Hemanth Aluru and Sudhindra Reddy worked together at Zoom car as CBO and COO. They decided to switch to the EV sector - that was their calling. When we met them in early 2022, they had just started Turno, and were hiring their first few team members. We were hired to get them going - strategically and tactically - before their team is setup.
Messaging experiments
We started off by crafting different messages and creating DM experiments. Our intent was to check which messages resonated with the TG. Did customers brand conscious? How price conscious were they - did customers want pricing information upfront? What role did discounting play? Did a buyback promise resonate? How aware were customers of the benefits of EV (vs ICE)? We started experiments even before Turno's first product - financing for commercial EVs - was ready! And within weeks, Turno was selling!
Digital Marketing
Expanding on the experimentation mandate, we setup and ran Turno's digital lead acquisition. We collaborated very closely with the new marketers (and engineers) who joined Turno's growth team - so that they are empowered at every step. We handed over DM to Turno's internal team in October 2022 - in just 6 months from the time we set it up.
Customer Interviews
In addition to gathering insights from experiments, we also met Turno's earliest customers. Our goal was to make customer stories, which is a strength for CoreVoice as our co-founder Amrit Vatsa has made hundreds of similar videos via his brand 3minutestories.com. These customer meetings prepared us for the next big task: Turno's re-branding.
Re-branding
Working with Hemanth, Sudhi and Turno's new marketing team, we put together Turno's CoreBook which described Turno's customers, their pain points and motivations, the functional and emotional benefits they need, and more. Turno's brand deck further details Turno's offering, positioning and messaging pillars. With this in hand, we re-crafted Turno's brand story and their new brand identity.
Turno brand identity was interesting to work on since the identity had to flexibly support all of Turno's current and future business plans. We had to speculate - what if Turno becomes a battery company? Or a multi-brand seller? Or a vehicle manufacturer? - we had to design for all possible cases.
And more
Turno's request to us was to accelerate their brand and marketing journey - both strategically and tactically. Beyond what has been mentioned earlier, we have been sounding boards, helped in hiring conversations, re-crafted slides for investor decks, suggested growth routes, helped tech teams with WhatsApp engagement experiments, and more.
“You walked the talk while always putting that mirror up in-front of us. It was a lot more skin in the game than anything.”
A last word
Turno's founders and leadership team is incredibly smart and courageous. We're grateful that we were a part of their early journey and were in a position to contribute meaningfully. We're excited for what Turno will achieve in the next few years.
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