[Mac]

Has anyone tried to brand their company?

As I said recently, im looking for super large growth for at least the next 10 years.... So Im looking around at the different companies and their really isnt much supperficially to differentiate one from another. All do average work, most run white trucks, most have similarly uniformed employees. Aside from inside jobs/referalls, there really isnt much to draw a client to one company or another. So im playing with the idea of branding my company, namely a company color.

Rob's thread about what you are doing different sparked this idea...

Im looking at painting my truck(s) & trailer(s) a semi obnoxious color - either post it note yellow or bubble gum pink. I want to compliment that with a comprehensive color scheme including company shirts, lawn signs background, door hanger backgrounds, yellow pages background, larger equipment, and later on with the fencing around the supply yard.

Im affriad that the color may not register with people as a landscape maintenance compnay and Im also afraid it will turn some leads/clients away for being too flashy and bold. However, I really want to do something to stand out and build a brand. Im looking at other companies out there with bold color schemes and it seems to work. (UPS, Scheinder Trucking, DHL, etc)

What are you thoughts or experiences with branding. I know lawnlad mentioned he has choosen a dark blue for his trucks... is it being noticed and how comprehensive have you taken it? Are there any other ways others have attempted/succeeded in branding your company? Thanks.

[Paul]

Ok so I'm from the big city........... Every landscaper has branded his equipment, White, Post-it note yellow, Two tone brown, Two tone green, black, you name it it's here, even hot pink! If you want to grow fast you need to aggressively sell your company on the quality of work and price! Nothing will make your company grow faster other than selling it to the consumer! This takes people and marketing.

[Paul]

I forgot MONEY!!!!!!!!!

[Mac]

definately agree with you Paul. Would you say it is a worthwhile investment to include color schemes in your marketing plan/ strategy?

[Paul]

It's nice to have a plan, but really think about it? Who is the largest landscaper in your area? How did he get that big? One color trucks and equipment just keep the name there. but pricing and selling are what make you grow. As you get larger pricing of material just by the volume you buy can drop a couple of dollars per unit or more. Start with selling, learn to increase sales and keep the sales % up (hard to do in lean years) every years lets say 25% per year. Increase your customer mix, you can't grow big fast without a variety of customers, this means you need commercial, residential, and government. Next cover all your bases, the largest companies do it all, install, irrigation, maintenance, design.

So if your company is a $300K now in 10 years you should be almost $3M

[NCSULandscaper]

i think id just spend time in doing good work instead of spending money, that will grow your business more than fancy colors of your equipment

[marcus]

M.L Jackson Landscaping agrees with NCSU Landscaper.

[rosenlof/lucas]

While it's certainly as important to do great work, I think it's equally important to think about strategy and brand development/marketing, a lot. I would think your comment about other companies not being that different from one another speaks to this. Our firm works in a city where some people think about branding and some don't. I've yet to see anyone small who's doing a very good job at it. Branding is not just a color scheme and shirts either, it's an identity, a series of connections a person/potential client makes in their brain that add up to what you want them to think you are.
I would say if you were really going to try and do some branding work, think of what you you're best at, is there a way you can build off that. Is there a demographic group that's not represented in your market? Who are they? Become what that market will be wanting 8 years from now (if you can figure that out) and position yourself there.
It doesn't have to be expensive either if you're creative. There a lot of great books out there about "gorilla" marketing. Look up Seth Godin he wrote a book called Ideavirus that has reall helped us.
Think about companies that are really successful right now, Target, Apple, Ikea.... branding is huge and I know the scale is different but I say follow their lead.
I'm saying think about it AS WELL as doing awesome work.

Thanks

[Inspired]

Originally posted by rosenlof/lucas
Branding is not just a color scheme and shirts either, it's an identity, a series of connections a person/potential client makes in their brain that add up to what you want them to think you are.

So work to make each impression in that equation positive. If you want bright colored trucks, make them beautiful, not semi obnoxious. Clean, beautiful, brightly colored trucks say a lot of positive things about a company.

And as stated just above, decide what you do best and identify your Unique Selling Proposition (why should a customer do business with you instead of the other guy). Put that in a slogan of seven words or less and put it on the sides of those beautiful trucks.

[Paydaze7]

i think branding plays a huge part in sales. we painted our trucks pink last year. all of our trucks are always immaculate and people compliment on the crazy colors and cleanliness all the time. i hear the argument about price, but you have to something to stand out from the rest of the contractors to even get a call before you can hook them with your price! you can see our trucks at 5 mph or 55 mph. when you see 3 or 4 of our trucks on the job you can see our prescene and that we are professionals. the thing with going with a crazy color like pink is, it gets talked about. i hear all the time how people either love or hate the trucks but our name with landscaping is stuck in there head...

[Stonehenge]

The magazine Fast Company was referred to me by a long time friend - I lost respect for that friend when I got my first subscription to it about a decade ago.

Because I had some points I had to spend on something (or lose the points), I thought I'd give the magazine another try. In general, I like what I see.

What does this have to do with branding? There's a great article only presented online by Fast Company by their "Branding Diva". Lots of good ideas, and a good reality check as to whether you are really ready to brand your company (beyond that thin layer of bright enamel), and how you should go about it if you are.

Here it is: http://www.fastcompany.com/resources...st/062906.html

[r schipul]

Stone,
Thanks for the link. Having a unique/strange company name, number 1 caught my interest. I've always questioned my company name Designing Eden. It was originally chosen because it was different and I thought it would appeal to women, my target, more than Rich's landscaping. I've had ton's of people tell me they love the name and then turn around and call me Designs by Eden or Garden of Eden.

[Mark Oomkes]

Good points from both sides. I agree to a certain point with Paul, that it wouldn't make sense to spend a bunch of money to get everything the same right off the bat. However, I would strive for that goal long-term. It also won't get you jobs unless you sell your company and have good referrals and do good work.

On the other hand, all of my trucks are the same color--more or less because the stupid Big 3 can't keep the same shade of green for more than 2 minutes--all the trailers are eventually painted green as well. There are several people that joke about Dodge and Ford selling trucks in "Oomkes Green" because this has always been our color. We have a logo that has not changed much for about 20 years. We spiced it up a little and made it 3 color and large enough to recognize on the side of a pickup truck. Funny thing is, you can't read it going over maybe 30 MPH, but everybody knows it is us. Our letterhead, quarterly newsletter, business cards, envelopes, marketing material all have the same logo. Our uniforms--shirts, sweatshirts, coats--all have the same logo. This does not get us jobs, but it does give the appearance of being a larger comapny than we are and being able to handle most any project.

Quick story to make my point. Many years ago we had 3 trucks out on the road regularly. All green, all logoed. A 'competitor' had over 20 trucks on the road at the time. I went into a new vendor and was talking with him and he was asking about my company, etc and he said "You're about the same size company as 'competitor' aren't you? I see your trucks all over town". When I told him we only had 3 trucks, he was amazed. What he was seeing was uniform trucks with a recognizable logo. This 'competitor' had\has plain white trucks with name and red trailers straight from the manufacturer, nothing special at all except the number of trucks. Our customer surveys always show Good to Excellent on the professionalism box. (just have to work on some of the others)

Once again, Paul is right on. This hasn't helped us get any jobs without us doing the work. But it has helped us create an image in our community which we need to do a better job of selling now. We can go in and bid any job in our area that we want because of our brand. We don't because we don't want to be the biggest, we just want the jobs that somebody else has screwed up.

[Ston Wurks]

As someone who has actually worked on this branding business. I liked her point of view and thought process.

[Mac]

Good stuff all. In my market place, i dont believe just doing great work will fuel my growth fast enogh.