Challenge overview
Your mission
In this simulation you will play the role of a Digital Project Manager working for the US-based digital agency called Velo Digital. Your team is working on helping a quite-famous Italian bike brand get into the US market.
Benti Bikes has been around for more than 50 years, they expanded into the EMEA market with a very successful strategy and they now want to get into the US to compete with popular brands such as Specialized, Giant, Pinarello e Colnago.
Your team wants to use performance marketing channels, SEO and YouTube to help Benti really position themselves in the US market, but you need to prioritize things and make sure the project starts off on the right foot.
Simulation details
Benti Bikes is a historic bicycle brand with a storied 50-year heritage, headquartered in Bassano del Grappa, Italy. Recognized as one of Italy’s premier road bike manufacturers, Benti Bikes has decided to take a bold step by focusing on expanding into the U.S. market. In 2018, this ambition led Benti Bikes to revamp its digital strategy, launching a cutting-edge e-commerce platform and a product showcase website to engage more effectively with customers. With an annual sale of around 7,000 bikes worldwide, Benti Bikes is known as a boutique brand, distinguished for crafting 100% of its bicycles in Italy, including its carbon frames. Giacomo Bentivoglio, the current CEO and progeny of the founder, acknowledges the bicycle industry’s heightened competitiveness, especially over the past five years. He is adamant that for Benti Bikes to make significant inroads into the U.S. market, production must increase to 10,000 bikes a year. This expansion necessitates a significant uplift in digital strategy investment and market penetration efforts.
Benti Bikes partnered with Velo Digital, a Boston based digital firm, for a six-month initiative to bolster the online presence of its e-commerce site, bentibikes.com, focusing on the U.S. market. This partnership aims to refine SEO tactics, integrate a new tracking system for digital analytics, and launch new Meta and Google Ads campaigns targeting U.S. consumers. Giacomo, a tech aficionado, spearheaded the brand’s digital foray in 2018, recognizing early on that modern cyclists in the U.S. appreciate the ease of customizing and purchasing bikes online—a trend gaining momentum.
As Benti Bikes vies for a foothold in the U.S., it confronts formidable competition from established brands like Specialized, Giant, and Italian counterparts Pinarello and Colnago. Benti Bikes is often compared to Colnago, a fellow top-tier Italian brand enjoying considerable popularity in the U.S. This comparison underscores the importance of distinguishing Benti Bikes’ unique value proposition to American consumers.
Currently, Benti Bikes dedicates approximately $65,000 monthly to its EMEA advertising efforts, with plans to increase this budget and strategy to focus on the U.S. market. Velo Digital has been tasked with managing north of $50,000 monthly budget just for the US across all channels, striving for a ROAS of about 2.3x in the first 12 months—an ambitious goal given the current ROAS stands at 1.6x in the EMEA market. With the right adjustments in tracking and campaign management, Benti Bikes is confident this target is attainable.
The Velo Digital team, comprising Search Analyst John Anderson, Advertising Specialist Emily Carter, and Head of Analytics Michael Roberts, under the leadership of Growth Director Jennifer Clark, brings a distinctly American perspective to the project. This team is pivotal in adapting Benti Bikes’ strategies to resonate with American consumers, ensuring the brand stands out among competitors like Specialized, Giant, Pinarello, and Colnago.
The focus now shifts towards leveraging SEO to gain visibility among common cycling-related search terms in the U.S., positioning Benti Bikes alongside or even above well-known brands. Despite previous investments in advertising, achieving a significant impact in the U.S. requires revisiting data setups and channel configurations, including reevaluating the Meta Pixel setup, to address the evolved market landscape and heightened competition online.
As the Digital Project Manager, you’re charged with guiding the Benti Bikes team through this pivotal expansion phase over the next six months. Your initial objective is to jumpstart the project, coordinating all preliminary SEO, Analytics, and campaign management efforts tailored to the U.S. market. Reporting directly to Jennifer Clark, you’re tasked with ensuring Benti Bikes captures the U.S. audience’s attention, setting the stage for a successful market entry that could lead to further projects with Velo Digital.
Benti Bikes’ transition to monitoring its e-commerce performance effectively, including a shift from Google Analytics Universal to GA4, marks a critical step in this digital evolution. This comprehensive approach is designed to place Benti Bikes at the forefront of the U.S. cycling market, capitalizing on the burgeoning trend of online bicycle customization and purchase.
To complete the simulation you need to send a final document (PDF or Doc) to your manager with the following points:
1) List the priorities for the next months and how you selected them based on the information you collected. You should detail the campaigns, channels and budgets that Velo Digital will use and the compromises you had to make with the team. Your manager will use this with Benti Bikes.
2) Explain how Velo Digital will execute on the YouTube campaigns for Benti and what results you expect based on several analysis and considerations you have to include. This answer should not be longer than 1000 words.
Team
Who you will work with in this Simulation
Your team is 100% generated by AI – you will not interact with real people and no human will read your conversation.
Jennifer Clark
Director of Growth at Velo Digital
John Anderson
SEO Manager at Velo Digital
Emily Carter
Advertising Specialist at Velo Digital
Michael Roberts
Analytics and Tracking Manager at Velo Digital
Brad Colatti
Digital Project Manager at Velo Digital
Lucia Remore
Digital Marketing Specialist at Benti Bikes
Paolo Smitti
Performance Marketing Manager at Velo Digital
Giacomo Benti
CEO at Benti Bikes
Organization
Benti Bikes is a historic bicycle brand based in Bassano del Grappa, Italy, boasting over 50 years of history. It is one of the most cherished Italian road bike brands. In 2018, the brand completely revamped its digital strategy by launching a new e-commerce website and a product showcase site to sell and present its bicycles to customers. With about 7,000 bicycles sold worldwide each year, Benti Bikes is regarded as a boutique brand, famous for manufacturing 100% of its bicycles in Italy, including carbon frames. Giacomo Bentivoglio, the current CEO and son of the founder, understands that the bicycle market has become much more competitive in the last 5 years and believes Benti Bikes needs to increase its production to 10,000 bicycles a year. This expansion requires a significant investment in digital strategy to enter new markets and expand current operations, particularly focusing on breaking into the U.S. market.
Estimated time required: 3 hours
Difficulty level: Intermediate
Ideal for: Digital Project Manager, Project Manager
