Driving the Train
At Springfield Armory, product is king, and developing exciting new products is the locomotive engine of growth.
Steve Kramer is an experienced industry professional and the vice president of marketing for Springfield Armory, where he leads an in-house team developing advertising strategies for the company’s growing portfolio of products. After serving in the Marine Corps as an infantry squad leader, he earned a degree in film and video production. He has spent the last 20 years representing brands in the firearms, optics, and outdoor space.
SHOT Business: What do you see as the biggest challenges facing the industry in the next five years?
Steve Kramer: I believe the major challenges over the next five years are likely to stem from a combination of regulatory and supply-chain factors that will require adaptation and strategic planning within the industry. Restricted sales of our products are an obvious concern, but the ongoing global supply-chain disruptions the country continues to face as well as economic uncertainty are likely to be ongoing challenges.
SB: What opportunities do you see?
SK: We live in an era of rapidly advancing new technology such as Artificial Intelligence, Augmented and Virtual Reality, Conversational AI for customer service and engagement, and the growing ability to harvest analytics to assist in calculating the ROI and success of marketing strategies. The firearms industry as a whole has classically been slow to adopt cutting-edge technology, but these tools offer incredible benefits that help gain insights into customer behavior, preferences, and trends.
SB: When you get up in the morning, what gets you excited about working in the industry?
SK: I consider it a privilege to have the opportunity to work with the talented people at Springfield Armory to help advance a brand that, although well established, has incredible potential for growth. It has been exciting to see Springfield expand into new product categories and the growth of our customer base.
SB: How will you meet the expectations of your customers?
SK: Customers today want a clear path to make informed decisions regarding their firearms purchases. We strive to give the customer the knowledge to make that purchase decision before entering the store. To achieve this, we start by providing a fully featured website with detailed, media-rich product landing pages. Our daily content website, TheArmoryLife.com, provides further support with articles and videos by the top content creators in the industry. Post-purchase support is also extremely important, and owners can now use the new Springfield Armory customer dashboard and mobile app as a centralized hub of resources and support for their purchases.
SB: In a very competitive world, how does Springfield Armory stay ahead of the pack?
SK: At Springfield Armory we believe that new products “drive the train,” and we are constantly working to give our customers the new and exciting firearms options they are asking for. A perfect example of this is our new Echelon, a full-size 9mm duty-grade pistol with a host of innovative features. In addition, we have recently expanded into a new manufacturing facility that is helping us meet the strong and consistent demand for our products. Equally important is getting the message out in an increasingly crowded and competitive market. We use a multi-faceted marketing approach that we have developed internally and refined over a number of years that has resulted in very successful new product launches.
SB: Springfield Armory recently has released a number of new products, including the Hellion 5.56mm Bullpup variants and the Model 2020 Rimfire, to go along with such well-established products such as the SAINT and XD lines. How do you conceive of marketing programs for these lines?
SK: Creating effective marketing programs for Springfield Armory’s new products and legacy lines requires a strategic approach that takes into account the unique features and target audience of each product. As the company grows and enters new product categories, we have opportunities to introduce the brand to new consumers. A prime example of this was bringing our first dedicated hunting rifle to market with the Model 2020 Waypoint. This intro into that market segment opened up awareness of our entire product line to a customer base that may have not been fully aware of our brand, namely the hunting community, and required a unique marketing approach.
SB: How do you keep your dealer network informed of your new products?
SK: Effective communication with our dealer network is crucial to the success of Springfield Armory. We are represented by The Evans Group, which does an outstanding job sharing our products with dealers across the nation. To support this effort, we create email campaigns that highlight both new and legacy products, outlining features and benefits, specifications, pricing, as well as marketing collateral and training materials. Our digital platforms and social media are carefully curated to provide educational and shareable content. Our Velocity program, a dealer training and rewards portal, has been especially well received.
SB: Springfield Armory has a website, “The Armory Life”, along with a quarterly four-color magazine with the same title. Both are well-executed outreach programs designed to connect and engage with your customers. How have both been received?
SK: “The Armory Life” has proven to be a remarkable success. Offering readers and followers informative and entertaining firearms lifestyle content, the website at TheArmoryLife.com features a new article every day and has had 33 million pageviews since its launch. In addition, our quarterly “The Armory Life” print magazine has a circulation of 250,000 subscribers. Both the content on the website as well as the magazine are free, with the latter being available to Springfield Armory warranty registrants.
SB: What is the FIRSTLINE program? How does it work?
SK: Springfield Armory’s FIRSTLINE program was designed to support those who serve both our nation and its citizens by offering them discounts on a select line of our products. Available to a wide range of qualified professionals, the program offers a select listing of Springfield Armory firearms at discounted pricing in a simple, streamlined process. Rather than involving complicated rebates or post-purchase discounts, FIRSTLINE is designed to deliver immediate discounts and offerings. Qualified users can simply visit one of nearly 200 authorized dealer locations nationwide and purchase the firearm of their choice. Visit our site and click on the FIRSTLINE link to learn more about it. (springfield-armory.com)
