Question

Topic: Branding

Positioning A Truck Company's Brand

Posted by Anonymous on 8/16/2010 at 11:52 AM ET 125 Points
Hi,

I'm trying to figure out what a small/medium sized truck company could do to position themselves as a more positive and likable brand compared to their competitors.

Currently, in the industry I'm looking at, there are way to many suppliers (truck companies offering services of moving goods from A to B). Except for name and size, they are all pretty much the same. Some have a boring website. And maybe a brochure that just lists their services, show some pictures of trucks and maybe even some client references.

They are all boring and according to a few logistic managers I've spoken to on the buyer side, they most of the time end up weighting their options based on how well they present themselves when price doesn't vary to much.

Can a truck company make it's potential customers like the brand before they even schedule a meeting? And assuming the meeting goes well and they sign, can a truck company built a great brand that the client just keep on loving for years?
To continue reading this question and the solution, sign up ... it's free!
SUBSCRIBE
Or, SIGN IN

RESPONSES

  • Posted on 8/16/2010 at 5:26 PM Accepted
    Of course you can build a strong brand. You do it by delighting customers at every touchpoint, and doing it consistently.

    Actually doing it takes a real effort on a sustained basis, but it can be done -- even by a company as "ordinary" as trucking.

    We've helped many companies with largely undifferentiated products do it, so we KNOW it can be done. (Think about industrial chemicals, paperboard for milk cartons, the fiberfill that goes into pillows, and dozens of other products that seemed like commodities at first.)

    These companies all differentiated themselves and used their brand positioning to command premium prices and unusually high customer loyalty (i.e., dramatically lower selling expenses as a percentage of sales).

    It wasn't easy, but they did it, and now they're reaping the rewards -- and an outrageous return on their marketing investment.
  • Posted on 8/17/2010 at 12:57 AM Accepted
    I agree with Phil and mgoodman nothing beats good customer service and a brand that offers value added services. Kinda like delivering on your promise then more.

    There is a moving company in our region that branded themselves as "starving college students" moving service and they get great "empathy" clientele believing that marketing proposition. I suggest you come up with a USP that is catchy and easy to get like the one mentioned above.

    I hope you have used your trucks as driving billboards . (disclaimer: we have a vehicle wraps company, #1 on
    Google for "truck side wraps" thanks to marketing profs. ) Truck side wraps or graphics are by far the best outdoor marketing medium relative to cost per impressions. You can leverage this to carry your message to thousands of potential customers across state lines or as an added revenue stream for you to fund your marketing ventures , either way they help in your main goal to build a strong brand.

    Hope this helps.
  • Posted on 8/17/2010 at 4:57 AM Author
    W.M.M.A: Full-load, but LTL is something we want to go into, but that's a few years ahead in time. I look forward to hear what insights you have.

    mgoodman: If you have any examples, feel free to share. Obviously we do our best to provide the best service possible and then some. I'm already in the process of launching a survey to current customers to figure out what areas we're doing well in and what areas we can improve in. It's worth mentioning that we haven't lost a customer in 11 years, so we must be doing something right.

    webmaster: I having troubles figuring out a good USP for out company. Everyone else seems to be going for some kind of USP about being the best at delivering whatever needs delivered. I don't want to add our company in the lines of companies with generic USPs.
  • Posted by Jay Hamilton-Roth on 8/17/2010 at 9:05 AM Accepted
    Have you crafted testimonials and/or case studies for your business? Instead of telling everyone how wonderful your brand is, let others tell how specifically they chose your company, the problems they faced, and how you solved it (better than anyone else they've worked with). Testimonials create "social proof" that others trust you. Case studies showcase the smart business reasons to choose your company.
  • Posted on 8/17/2010 at 10:22 AM Author
    Jay: No, not at the moment. I won't be joining the company before january, so I'm currently just mapping out "things I could do to build a better business". Testimonials is defiantly on my to-do list.
  • Posted by Nicole Klein on 8/17/2010 at 12:28 PM Accepted
    Corporate Caring is a great way to build a connection with your brand. After you create a strong USP and wrap vehicles with it, why don't you figure out what your customers do in their spare time and offer up some logistical support for sport events. Every time there's a road race or festival, you have busy event managers trying to figure out how to save money on logistics.
  • Posted on 8/21/2010 at 1:12 AM Author
    nklein, That's harder than it sounds in this case, as small and mid-size logistic companies rely on very few clients to survive. We have about 10 clients ourselves, not sure how much insight that could give us.. any suggestions?
BACK TO TOP

Post a Comment

Related Discussions

Community Info

Top 25 Experts
(Branding)