Case Study: Efficient Drivetrains
Gaben built long-term success with comprehensive marketing, brand, financial acquisition and creative services
The Challenge
Efficient Drivetrains came to my design firm ContentX over 15 years ago with a dream of building a company around their unique patents in the field of electric vehicle technology. They had big dreams of becoming an industry player, but were restricted by the classic financial challenge of a start-up budget. Success would demand premium quality work across a wide range of creative service requirements.
The Solution
As they were initially in start-up mode, I was a perfect fit for their requirements. Using the moniker of ContentX, as a designer and producer, I was approachable, agile and reasonably priced. I had the flexibility to staff up based on fluctuating requirements.
For the last 15 years I helped them grow and expand. There hasn’t been a section of their business that me and my ad-hoc team hasn’t supported, including:
- Marketing and Promotional Strategy and Consulting
- Logo and Identity Design and Production, from brochures to identity package
- Videography and Animation
- Interior Site Design for both facilities
- Tradeshow booth and event support
- Multi-language website and web outreach
- Press Release and PR support
- User Interface design
- Realtime Promotional Software
- Financial Acquisition Presentation Tools
The culmination of our relationship has been the acquisition of EDI by Cummins, Inc. Now operating as a division of Cummins, EDI still relies on me to provide targeted creative services for their management team.
I grew Efficient Drivetrains from an fledgling start-up to a successful corporate acquisition in just under 15 years!
Support from Start-up to Acquisition
EDI founders Joerg Ferchau and Andy Frank are true innovators, coming from the research labs of academia, to this point, where their technology to be found in most modern electric vehicles. In the early stages, they had the raw talent but needed to grow a team of cross-functional assets to build a company with potential for success. From the early days of experimentation and grant pursuit, through years of research and development, and now, with the feather of a corporate acquisition fresh in our cap, I helped the team with their creative services, marketing and promotion. Working with every level of the team, me and my various contractors have proudly stood with the EDI family from the beginning. EDI will tell you that a combination of relationship chemistry and design excellence is what makes working with Gaben Chancellor such a rewarding long-term success.
Successful acquisition by a $20B company!
The proof of my design value can be tracked over time, by simply observing EDI’s successes. $20M in investment (seed through series D). $25+M in state and federal grants acquired. $100M in pipeline generated as a result of successful demand generation programs resulting in integration into 27 vehicle platforms with leading customers like Daimler, PG&E, Thomas Built Bus, Freightliner, and Bluebird bus. From presentations and graphics, to printed trade show materials and interior location design, our marketing and creative services support has helped across the EDI organization to keep professional level brand a mission critical priority. I have repeatedly helped EDI show the world their best face, and can do that for almost any company and in any market, as my design is driven from the customer’s core business values, with brand efforts designed to support all aspects of the company face and operations.
“We don’t work with Gaben and his team because of their past client list. We work with them because of the more human factors. They listen carefully and respond intelligently, with design work that clearly reflects our needs, desires and requirements. They are part of our family, and we would recommend them to any business who wants premium collaboration, outstanding quality and creative solutions to business challenges.”
Joerg Ferchau, Chief Executive Officer, Efficient Drivetrains
Interested in what Efficient Drivetrains is doing now? Check out their website: https://www.cummins.com/engines
Efficient Drivetrains
As a startup, EDI needed to grow fast
without being burdened by the budget of a full-blown ad agency.
Gaben provided the plug-in flexibility of on-demand creative services when they were small, and helped grow them to the point of buyout by Cummins, Inc.
