Bringing Weddle Industries into the Age of Instagram

Weddle Industries was born in a garage in Southern California in the 1970s when John Weddle, a Huntington Beach fireman and young father, caught the off-road racing bug. To support his racing habit, John started building high performance off-road transaxles in his garage. His son, Chris, helped out by tearing down gearboxes and sweeping up.

Much has changed since the 1970s.  The analog world has become digital. Off-road cars became bigger and faster and so did the sport. In the mid-1990s, Chris moved Weddle Industries to Goleta, California. His cousin Ron joined him shortly after. They worked tirelessly to stay one step ahead of the off-road game. When I joined in 2012, Weddle Industries had developed a good reputation amongst an inner circle of race car builders and drivers as source for parts and solid re-builders of off-road transaxles. Weddle Industries promoted itself as a source for parts. It had a tough time distinguishing itself from competitors.  

Setting Weddle Industries apart. Gearboxes are a notorious weak link in an off-road race vehicle's driveline. Like our competitors, we have an expertise in re-building gearboxes that take a serious beating. What was less known about Weddle Industries before I joined was our dedication to designing, engineering and producing new driveline components that perform in extreme conditions. If a component fails, we look beyond just replacing it. We rack our brains to develop and produce new, superior components that perform in the harshest racing conditions world. I focused on this to crystalize Weddle Industries' position in the industry.

This message is the backbone for all our communications. Upon joining Weddle Industries in 2012, we completely revamped the marketing and communications program and leveraged all digital channels available to us. We jump started efforts to drive home our brand message in everything from press releases, site content, social media blasts, and marketing collateral to face-to-face meetings our customers at races, events and industry trades shows such as SEMA in Las Vegas and PRI in Indianapolis. Our audience included not only drivers and builders, but all fans of autosports far and wide.

The results of our efforts can be seen on the podiums of the toughest off-road races on the planet such as The Mint 400, The Baja 1000 and the Dakar Rally. Drivers and builders come to us because the only way to win a race is to make it to the finish line. 

Our message did not go unnoticed. Our releases are regularly amplified by our customers, drivers, techs, fans on social media and earned exposure in Race Car Engineering Magazine, SCORE International Journal, BangShift.com, Race-Dezert.com, Sand Sports Magazine, Dirt Sports Nation Magazine and PRI Magazine.

It keeps growing.  Before I joined 2012, Weddle Industries had only just over 100 followers on Facebook, based mostly in Southern California, Nevada and Arizona. We now have nearly 29,000 followers around the world.

This has allowed our business to grow. We have been able to expanded beyond Off Road into the performance road race market and well as launch new products such as the Albins ST6 Series gearboxes in North America,  the next generation Weddle HV2 transaxles, heavy duty Weddle Off Road Clutches and Mendeola S4/S5 Series transaxles as well as expand our relationships with top drivers such as Pro 4 driver RJ Anderson.

The Weddle brand keeps growing around the world. Our customers in the UK make videos testing our products. We get name-checked in the UAE as a sign of quality and performance.

Despite all the attention, we're still a company with soul.  Weddle Industries has never lost touch with our sunny Southern California roots and our soul in the desert. Learn more about us at weddleindustries.com.