Image Wheels prides itself on the quality of its made-to-order products and excellent levels of customer service.
While Image Wheels was relatively well known on the UK automotive aftermarket scene and its excellent reputation was well deserved, its online presence was almost non-existent. In an ever-competitive marketplace this was far from ideal and certainly not reflective of the brand's exciting, engaging nature and – perhaps most importantly – its potential.
Put simply Image Wheels had virtually no online presence at all when Accelerate PR made a bold pledge at Autosport International in 2015. The promise was simple: Accelerate PR could generate far more income via social media driven business over a 12 month period than the brand had spent on its trade stand (and week-long stay for staff) at the NEC that year.
Following the event, Accelerate PR took over the management of an existing Instagram account with approximately 300 followers, and established a Facebook page for the brand with a clear mission in mind – to fuel Image Wheels in catching up with its plethora of rival brands all with large, passionate and vocal followings.
Given that Image Wheels was established in 1987 and trading with a shining reputation in its industry, the brand did not need Accelerate PR to deliver a traditional PR campaign. Rather, Accelerate PR's approach was to grow the brand's customer base and drive sales by showcasing its unique abilities in what is a highly competitive and constantly evolving marketplace.
All Image Wheels are made to order in the UK, so selling direct to consumers via social media or its website (imagewheels.co.uk) is not as straightforward as it might be for some wheel brands. For many rivals product is manufactured in advance – often overseas – and stacked in a warehouse prior to sale.
With next to no paid media spend, Accelerate PR began to build brand awareness via social media, creating hype around new releases, and – importantly – nurturing relationships with an ever-growing community of supporters and customers.
Using our unique insight into the world of the aftermarket automotive world, Accelerate PR has grown thriving Instagram and Facebook channels for Image Wheels with a combined audience of more than 20,000 passionate followers. This has become an organically grown community of brand ambassadors for Image Wheels devoted to promoting the brand's products to their peers.
As a result of increased orders driven by Accelerate PR's activities on behalf of Image Wheels, lead times on its alloy wheel products have risen from eight to 10 weeks in 2015, to 16 weeks in 2022.
Kirsty Langford, Image Wheels
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