B2C Case Study: Andgar HVAC

Most homeowners only think about HVAC when something goes wrong, like a furnace stops working in the middle of winter. Then it’s a mad scramble that marries turnaround time and price. They do a quick Google search, and pick three names out of a hat. If you’re lucky, your company is one of the incoming calls, and hopefully, you have a technician that can conduct a site visit ASAP.

How do you change that dynamic? By building a brand based on trust and loyalty.

In marketing-speak, Andgar was a diamond in the rough. It was started by Andy and Gary (Andgar), two of the most decent, reverent, and down to earth tradesmen turned business owners you’d ever encounter. The two of them started the company 40 years earlier doing everything from answering the phones to servicing the calls, and their honesty and earnestness were keys to the culture and growth of the company over the subsequent decades.

As the two of them neared retirement, they sold the company to three of their most trusted lieutenants, who wanted to keep the name but modernize the marketing.

That’s where we came in.

Our market research discovered that (not surprisingly) their customers loved them and had hired them more than once. The research also discovered they had low brand recognition outside of their loyal base and they weren’t using any digital marketing tools to broaden their reach in an exurban community that was booming with new residents escaping the overheated Seattle housing market.

First, we rebuilt the Andgar website, which previously had no inbound lead functionality: no chatbots, no intake forms, no prominent email—just a phone number. 

We gave the brand a face—a video of Andy and Gary—to talk about the values of the company, which both introduced new residents to the company and also spoke to long time residents who identified as evangelicals. 

The new, search engine optimized website, broke out services by the way customers searched for them rather than the terms used within the industry. 

We also rebranded their regular HVAC service maintenance plan, redubbing it the Peak Performance Plan, referencing Mount Adams, which loomed large over the landscape, and was much easier to remember.

We positioned the company as the experts in their field by letting customers know that every Andgar technician was certified and produced several free, downloadable ebooks that educated current and potential customers about low or no cost ways to keep their home warmer in winter.

Homeowners are disproportionately over the age of 40, so we leaned into Facebook, building an organic following and producing lead generating ads.

They allowed us to create a Google pay-per-click ad campaign for the first time in company history, and it paid dividends, creating a steady stream of inbound leads every month. 

New homeowners to the area received a series of mailed postcards from the company to build a relationship with an audience that (studies show) are more likely to invest in home improvements soon after their purchase.

Most people didn’t know what a heat pump was or how it could heat and cool their home far more efficiently than traditional furnaces and air conditioners, so we produced a cheeky explainer video that helped define the category in one of the largest growth sectors in the HVAC industry.

And when COVID shut down the nation and drove awareness of indoor air quality, we quickly pivoted with video and targeted streaming audio ads promoting air purifiers. 

Over the time we worked together, Andgar’s revenue increased by 50% thanks to smart branding, positioning and tactical marketing that included: