The “Put a Tiger in Your Tank” campaign was an iconic advertising slogan used by Esso (now owned by ExxonMobil) in the 1960s. The campaign featured a series of commercials and print advertisements depicting a tiger symbolising energy, power, and performance, with the message that using Esso fuel would provide consumers with added power and performance for their vehicles.

 

 

The campaign was highly successful and became one of the most memorable advertising campaigns of its time. The imagery of the tiger became strongly associated with Esso, and the slogan entered popular culture as a symbol of energy and vitality. While the campaign itself may not be actively running today, it remains a classic example of effective marketing and branding, and the slogan is still recognised by many people even decades later.

Television Commercials

The TV commercials typically feature a combination of live-action footage and animation. They often showed ordinary people experiencing a boost of energy and power after using Esso fuel, symbolised by the appearance of a tiger. These commercials emphasised the idea that using Esso fuel would make your car run more efficiently and powerfully.

Print Advertisements

The print advertisements for the campaign featured bold visuals of tigers alongside the slogan “Put a Tiger in Your Tank.” These ads appeared in newspapers, magazines, and billboards, reinforcing the message of increased power and performance associated with using Esso fuel.

Promotional Materials

Esso also distributed various promotional materials featuring the tiger mascot and the campaign slogan. These materials could include stickers, posters, and other merchandise designed to further promote the campaign and the brand.

Tango The Tiger

Britain’s oldest tiger, who featured in the iconic Esso fuel adverts, passed away at the age of 22 in 2016. Tango was made famous when he was one of seven tigers featured in Esso’s ‘put a tiger in your tank’ adverts in the 1990s.

Did you know? The Exxon Mobil Corporation was instrumental in establishing the Save The Tiger Fund in 1995. Today, Exxon Mobil Corporation contributes $1 million a year to help conserve Asia’s remaining wild tigers.

 

Did You Find This Article Interesting?

If you found this article interesting, you might want to read our ‘The Strongest Automotive Brand Identities‘ article!

In the fast-paced automotive industry, the strength of a brand’s identity can make all the difference. From pure-electric to luxury and comfort, to adrenaline-pumping supercars – each giant in the industry has carefully crafted their identity. Every car manufacturer is working hard to appeal to different target demographics, so how do their brand identities differ as a result? Find out more by clicking here!

 

WDA Are Here To Help!

At WDA Automotive, digital marketing is our expertise, relieving you of that burden. We understand the dynamics, so you don’t have to. If you need support, reach out to us through our online contact form or call us at 01332 372728.

Brand naming is a critical part of any Automotive Brand Strategy. Here we take a look at some of the world’s most famous car manufacturers and discover the story behind their brand names.

Alfa Romeo – The company was originally known as ALFA, an acronym for Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili until Nicola Romeo bought ALFA in 1915 when his surname was added.

Aston Martin – Is taken from the surname of co-founder Lionel Martin and “Aston Hill” which was a famous local hillclimb.

Audi – Is the Latin translation of the German founder’s surname name August “Horch” (“Hark” in English).

BMWBayerische Motoren Werke (Bavarian Motor Works).

Cadillac – Was named after 18th-century French explorer Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, sieur de Cadillac, founder of Detroit, Michigan and a small town in the South of France.

Chevrolet – Yet another ‘origin’ name – this time honouring co-founder Louis Chevrolet, a Swiss-born racing driver.

Chrysler – Named after the company founder, Walter Chrysler.

Citroën – Named after French entrepreneur André-Gustave Citroën. Citroën was the son of Dutch Jewish diamond merchant Levie Citroën and Mazra Kleinmann.

Daewoo – This is a Korean word which roughly translates to “great house” or “great universe”.

Datsun – first called DAT, from the initials of its backers Den, Aoyama and Takeuchi. Later changed to DATSON to imply a smaller version of their original car, then again to DATSUN after being acquired by Nissan.

Ferrari – Famously named after its founder, Enzo Ferrari.

Fiat – Is an acronym of Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino (Italian Automobile Factory of Turin).

