RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. – When full-service automotive aftermarket suppliers gather next week for the Automotive Aftermarket Suppliers Association (AASA) Vision Conference 2010, they will learn about the next steps for AASA’s “Know Your Parts” industry awareness and education campaign. The AASA Vision Conference will take place Tuesday and Wednesday, March 16-17, at the InterContinental Chicago O’Hare, Rosemont, Ill.
 
Launched at AAPEX 2009, the AASA “Know Your Parts” campaign seeks to stem the proliferation of low-quality parts throughout the aftermarket supply chain. AASA's initiative seeks to promote the fact that these components not only threaten the good reputations of aftermarket businesses from the supplier to the distributor to the independent repair facility, but also pose a potential danger to consumers and the professional repair technicians who install the parts.
 
“We have a vital message to spread throughout the aftermarket industry that quality matters when it comes to aftermarket parts,” said Steve Handschuh, president and COO of AASA. “Our full-service supplier members add value to the aftermarket supplier chain and, most important, they stand behind the parts they sell.”
 
Handschuh noted that his opening remarks at the AASA Vision Conference will include the next steps for the “Know Your Parts” campaign. “The AASA Marketing Executives Council has developed a creative and innovative ‘menu’ of campaign tactics that members can adopt and help spread the word, ‘Know Your Parts,’” he noted. “Now it’s time for AASA full-service supplier members to participate in the next steps of this vital industry initiative and keep the momentum going.”
 
In addition to Handschuh’s presentation on the AASA Vision Conference agenda, the “Know Your Parts” campaign will be promoted at a display providing talking points, white papers and other campaign collateral in the conference break area. AASA Marketing Executives Council members and staff will be present to answer questions and provide additional materials.
 
“The AASA ‘Know Your Parts’ campaign also is benefiting from the volunteer efforts offered by MontAd, a full-service ad agency with extensive automotive aftermarket experience,” noted Jack Cameron, AASA vice president and staff executive for the Marketing Executives Council. “In cooperation with the agency, we have launched a viral marketing campaign through social networking sites, which includes a series of informational articles aimed at professional technicians to assuage concerns about eroding consumer confidence in aftermarket parts. We will debut a new video produced by MontAd at the Vision Conference, which will soon be available on the Internet.”
 
For more information about the AASA “Know Your Parts” campaign, visit http://kyp.aftermarketsuppliers.org.