Technical relevance.
Coatings systems, color matching, finishing troubleshooting, and shop consumables gave trade visitors practical reasons to attend.
all workBozeman.
market launch + research + campaign creative / 2026
Bozeman.
from territory
to touchpoints.
A new Hardware Hut location. A regional trade audience. Research, launch planning, and communications that connect the two.
- the challenge
- Introduce a new Hardware Hut location to the regional trade audience.
- my role
- I researched the territory and created launch, vendor outreach, email, and print materials.
- the result
- 330 business records in the research workbook, with 159 marked in territory.
01 / understand the territory
Start with
who’s nearby.
The Montana workbook organized businesses by trade category, account relationship, city, county, distance, and territory status. It gave the launch a more specific audience than a broad statewide mailing.
330business records in the research workbook
159records marked in territory
68cities represented across the workbook
audience structure
Geography + relationships + trade.
The research distinguishes prospects, active accounts, and former customers. Trade categories include cabinet and millwork businesses, builders, painters, designers, and retail suppliers.
trade categoryaccount relationshipdistancecity + countyterritory status
Workbook scope: business records organized for territory research and outreach planning.
02 / shape the launch
Give the visit
a purpose.
The planning materials focused on cabinet shops, millwork facilities, and finishing professionals, with technical demonstrations, vendor participation, and follow-up built into the experience.
Vendor participation.
Outreach materials invited product displays, educational demos, in-person representation, and prize or promotional-item contributions.
Useful follow-up.
The strategy proposed collecting coating-system interests and follow-up requests so conversations could continue with relevant samples, technical information, or pricing.
from working plan to final invitation
Room for the plan to evolve.
Early documents explored a week-long coatings studio format. The customer-facing invitations promoted the final May 19–21, 2026 open house, with demos, product displays, food, and giveaways.
03 / connect the communications
Before, during,
and after.
A save-the-date, a detailed invitation, and a post-event recap carried the launch from awareness to practical event information and continued product discovery.
sent april 15, 2026
Introduce the place.
Make the date memorable.
The first email introduced the Bozeman location and team, outlined the hardware and finishing expertise, and highlighted the three-day event.
subject / Save The Date: Bozeman Hardware Hut Grand Opening + BBQ
view original email
sent may 12, 2026
Make it easy
to show up.
The invitation paired the storefront with event details, manufacturer brands, registration and calendar links, and an illustrated location map.
subject / 3 Days. Food. Prizes. Live Demos.
view original email
sent june 2, 2026
Keep the conversation
going.
The recap thanked visitors and partners, shared event photos and raffle winners, and connected the event back to product solutions and the Bozeman store.
subject / Featured Brands, Products + Open House Highlights
view original email
a reference beyond the event
The manufacturer line card.
A two-sided reference grouped the product offering into functional hardware, furniture components, storage solutions, finishing, and decorative hardware.
open the original line card
04 / read the results
Measure the response.
Keep the context.
The detailed Mailchimp reports show how each send performed. The follow-up had the highest reported open rate, while unique clicks remained limited across the sequence.
| campaign | sent / delivered | open rate | click rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| save the dateapril 15 | 78 / 68 | 13.2%9 unique opens | 4.4%3 unique clicks |
| event invitationmay 12 | 128 / 119 | 21.0%25 unique opens | 2.5%3 unique clicks |
| follow-upjune 2 | 125 / 116 | 28.4%33 unique opens | 0.86%1 unique click |
Each send used a different recipient count. Rates use delivered emails; recipients may overlap across sends. Email engagement does not establish attendance, sales, or customer conversion.
What the reporting reveals.
The recap attracted more opens, but that did not translate into more unique clicks. The reports also recorded 10, 9, and 9 bounces respectively, making contact-list quality a useful focus for a future send.
Beyond the email.
The launch strategy also defined goals for trade visitors, qualified registrations, pricing requests, sample follow-up, and coating-system conversions. These planning targets extended the measurement framework beyond opens and clicks.
research + planning + creative + reporting