Ford Motor Company – Named after founder Henry Ford, who pioneered mass production.

Honda – Taken from the name of its founder Soichiro Honda.

Hyundai – Represents “the present age” or “modernity” in Korean.

Land Rover – This was the name given by the Rover Company for a utilitarian 4WD off-roader, a far cry from today’s upmarket and luxury sport utility vehicles!

Mercedes – Named after Mercedes Jellinek, the daughter of Emil, who was one of the early Daimler distributors.

Nissan – Derived from the Company’s original name, Nippon Sangyo which means “Japan Industries.”

Porsche – Named after founder Ferdinand Porsche, an Austrian engineer. The name is thought to have originated from the Czech name “Boreš” (boresh).

Proton – A Malaysian manufacturer whose name is derived from Perusahaan Otomobil Nasional.

Renault – named after its founder Louis Renault.

Rolls-Royce – In 1884 Frederick Henry Royce launched an electrical and mechanical business, making his first car, a Royce, in 1904. He was introduced to Charles Stewart Rolls that same year. The duo entered a partnership in which Royce would manufacture cars to be sold exclusively by Rolls, under the Rolls-Royce name.

SaabSvenska Aeroplan aktiebolaget means Swedish Aeroplane Company; the last word is abbreviated as AB, hence Saab and Saab Automobile AB.

SEAT – This is an acronym of Sociedad Española de Automóviles de Turismo (Spanish Corporation of Touring Cars).

Subaru – This is the Japanese name for a star constellation known as the Pleiades or the Seven Sisters. This is the inspiration for the Subaru logo.

Tesla – Originally incorporated in 2003 by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning as Tesla Motors. The company’s name is a tribute to legendary inventor Nikola Tesla.

Toyota – Taken from the name of its founder, Sakichi Toyoda. Initially called Toyeda, it was changed following a contest for a better-sounding name!

Volkswagen – from the German for people’s car. Ferdinand Porsche originally wanted to produce a car that was affordable for the masses – the Kraft-durch-Freude-Wagen – which later became known as the Beetle.

Volvo – Originally a name for a ball bearing being developed by SKF, “Volvere” means “I roll” in Latin.

 

‘Origin names’ are the way to go then?

You may have noticed that many of these car brands are named after their founders (including some not on the list – i.e Maserati, Chevrolet, Lamborghini, Suzuki and Lancia). This is mainly down to their age – founder naming is an old tradition that goes back to the 19th Century and beyond. 

Conventional wisdom today holds that companies should not take their founders’ names as it harms resale value, although offsetting that is some research which suggests ROI may be higher for founder-named brands. That said, the founder is taking a risk. If the company fails, then their reputation could be ruined.

If you want to read more about automotive brand naming and discover how the professionals go about creating a new brand name (including the 7 types of brand names, including ‘Origin Names’) then check out this article.

 

Need help with your brand name?

Here at WDA Automotive, we help businesses across the automotive industry connect with their audience through a variety of different digital marketing strategies. Our understanding of the automotive industry and its consumers allows us to constantly deliver engaging and eye-catching content. WDA has successfully taken on a variety of branding projects for massive clients in the automotive industry such as Auto Fasteners, Koroyd, Scorpion, Black Mountain Bikes, Status Metrology, and many more. Take a look at our Case Studies here for more.

Whilst successful marketing should indeed revolve around a great idea, you still need to get your message out there. Remember that everything your audience sees online has the power to attract, engage them and move them through your sales funnel towards becoming one of your most loyal clients. From videography and photography to the written word and audio content, WDA’s in-house team of expert automotive content creators are here to make things happen for you. Get in touch with us today or give us a call at 01332 372 728 to learn more!

Effectively naming your automotive brand should be a critical part of your brand strategy.  Your brand name defines, communicates, protects and legalises your brand, and should be considered a highly valuable marketing asset and investment. Get it wrong and you could be faced with an expensive rebrand and marketing re-build exercise which could seriously hit your sales. Below we have shared some tips and pointers to help you develop an effective brand name, based on WDA’s branding experience gained over the last 25 years.

