Rightsize Your Marketing Efforts

Boutique agencies can handle it all, from local shops to industrial conglomerates.

Interstate Companies, Inc. is a large industrial conglomerate based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Founded in 1957 and in continuous operation for over 65 years, it has grown into a thriving business focused on distribution, industrial product sales and manufacturing. It specializes in sales and support of buses and heavy-duty trucks, final-stage vehicle manufacturing, sales and support of diesel engines, industrial bearing and power transmission products, industrial transmissions, power generation, transport refrigeration and other products. Interstate also provides industrial labor and contract assembly services.

Interstate Companies has been one of the top 100 privately held companies based in Minnesota for over 25 years. The company operates over 55 business units in 39 locations across 14 states in the Midwest, Rocky Mountain, Southwest and West regions of the United States.

Interstate is one of Kinetic’s bedrock clients, and we serve as a valuable extension of their in-house marketing and PR efforts. They have a single internal Marketing and Program Lead who sets strategic direction and serves as an air traffic controller for the multitude of marketing needs that arise for the company. The relationship is built on trust and respect as their business grows and the needs multiply.

With the single exception of influencer marketing, the work we’ve done for Interstate over the years spans our full services list. We can’t say that about most clients, which is a testament to the breadth of this relationship.

Marketing services we provide Interstate:

Branding
Print and collateral
Photography
Video production
Website development
Internal communications
Advertising
Primary research
Listing management
Public relations

Digging into the details

The services we routinely perform for Interstate fall under the broad categories above but how does that look on the ground? What follows are descriptions of recent projects that describe the details of the support we provide for the various divisions of the company on a daily, weekly and monthly basis.

The Interchange Newsletter

The company puts out a quarterly print and digital newsletter to keep employees informed on a variety of topics ranging from business news and success stories across divisions to updates on benefits and other HR topics. The internal marketing lead provides story ideas and collects topics from the divisions on important initiatives, new branches and employees and executives in the news. Kinetic reaches out to the internal Interstate contacts identified for each article and develops the content and graphics to flesh out the stories.

The Toolbox Intranet

Interstate’s intranet provides the primary resource for disseminating timely information as well as a secondary platform for major news and articles featured in the newsletter. The Toolbox also serves as a repository for digital documents related to the business and HR functions. With direction from Interstate, Kinetic manages many of the planning, programming and upload tasks necessary to keep content on the platform current.

Website Portfolio

With five distinct business divisions, Interstate relies on Kinetic to help maintain websites for each division while ensuring a coherent corporate look and feel that ties the diverse businesses together. In addition, Kinetic helps the business divisions integrate acquisitions into their respective websites as well as publish press releases and news. This includes gathering content and images as well as creative direction to ensure additions and changes maintain brand integrity.

Brand Strategy

Over time, Interstate has gone through business division realignments as new brands and businesses are acquired and goals and priorities change. These changes require rethinking brand strategy and updating logos to reflect the transforming businesses. Kinetic works with senior leadership to map out how these changes affect the overall brand as well as individual divisions and advises on how best to represent the brand, position the change and plan for future growth while avoiding brand sprawl.

Tradeshow, Sales and Recruiting Collateral

Serving diverse industries means continuous outreach and strategic networking. A wide range of collateral can help get the job done at trade shows, on sales calls and at career and job fairs. This collateral can take the form of print and digital ads, banners, tablecloths, capabilities brochures, etc., and we’ve seen it all and more with Interstate. Each must speak to a unique audience and market segment, while maintaining the corporate brand identity so there’s no question that the material represents “a division of Interstate Companies.”

Internal Communications

Interstate is a company that cares deeply about its more than 1,500 employees. They maintain a family-feel to the business through generous benefits and salaries, career advancement opportunities and open, honest communication. Over the years, Kinetic has supported Interstate in these ongoing efforts with tools such as primary research to gauge employee sentiment, benefits videos and articles featured in the newsletter and intranet mentioned above. These efforts aim to help employees understand the full range of benefits the company offers and help them feel connected to the company culture. Bottom line, the company leadership is committed to ensuring every employee feels valued and appreciated.

Custom Photography

Periodically, Kinetic arranges photo shoots to capture the essence of the work Interstate does and products they sell across diverse industries. Studio and field photo shoots add valuable assets to the library of images and video the company can draw on to meet a variety of print and digital needs. They are used internally and externally, ensuring the brand is represented consistently and professionally across a variety of platforms.

Turns out, one size can fit all. Boutique agencies can handle businesses big and small. From national and international conglomerates to local business ventures, Kinetic can deliver a comprehensive range of marketing services to fit your needs and budget. How can we help your business, large or small, succeed?