FASS Diesel Fuel Systems
Utilizes MATS to Build Partnerships and Collect Feedback for Innovation
For FASS Diesel Fuel Systems, a leader in high-performance fuel systems, success is measured by more than digital reach or sales figures. It’s defined by the reliability of their products on the road and the strength of their connection with the people who use them. In a crowded marketplace, MATS as a singularly focused event that allows them to cut through the digital clutter and achieve two of their most critical business objectives: gathering invaluable R&D feedback directly from end-users and building lasting customer relationships.
Jake Hopkins, Marketing Director, FASS
Challenge:
In a competitive market with significant online noise, how does a company gather authentic, real-world product feedback to drive innovation while simultaneously building the deep, personal customer relationships necessary for long-term loyalty?
Solution:
FASS overcame these digital limitations by treating MATS as an interactive, real-world laboratory. Anchored in their exhibit space, FASS built a high-touch showcase for immersive product demonstrations. The company brings active product developers to the show floor to gather direct engineering feedback while leveraging long-time customers as in-booth brand advocates. To sustain this momentum, FASS uses digital giveaways at the booth to capture qualified leads, feeding them directly into post-show email and advertising campaigns.
FASS’s strategy at MATS has driven significant market leadership and brand equity. By shifting from passive digital ads to active, face-to-face education, FASS optimized its ability to close sales with high-value owner-operators. The event serves as a launchpad for successful new products and generates thousands of verified, high-intent leads. Ultimately, this comprehensive approach delivers an unmatched return on investment, cementing FASS as an authority in diesel fuel systems.
MATS: The Live R&D Test Bed and Product Launchpad
While FASS maintains a robust digital presence, they view MATS as an indispensable resource for product development. The show provides direct, unfiltered access to the real-world experiences of their most valuable focus group: owner-operators who stress test equipment across millions of miles.
“MATS is what we would consider an anchor event… not only in terms of launching new products… but launching
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new products down the road,” explains a Jake Hopkins. “We get a lot of feedback from our customers, so we find out if we’re working on a project… what direction might we take it according to what our real world, on the ground customers are actually telling us.”
This philosophy transforms their booth into a live innovation hub. “For us, we use this as an R&D test bed,” Jake continues. “We come back to our engineering department with a lot of feedback and we say…”Hey, we’re talking to these guys that are running trucks millions of miles out in the real world with our product, this is what they like and this is what they don’t like.” This direct feedback loop between the user and the engineer is a powerful tool, allowing FASS to refine existing products and innovate based on genuine customer needs and evolving demands.
The Cornerstone of Customer Relationship Building
Beyond product development, FASS understands that in-person connections are the bedrock of brand loyalty. “There’s no replacement for shaking someone’s hand, talking to them about their operation, their trucks and finding out what they need,” Jake states emphatically.
This belief is central to their strategy at MATS. The show provides a unique environment where customers feel comfortable and are eager to engage. As Dan Jansen, Director of Marketing, notes, “These guys want to know. They want to be educated, so they’ll come in and they’ll ask questions and we’ll spend a half hour with a guy… teaching them, educating them. We don’t get that in a lot of the other shows.”
This accessibility fosters deep, lasting bonds that transcend a simple transactional relationship. “We know that at the end of the day… we have competition. If our customers don’t feel connected to us, if we don’t feel accessible, then we’re going to lose,” a Jake admits. “We know that coming here, if nothing else, is strengthening those bonds we have with the companies we work with.”
The most powerful testament to this is seeing customers evolve into advocates. Jansen shares, “…the other half are guys who we know we’ve been seeing for 10 years… They have our FASS system on their truck and they come and they just like to hang out… what’s awesome about that is we’ll have them hang out in the booth and talk to customers and kind of be our brand ambassador for us.” This transformation of satisfied customer to trusted brand ambassador is a level of relationship-building that digital marketing alone cannot achieve.
Conclusion:
For FASS Diesel Fuel Systems, MATS is a strategic imperative that delivers a powerful dual return on investment. By treating the show as a live R&D test bed and aligning product launches with the event, FASS gathers the authentic, hands-on user feedback necessary to keep its technology at the forefront of the industry. Simultaneously, MATS functions as a highly effective customer acquisition engine fueled by peer advocacy and community building. FASS’s success proves that while a digital presence maintains essential visibility, the deep relationships, accelerated trust, and unshakable loyalty that drive sales are permanently forged face-to-face.
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