Why Create A New Brand Name?

There are several reasons you may be considering a new brand name. The most obvious is that you are looking to create a new brand, and therefore need a new name.

You might also end up considering brand names if your strategy is to move into different markets and/or launch different products. Sometimes a brand extension approach will allow you to use your existing brand name. However, there are a lot of examples where big brands have failed to achieve this and as a result, have either temporarily or permanently damaged their core brand.

Other reasons you may need to change your brand name include:

Changing existing associations with your brand – Distancing yourself from a negative event or changing negative connotations, for example.

Bringing clarity to your brand – If your brand name is not well understood or is confusing amongst its audience, it might be necessary to change it.

Regaining brand relevance – Sometimes your offering and your market (or both) outgrow your brand and it’s necessary to change your brand name to reconnect with your audiences.

7 Types of Brand Names

With around 10 million global trademark applications filed per year and over 80% of common words already registered marks; it’s no wonder that branding agencies have more than a few naming methods to rely upon.

Here are 7 of the most popular types of brand names that you might consider:

1. Descriptive Brand Names

Descriptive names like We Buy Any Car, or General Motors can immediately position a brand within its marketplace, great if the brand is new and you are looking to clearly and instantly communicate your offering. On the downside they tend to be devoid of much emotion, often relying on an accompanying positioning slogan to communicate some personality. Descriptive names also tend to be difficult to trademark and can hamper future growth if diversification is part of your longer-term strategy.

2. Invented Brand Names

Completely made-up brand names like Exxon are increasingly common not least because they are registrable and can have good domain name availability. They also potentially travel better, an important consideration for brand names which need to work across multiple different languages.

Invented brand names have no inherent meaning, so it can take a little more marketing effort to communicate what they represent, however sometimes the way an invented brand name sounds can be used to position it. As can deliberately misspelt brand names, which are often chosen to convey the meaning of the words they are based on. Whilst no longer strictly made up, these names do convey meaning and are easier to trademark.

3. Acronym Brand Names

Whilst our brand name is an acronym, we probably wouldn’t use the same approach today. The reason is that they can be difficult for the audience to understand and extract meaning from. Remember, they are also more difficult to trademark, and more than anything they lack emotion. The obvious example within our automotive market is Bayerische Motoren Werke GmbH – BMW.

4. Metaphor Brand Names

These brand names describe a brand in a way that isn’t true but helps convey an idea or make a comparison. These brand names can be pretty powerful as they often carry a lot of emotion and meaning – Jaguar for example, which evokes feelings of speed, power and agility. Metaphor brand names work harder than most other kinds because they almost ‘start the story’ and invite the audience to find out more.

5. Origin Brand Names

These names are rooted in something related to the origins of a brand – the name of a founder or its original geographical location for example. This is quite an old-school approach which is not so popular today as it can be strategically limiting, particularly in the case of geographical names which become problematic when the city or area is outgrown. Ford is a good example of an origin brand name.

6. Lexical Brand Names

These names are based on wordplay where puns, phrases, onomatopoeia and alliteration words are often used as inspiration. They can work for some brands and markets (think Dunkin’ Donuts or Krispy Kreme) but can be a little cheesy and are not found very often within the automotive sector.

7. Compound Brand Names

These names can be a good jumping-off point when thinking about a new name. Sometimes compound names are born in the boardroom as a result of company mergers, where two former names are brought together. In other cases, longer brand names are shortened for marketing purposes (ie FedEx, formerly Federal Express). In our market, Aston Martin decided to combine a founder name, with a geographical one – taking co-founder Lionel Martin’s surname and a racing venue in Hertfordshire known as Aston Hillclimb.

 

How Do We Do It?

Hopefully, the above list has given you some creative inspiration, and a strategic framework, above and beyond just sitting and thinking of a name! But which kind of name is right for your brand and what does the naming process look like?

Establish A Clear Brief

There is no one fixed answer because it depends entirely on the brief. The first thing to determine is ‘what problem or opportunity do you face?’ and ‘ultimately what are you trying to achieve?’

