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’.
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]
