The corporate brand is the general impression the business gives to its publics, as opposed to the individual brands given to the firm's products. Building a corporate brand gives the firm a greater profile with its customers as well as with other publics, and gives credibility in all sorts of places.
Building a corporate brand is frequently something that companies regard as "a good thing to have if we could only afford it" but in reality will be the signal to your customers that you are passionate about what you do, and serious about being the very best in your field, not just planning to earn a crust from the business. It also signals to your employees that they're working on something unique: instead of working in a quarry, they're helping to develop a cathedral, for instance. Finally, it signals to government and local authority people that you're a firm to be taken seriously, a big player (even if you are not).
When Edward Stobart was a child growing up in 1960s Cumberland, he (like many other little boys) liked playing with toy lorries. When he became a man, he was able to play with big lorries-he took over the family's haulage concern (component of their agricultural supplies business) and grew it into the Eddie Stobart Ltd. freight logistics empire.
Stobart knew from the outset that he needed a strong corporate brand. There were hundreds of other companies available, numerous of them much longer established, so unless he was going to compete on cost (which in business is the last refuge of the incompetent) he would have to compete on credibility and integrity.
Stobart gave all his trucks women's names (his first were named following prominent female performers of the seventies like Suzi Quatro and Dolly Parton) and insisted that his drivers be smartly dressed in collars and ties in any way occasions. Driver training is still a main part of Stobart's success-apart from hiring good people to begin with, the business trains drivers to be courteous to other road users and (of course) to customers, and to take a pride in their vehicles.
From a consumer viewpoint, taking a delivery from a Stobart driver makes a welcome alter from some of the greasy oafs who turn up in the warehouse demanding a signature. All Stobart staff are expected to adopt a "can-do" attitude, finding methods to accommodate customer expectations.
Eddie Stobart is now the best-known haulage company in Britain- it even has its own fan club, and individuals gather models of the Stobart automobiles. No small achievement for a trucking business!
Be ready to spend money on building your corporate brand. Be various from everybody else-latch onto something the other people aren't offering. Be passionate and committed to your brand-if you are not, no one else will probably be.
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