As an example, WDA once renamed a very successful, high-profile WRC team, they were experiencing pressure from a large manufacturer that was using a very similar name to market one of its core sub-brands. Here, the focus was more on aspects relating to trademarking, speed (readying the new name and associated visual identity for Monte Carlo round 1), and how the name and branding fit on the side of a rally car!

In another example, WDA created the Nitro helmet brand, which was a much more emotive, customer-focused brand that was designed as a platform to embody brand personality and the brand story.

Leverage the Brand Positioning

Regardless of the brief, the one thing we would always strive to do is devise a name which is aligned with (and ideally positively communicates) your core brand positioning.

Positioning is a post in its own right, but it’s the most critical part of your brand, as it represents your proposition – what it is that you offer, and to whom. Ideally, your positioning should occupy a space within your customer’s mind, and be both highly differentiated and desirable to your audience – something (perceived or real) that only you can deliver.

Consider the Competitive Landscape

As WDA works solely within the automotive market, we understand it very well, however, it’s a huge space and things move fast. Brushing up on the current state of play – market, customers, competitors, categories, products and services – will help you reach an effective automotive brand naming solution faster and help you avoid going down any blind alleys on the way.

Time To Get Creative!

At this point, you would typically begin brainstorming some initial naming ideas. Better done in a small group, initially, you should seek to generate ideas which satisfy the main objective of aligning with your brand positioning, brand personality and brand benefits.

The frustrating reality is that you will ultimately realise that the world is quickly running out of available trademarks and domain names. However, if all parameters, limitations and logic are applied too early in the creative process, you are not likely to arrive at a great solution. Better to adopt a lateral thinking approach that leaves everything initially on the table.

Evaluate and Shortlist

Ideally, you should end up with a decent list of potentially great name ideas, which you can begin to evaluate. In addition to fulfilling the main objective of leveraging your core brand positioning, you should also be looking for names which are:

  • Original
  • Distinct
  • Memorable
  • Pronounceable
  • Likeable
  • Short

Again, working in the same group (who understands the brief and the brand positioning strategy – don’t ask your best friend, partner or dog!), it’s time to narrow down the ideas and strike out any which collectively aren’t felt to cut it.

Begin Registration Checks

After narrowing down the list you can begin broad investigations into trademarking and domain name availability. At this stage you probably shouldn’t involve lawyers, instead relying on good old Google to look for any similar names used within your space.

Market Research

If budget allows, you may consider conducting qualitative and quantitative research amongst the target market. When WDA relaunched the MER car care brand we had several rounds of focus group research and opinion. Whilst the MER research helped deliver a successful solution, focus groups can be expensive and time-consuming; and in our experience, the results are often distorted to the point of not being that reliable, due to the way they are organised and conducted. They have also become quite outdated.

Registration and Protection

The final stage of the naming process is to protect your new name and register all the available relevant domains. Specialist trademark lawyers can help here – often your agency will have partners who they can recommend.

 

Effective Automotive Brand Naming – Final Thoughts

In summary, it is important to remember that there’s only so much you can do with your brand name. It’s increasingly difficult to find something that’s available and ticks all the other boxes.

Whilst your name is important, being the most visible part of your brand, there are lots of other factors that you need to get right which in combination will all help bring your overall brand experience to life.

For more inspiration, read here to discover the stories behind the names of some of the biggest car manufacturers on the planet. 

Need help with your brand name?

Here at WDA Automotive, we help businesses across the automotive industry connect with their audience through a variety of different digital marketing strategies. Our understanding of the automotive industry and its consumers allows us to constantly deliver engaging and eye-catching content. WDA has successfully taken on a variety of branding projects for massive clients in the automotive industry such as Auto Fasteners, Koroyd, Scorpion, Black Mountain Bikes, Status Metrology, and many more. Take a look at our Case Studies here for more.

