All Work

Taking Steadplan’s van sales up a gear with holistic performance marketing.

Steadplan is one of the UK’s leading commercial vehicle dealerships offering sales, leasing, maintenance and conversions across the north of England. When owner Jim Smith brought Holdens on board, the brief was to take the brand in a new direction. What followed was a full end-to-end transformation: a complete rebrand, a new website and a performance marketing programme that turned the platform into a consistent lead generation engine. Website conversions increased by 210%, Meta enquiries grew by 125% and cost per acquisition fell by 23.2%. The kind of results that happen when brand and marketing are built to work together.

Client:

Steadplan

Sector:

Automotive

Capabilities:

Brand Strategy, Identity and Guidelines

Digital Transformation

Website Design & Build

Brand & Performance Marketing Campaigns

Key Results:

210%

increase in website conversions from Google Ads

150%

uplift in website conversion rate from Google Ads

125%

increase in vehicle enquiries from Meta

39%

increase in ad click-through rate (Google)

23.2%

reduction in cost per acquisition

Holdens has consistently exceeded our expectations. They not only delivered on time and budget but have created a new brand and website that will undoubtedly take Steadplan to a new level. They’ve given us all the tools we need to succeed as a business and we’d wholeheartedly recommend them to anyone.

Jim Smith CEO Steadplan

CHALLENGE

The Steadplan Group was established by the Smith family in 1983 and has grown into one of the north of England’s most established commercial vehicle businesses offering sales, leasing, maintenance and conversions all under one roof. But the brand hadn’t kept pace with the business. The existing identity felt dated, the website lacked the premium feel the business had earned and there was no coherent digital marketing strategy in place to drive van sales.

“A business that had outgrown its brand and a website that wasn’t doing the work.”

Jim Smith, the owner and CEO, came to Holdens with a clear ambition: take the brand in a new direction. Build something that reflected the quality of the business, stood out in a competitive market and gave Steadplan the platform it needed to grow. The brief evolved into two distinct but connected phases of work. First, a complete rebrand and website, then a performance marketing programme to put both to work.

APPROACH

Phase 1: Rebrand & Website.

We started with a brand workshop – getting under the skin of the business, understanding Jim’s ambitions and defining Steadplan’s brand positioning and DNA. The name had carried value and recognition in the industry since the 1980s, so we built from that foundation rather than starting from scratch.

The new identity centres on a distinctive logomark: two shapes that combine to form an S and a P, which can be repeated to create a tyre tread pattern running throughout the brand language – a subtle but ownable automotive reference. A contemporary sans serif completes the full logo, giving it a crisp, modern feel.

“A bold colour palette. An identity built to stand out in a market that plays it safe.”

We deliberately broke away from the colours used by competitors. A deep, vibrant orange is complemented by charcoal, lightning yellow and bright violet – a palette that sets Steadplan apart and works across every application, from stationery and merch to vehicle wraps.

With the brand locked, we turned to the website – a fully custom build that brought the new identity to life with bold design, dynamic motion elements and two days of brand photography shot on location. We also produced a brand video showcasingSteadplan’s dealerships, vehicles and services and wrote all website copy from scratch in a tone that reflected the premium positioning the brand had earned.

The rebrand was publicly unveiled at a launch event in September, attended by Steadplan’s motor racing sponsors and industry partners – trucks and vans freshly wrapped, the new brand on full display. It landed well.

Phase 2: Performance Marketing.

With the brand and website in place, the next brief was focused and ambitious: turn the platform into a consistent, scalable lead generation engine to drive van sales. Operating in a competitive commercial vehicle market, Steadplan needed to capture high-intent search demand while improving cost efficiency and building long-term brand visibility.

We began with comprehensive keyword research, identifying high-purchase-intent queries across finance, leasing and specific vehicle models. Tightly structured Google Ads search campaigns were launched, supported by robust conversion tracking and 60-second call qualification tracking. Ongoing search term analysis and negative keyword expansion kept spend focused and efficient from day one.

“Intent capture on Google. Brand familiarity on Meta. Both pulling in the same direction.”

We planned, shot and edited a dedicated video campaign for Meta, with messaging aligned to the highest-performing search themes – ensuring continuity from keyword to creative to conversion. A professional photoshoot built a bank of high-quality static imagery, deployed across display, YouTube banners and discovery ads.

With Google consistently capturing high-intent demand, paid social across Meta strengthened upper-funnel awareness. Creative was adapted across formats – 16:9 to 9:16 and 4:5 – maintaining consistent messaging across channels. Bi-annual creative refresh cycles kept assets fresh and prevented fatigue, while retaining the conversion themes that were already proven to work.

Steadplan Dealership

Play video

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RESULTS

The numbers tell the story. Across Google Ads, website conversions increased by 210% and the conversion rate improved by 150% – meaning more clicks turned into real, high-intent leads. Cost per acquisition fell by 23.2%, making every pound work harder. On Meta, vehicle enquiries grew by 125% and ad click-through rates increased by 10.2%.

“From standalone campaigns to a mature, multi-channel growth engine.”

What started as a rebrand became something bigger: a fully integrated programme of brand and marketing activity that compounds over time. Steadplan now has a brand it’s proud of, a website that works as hard as the team does and a performance marketing operation built not just for short-term wins, but for lasting impact.