - Kelly Perdew - won the TV series "The Apprentice" in December 2004.

 

A few days after the final episode the phone rang and we were asked to manage the company for the entire next year. We were happy to take on the challenge.

Starting point..

MotorPride is an online community for automotive enthusiasts with unmatched interaction between its members

Individuals can build websites featuring their cars and find easy ways to communicated with other like minded enthusiasts

MotorPride was already live but still had some shortcomings by the time we started our assignment

Our Task..

The community needed more active members

Site functionality needed to be improved

More enhanced features were required to make the site more compelling

Limited time to get up to speed (It helped that we have a strong automotive background)

Our Approach..

Dev loping a detailed plan to improve the overall look and feel of the site and worked with the developers to make sure everything was put into place correctly

Introducing several new features (video upload, enhanced calendar functionality etc…) to set the site further apart from its competitors

Managing all business development including negotiations with sponsors and strategic partners

Launching a sweepstakes program to attract new members and increase site activity

Introducing a rewards system that would benefit the most active members

Developing and maintaining relationships with all key community members on the site

Building a viral marketing team that supported our community building efforts on and off the site

Supporting all milestones with press releases

Monthly newsletters were sent out to all members

All customer service email was replied to within less than 2 hours.

Results..

The membership was quadrupled within 12 months.

Members put promotional decals on their race cars

Many active members kept spreading out the word about MotorPride as one of the premier destinations for car enthusiasts.

The company was sold at the end of our assignment. conceptbakery managed the entire know-how transfer to the new owners