Whilst successful marketing should indeed revolve around a great idea, you still need to get your message out there. Remember that everything your audience sees online has the power to attract, engage them and move them through your sales funnel towards becoming one of your most loyal clients. From videography and photography to the written word and audio content, WDA’s in-house team of expert automotive content creators is here to make things happen for you. Get in touch with us today or give us a call at 01332 372 728 to learn more!

Can you remember back in 1990 when we all had the new Ford advert positioning etched into our brains?

This was a clever move by Ford to mix marketing and music, drafting in pop royalty Sir Brian May. Even putting this article together, I’ve got “Everything we do is driven by you” spinning around my head.

Surprisingly though, Ford’s clever tactics were not enough for its positioning to get into my top 5. Getting it right with brand positioning takes a lot of consideration and research. Many well-known manufacturers have changed tactics over time to accurately reflect their customer demographic. Let’s take a look at my top 5:

  1. Vorsprung durch Technik
  2. The Ultimate Driving Machine
  3. The Power of Dreams
  4. There is no substitute 
  5. The Art of Performance

Vorsprung durch Technik

When Sir John Hegarty saw a faded poster on a factory wall in Ingolstadt 30 years ago, he didn’t realise he was looking at a statement that would transform the image of an entire country and become synonymous with Audi. Hegarty had no idea what it meant (‘progress through technology’), but once he’d been told, the idea stuck.

“This is the incidental nature of creativity, looking, watching, hearing stuff and it all goes in.”

Later, when they were looking for a statement to tie all the work together, the phrase resurfaced.

The Ultimate Driving Machine

As a brand, BMW has had some of the best positioning statements around. The “Ultimate Driving Machine” has become a classic.

BMW’s positioning is one of the oldest, too; they first coined the phrase in the 1970s as a way of targeting post-war baby boomers.

BMW’s Ultimate Driving Machine was introduced by former Executive Vice President of Global Sales and Marketing Bob Lutz, who teamed up with ad agency Ammirati and Puris to create their standpoint.

The Power of Dreams

This global positioning was adopted in 2001, derived from one of founder Soichiro Honda’s sayings: “One must keep on chasing one’s dreams.”

Honda believes in dreams – dreams that bring joy to people.

Driven by a challenging spirit, seeking to create new value that brings dreams to life, through ‘The Power of Dreams’ Honda continues to share joy with its customers and society.

There Is No Substitute

For decades, Porsche has told us “There Is No Substitute” for its cars.

Two generations have grown up with that mantra. The positioning is in the subconscious of every car enthusiast. If you say something enough times, people will believe it.   

The positioning is also extremely effective in framing their product in terms of a loss. “There is no substitute” evokes an emotion that we’re missing out if we don’t have one.

This positioning can be found at the end of the body copy on Porsche adverts.

The Art of Performance

The simple, yet incredibly perceptive snippet, positions Jaguar as being aesthetically and technologically superior in one short sentence.

In the early years, Jaguar founder Sir Williams Lyons came up with the slogan Grace, Space, Pace to describe the British car manufacturer’s luxury performance vehicles.

Effective brand positioning involves creating a defined image, identity, and perception of your brand in the minds of your audience. It involves identifying the unique characteristics and attributes of your offering and communicating them in a way that differentiates your brand and resonates with your target market. Read more on the blog here.

Did You Find This Interesting?

If you are launching a new product to market and would benefit from WDA Automotive’s expertise, simply get in touch with us via our contact form.

1980's Cortina Adverts

As we know from my previous articles, I used to call my fathers Ford Cortina a ‘Malteaser’ back in the 1980s, but that was a misheard child’s translation This made me think, are there any other automotive brands that didn’t quite think their product naming through before proceeding to launch to market? – especially when the product being launched has the potential to go global.

When it comes to international expansion, brands need to translate more than just words. From advertising to product images/names and the brand name itself, when a company enters a new market they need to translate the very essence of what the company stands for while working with a totally different language, culture and set of traditions and sensitivities – no easy task.

 

The Name Game

Unfortunately, many companies still fall into translation traps after missing one or more issues during this localisation process. Let’s take a look at some of the most significant automotive product naming failures.

