• by Larissa Faw , February 6, 2015

When Marc USA landed the Navistar International account in November, company executives asked the Chicago-based agency to develop a concept that speaks both to its International Truck brand’s revitalization as well as its dedication to enabling Navistar's customers to work better, harder and faster.

And it needed to be a clarion call that its management, employees, salesmen and entire organization could rally around with a sense of pride and opportunity.

This month, Navistar is rolling out this new call-to-action with “It’s Uptime at International." The “Uptime” phrase will be prominent in all International Truck communications channels from advertising to dealers materials to internal marketing efforts.

"Uptime is a pledge by our people to deliver beyond expectations, and it's their drive to be better every day," said Bill Kozek, Navistar president, Truck and Parts. "The entire International team has an unrelenting passion for delivering on our mission of uptime."

Indeed, the concept is designed to speak to various targets on multiple levels. Emotionally, 'Uptime' speaks to the mindset and obligation of its dealers and employees as they deliver on the promise of keeping customers' trucks up and running. From a practical standpoint, 'Uptime' speaks to what International Truck can offer its customers.

The campaign first kicked off in December when it was introduced to Navistar employees, and is now expanding to business-to-business channels, such as trucking magazines.

The message comes through with headlines such as: “It’s Uptime when refusing to give up means making a truck that does the same.” and “It’s Uptime when we dig in harder so you can move mountains.”

Marc USA will also manage the social media roll out of Uptime through LinkedIn, Facebook and other social channels.

"We saw Uptime as a term that speaks to the heart and mind of our customers, our dealers and our employees,” said Mark Johnson, Navistar’s vice president of marketing. “It’s a powerful rallying cry that reflects the core values of our brand, and the campaign execution has proven to be inspiring and engaging at every level. It provides a platform for energizing our internal organization as well as our customers.”

This rebrand is designed to last for more than one campaign cycle. “We were looking for a way to reignite the values of the International Truck brand among its key constituents and recognized this as a perfect opportunity to use our practice of Behavioral Economics,” said Jean McLaren, president of Marc USA Chicago. “We needed to reframe the conversation from the company’s history to its vision for the future. When we heard them talk about Uptime as a critical benchmark, we knew it could represent a much bigger idea.”

Navistar's advertising expenses have been declining in recent years, totaling $39 million, $48 million, and $78 million for the years ended October 31, 2014, 2013, and 2012, respectively, according to company financial filings.