Member Article

Your brand is your business

Samantha Davidson, managing director of full service strategic marketing company Horizonworks, on why your brand should represent the true essence of your organisation.

For nearly 40 years, South Tyneside-based car dealership Vic Young (South Shields) Ltd has been serving customers from both the North East and across the UK. A family-run firm with deep roots in the local community, it has built up a fiercely loyal client base, with two or even three generations of the same families returning to Vic Young time and time again for new vehicles, and a customer retention rate that many companies can only dream of.

In the two years Horizonworks has worked with the firm - which have seen us implement public relations activity to support its news and used car sales, fleet management, rental, motability and conversions arms - Vic Young has been recognised with numerous awards. These include the 2013 Service Company of The Year Award and 2013 Special Award in the South Tyneside Business Awards and the Extra Mile Dealership Award at the prestigious national Disabled Motoring UK Awards 2013. Vic Young was also a finalist in the Dealer Principal of the Year and Used Car Retailer of the Year categories at the national Motor Trader Awards 2013 - widely regarded as the motor trade’s Oscars’.

However, the company has never rested on its laurels and this year, appointed Horizonworks to implement a re-brand of the dealership. The purpose? To give the company an updated, modern feel and to create a cohesive identity for its various divisions, including Vic Young Mobility (its motability arm), Northern Truck Bodies (its specialist conversions arm) and Vic Young Fleet Management.

The re-brand also coincided with a period of transition for Vic Young, which became a main dealer for Mitsubishi in September 2014, following several decades as a Nissan dealership. This further increased the importance of giving Vic Young its own, strong identity in both the local and national marketplaces.

The core brand was developed by Horizonworks to encapsulate Vic Youngs unique place in the market sector: namely, a company dedicated to customer service and quality which develops a close, personal bond with its customers over many years (shown in the strapline, ‘your lifelong motoring partner’). A contemporary brand? In a visual sense, certainly, but a brand which still draws on Vic Young’s decades at the heart of South Tyneside, and the loyalty it has engendered in both customers and staff.

The core brand was then used as a launchpad to create new brands for each of Vic Young’s different divisions, giving each of them separate identities for use in their own marketing material, but identities which nevertheless marked them as part of the ‘Vic Young’ family.

Since developing the new brand, it has been used in advertising campaigns (created and implemented by Horizonworks), plus signage, vehicle liveries, merchandise, stationery and even staff uniforms; it has permeated and supported all aspects of Vic Young’s business.

PR activity has reinforced the key messages conveyed in the new brand, focusing on customer loyalty, testimonials and service excellence, and we have also worked closely with Mitsubishi to ensure that this exciting new era for Vic Young continues to be marketed effectively locally and nationally.

Horizonworks’ brand development work for Vic Young illustrates just how important it is to get to the heart of a business - its true personality and character - in defining its brand, and how a brand then cascades through all marketing activities, and of course throughout the business.

Indeed, we’ve worked with a diverse range of other clients in developing their brands, including independent shipping and freight forwarding specialists Johnson Partners, North East law firm PGS Law, biomass solutions provider Gaia Heat, electronics company Hyperdrive Innovation and the North East Local Enterprise Partnership (launched this month in line with its website launch).

What they have all had in common, though, is an understanding of the importance of their brand and its role in creating positive perceptions and building a strong profile. Maintaining an ongoing brand development programme that is embedded into the wider, bespoke marketing strategy is vital in developing a powerful brand - and we can help your company achieve this, whatever sector you work in.

For more information on how Horizonworks can help build your business, and take your marketing from strategy to delivery, visit www.horizonworks.co.uk, tel: 08450 759955 or email: hello@horizonworks.co.uk.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Samantha Davidson .