 

Chevrolet Nova / Vauxhall Nova

Chevy Nova

Vauxhall Nova

For the market in Spain “Nova” which was used by Chevrolet, simply translates into “doesn’t work” (“no va”). The British Vauxhall Nova managed to escape this fate, as it was sold as the Opel Corsa in the rest of the world. Nicely saved Vauxhall!

 

Audi TT Coupé

Audi TT Coupé

It is not just the older car names that don’t translate well. Another example for the French-speaking audience This time it actually kept the name: The Audi TT Coupé when spoken is said similar to “Tete coupé” – which means a cut-off head.

 

Lamborghini Reventón

Lamborghini Reventón

Even 2 million-dollar supercars can have questionable names – although this one is actually pretty funny. As a Lamborghini tradition, it’s named after a bull, in Spanish, “Reventón” means “blowout” or “flat tyre”. 

It is not just naming a product, faux pas happen in campaigns also.

Ford Motor Company and their efforts in the Netherlands almost got them in hot water with the police with a murder investigation. “Every car has a high-quality body” was the chosen word in a campaign and was translated to “Every car has a high-quality corpse”.

Reliable and very accurate translations are needed to make your global marketing understandable to your desired target market and not make all that effort a laughing stock of certain nations.

 

Getting Product Naming Right

What an automotive product name should be:

  • It should be readable and writable.
  • It should be short, punchy and memorable.
  • It should look well written down and sound good to say.
  • It should evoke an emotion, feeling or idea.
  • It should translate well.

Why it is so important:

  • Brand potential: Product titles should be in line with your brand.
  • Market appeal: Knowing about your target audience, the more aligned product names will be. Speak your customer’s language.
  • Visibility: Make sure your product is easy to find and search for online.
  • Uniqueness: Don’t compete with an over-saturated marketplace. Make it stand out.
  • Scalability: Global or local? Is it part of a line or stand-alone?

Ultimately, knowing how to get your product naming strategy right gives you another way to captivate your audience. This is where WDA Automotive’s 25 years of Branding, Naming and Strategy can help. Product naming best practices are good for you and your audience. They:

  • Help your customer choose the item that’s for them: Names give people the information they need to make a more confident decision.
  • Get confidence in your brand: The right product names help to establish consistency in your brand identity and image.

 

Did You Find This Article Interesting?

Read our comprehensive article about ‘Effective Automotive Brand Naming’ and how WDA Automotive approaches such projects by clicking here.

If you are launching a new product to market and want our expertise, simply get in touch with us via our contact form.

Anyone who has visited Automechanika will know just what a competitive environment the Automotive B2B market is. Suppliers place a tremendous reliance on time and money investments within R&D to make their products smarter, faster, smaller, and more cost-effective and reliable, than their competition. This is an ongoing battle as the automotive marketplace is constantly changing, so companies have to adapt to stay ahead. One of the best ways to do this is with effective B2B branding.

The growth of the internet and everything digital has increased these challenges and resulted in a hyper-informed and commoditised B2B marketplace. Buyers are under pressure to make the right choices but are overwhelmed with myriad logical options, features, benefits, information, data and metrics – a sea of noise (and dullness!)

However, the best-performing Automotive companies often use a ‘secret weapon,’ which helps give them a distinct long-term edge – their brand.

Here are WDA’s top 5 ways effective B2B branding drives business within the Automotive market:

+ AWARENESS – It Helps You Get Noticed

One of the key things that effective B2B branding delivers is that it helps you get noticed. This is an obvious – but critical – marketing must. Everything else counts for zero if you are not on your customer’s radar – and logged in their memory.

+ DIFFERENTIATION – Branding Differentiates your proposition and Simplifies the Buying Process for your Customer

Effective branding can provide that much-needed differentiation. A strategic tool that helps you cut through the noise of the market, get noticed, and connect with your customers on many levels and in ways that matter most. A strong brand becomes your customer’s compass for making good choices in a complex, risky, and confusing marketplace.

+ ENGAGEMENT – It Taps Into your Customer’s Emotions

B2B decisions are still ultimately made by human beings, and even when being guided by several necessary explicit and rational criteria, a powerful emotional impulse is always present to influence the purchase decision. Effective branding and positioning can help you take advantage of this and tap directly into your buyer’s emotional needs.

+ LOYALTY – Successful Brands Benefit More From Repeat Business

B2B transactions often involve lots of money, complexity and people. Corporate teams sell to corporate teams. OEM engineer or professional services clients interact with an array of supplier professionals (sales to marketing to senior management to support). Customers who have a brand experience that is integrated, consistent and easy are more likely to become customers again. Loyalty drives brand economic value and will continue to do so for a long time. For example, Caterpillar has educated and trained over 10,000 employees through its “One Voice” programme on how to communicate and demonstrate CAT’s singular brand personality and values to the marketplace.

+ VALUE – Brands Produce Economic Value In The B2B Marketplace

Some of the most valuable brands in the world are largely B2B-focused. IBM, GE and Intel are a few prime examples. They are huge brands that have successfully targeted sophisticated enterprises and “technical buyers”. Their intangible asset of “goodwill” drives billions of dollars in value and market capitalisation. Their brands, not their products, are what differentiates them from similar companies and give them that all-important competitive advantage.

Intel is currently making massive investments in Electric Vehicle technology and is sure to be a major future player within the Automotive sector. However, before the 1990s, Intel was a faceless second-tier electronics manufacturer – lagging well behind Texas Instruments in microprocessor sales. In 1991 that all changed when they launched the famous “Intel Inside” brand campaign with PC-makers to differentiate computers built with its “ingredient” chip. At the time, Intel’s market capitalisation was $10.2 billion. By 1998, this had grown to $208.5 billion. It is estimated the brand alone contributes about $2 billion annually to Intel’s market value.

 

If you want to know more about B2B branding, or better still have a project in mind and would like to run it past the team, call WDA on 01332 372728, or email here.

Automotive rebranding for KIAKia UK is the latest manufacturer to reveal a new ‘flat’ logotype. I posted on Linkedin recently here about the trend for ‘flat design’ within our market. A minimalistic approach, flat design features open spaces, crisp edges, bright colours and 2D illustrations – a big departure from the skeuomorphic design treatments utilised by most manufacturers prior. The logo was featured on the ‘Imagine by Kia’ EV concept car (shown), and will roll out across all models in 2021.

Kia old and new logo design As shown in the prior post, most manufacturers have simply flattened their existing logos, whilst Kia have opted for a far more radical design treatment.

My thoughts? I like it. However, the existing logo is very dated, so part of that statement is contextual. I’m pleased the serif font and oval are gone, and the new logo certainly looks contemporary and stylish.

If I were to be hyper critical I’d say I’m not convinced its linked strongly enough to the existing logotype. Whilst certainly a bold departure I’m also not sure how distinctive the new logotype is. I also think legibility could be better (is it ‘KLI’.. or ‘KN’?). As I say ‘hyper critical’ – I LIKE it and can’t wait to see it adorning the ever impressive range. What do YOU think?

 

*It takes just a split second for your audience to form an impression of your brand, usually from the visual elements initially. A strong and impactful brand visual identity will help ensure you achieve stand-out from the noise and boost audience recall. It will also help to successfully communicate the core essence of your brand and how it is positioned. Discover more here

Automotive branding is something that many businesses struggle with. “How do we get our message across?” “How do we tell people how good our product is and why should they believe us?” The trust that many companies earn over time is referred to as ‘brand authority’.

So what is ‘brand authority’? It can be difficult to pin down because it is something a customer is more likely to ‘feel’ than be able to specify but if we were to define it, it would be how a customer perceives the brand/company’s expertise within an industry. It is not something you can create…. but it is something you can highlight.

In automotive branding, it is important to look at reputation as an element of trust. The two main ways of building trust are maintaining a long-standing presence in the industry or to work with or be endorsed by those that are seen as being industry leaders.

Brand authority can also be achieved by a company’s ongoing commitment to it’s audience and customer base. This can be achieved through excellent customer service, being responsive to customer engagement, providing a content and relevant stream of information made readily available via their website and social media channels. In short, the brand must answer the unmet needs of the consumer – they must provide what the competition is not.

Recently, WDA were tasked with the website redesign and rebranding of Samco Sport. When looking at automotive branding, our first port of call is to discover their ‘story’.

Automotive Website branding | Samco Sport | Advertising Design

SamcoSport have an incredible product heritage, supplying and partnering with Formula One, WRC, World Superbikes, Isle of Man TT and World MX. These facts alone tell the story of quality and assurance that SamcoSport Hoses really are the best quality you can get.

SamcoSport hoses are handcrafted to the highest standards from the best materials money can buy. This premium quality product needed premium quality branding. We wanted to leverage this history to ensure that the SamcoSport customer understood that by upgrading to SamcoSport, they’re upgrading to motorsport proven technologies, improving reliability and increasing performance.

The brand message WDA created for Samco Sport was simple ‘When you choose Samco, you are not connecting to any Silicone Hose; you’re ‘connecting to victory’. The new brand positioning ‘Connect to Victory’ defines the unique emotional feelings about the brand that customers can believe in, and relate to.

Automotive branding can be particularly challenging. Often, when products are being lost within a marketplace, the key is to hone in on what makes them different…why should the customer buy that particular product over others? Our automotive branding and sector specific knowledge enabled us to identify just that.

If you’d like to chat to the team here at WDA Automotive about your automotive branding needs just drop us a line on 01332 372728 or email [email protected]

Today we announced a major rebrand and brand new website to celebrate our 20 Years of Automotive marketing anniversary.

The rebrand aims to consolidate our position as leaders within our field, and to reflect the way we’ve developed and improved in recent years, with key additions to the team, major account wins and a boosted digital marketing offering.

Managing Director Lee Waterhouse recalls the year he founded the business:

“I remember being at Donington for the bike GP having just sold my Doohan Repsol Replica Fireblade to buy a Power Macintosh and a printer to set up WDA Automotive Marketing, wondering if i’d done the right thing (something I still do on occasion!). That was 1997 and Doohan went on to pip Okada to win the British GP and continue his Championship clean sweep to be crowned World Champion, along with Villeneuve in F1 and Mäkinen in Rallying.

The agency concept was simple – to combine my passion for 2 and 4 wheels [Lee rode trials, Mx and enduro at expert level for many years] with a successful career in design and marketing where I’d worked for a multiple D&AD award winning agency which had a very specialised focus within financial direct marketing. The idea was to offer a similar specialist service to the automotive sector giving those clients a distinct competitive edge by delivering better branding and marketing solutions – faster and more efficiently.

Whilst the different ways we reach our clients audience has changed over the years, we are still very much in the business of communication and persuasion; and knowing how to engage and motivate that audience is key to success. An unrivalled sector knowledge allows WDA Automotive Marketing to do that.”

Our unique approach has led to us being appointed by some of the biggest names in the industry with Yamaha, Pirelli & M-Sport among the headline brands on our books.

Here’s to the next 20 years!

20 Years of WDA Automotive Marketing

Asked what the future holds for the business Lee replied:

“Well, we have some exciting plans! We have recently introduced two senior people into the business – Chris and Gemma. Former agency owners and Creative Directors, this has been a big investment in WDA Automotive Marketing and we need to give them the freedom and support to grow the team especially on the digital side (which we are recruiting for now). Last year we purchased our premises Podium House, however our expansion plans would mean securing larger premises so we’re already on the lookout for a new base!

As a real enthusiast myself I’d also like to continue to develop our cycle business. Whilst of course not automotive the market is very similar in lots of ways, and in fact our cycle work to date has all come via automotive clients (mainly distributors) who have themselves diversified successfully into cycle.”

For an informal chat about how a re-brand could help drive sales for your business, talk to WDA.

20 Years of Automotive Marketing | WDA Automotive Marketing

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