Brand-First Philosophy

Because Travall considers itself to be in the business of inspiring and enabling its target audience to engage in a whole range of active lifestyles, it knew from day one that investing in its brand was a top priority.

This is actually quite different from lots of similar companies in the market who often prioritise sales, then marketing, with sometimes little or no brand building undertaken at all.

Whilst obviously connected, all three are separate strategies. However, sales and marketing are normally geared towards getting the customers’ attention right now to provoke or encourage a desired immediate behaviour. Whilst branding, on the other hand, is much more about building a perception over the longer term. 

‘enjoy the journey’

Travall’s ‘enjoy the journey’ brand promise was devised as a platform to talk about both the functional and performance benefits of its products that enable the customer to enjoy the physical journey; whilst also encouraging them to enjoy the emotional journey – the emotive experiences that the products and brand facilitate. 

Under ‘enjoy the journey’ we seek to connect the functional with the emotional. Giving customers the confidence to rely on Travall product performance, whilst also simply inspiring them to get more out of their active lifestyles!

Out-of-the-box Thinking

“I’d say Travall is fairly unique in that from day one it has always talked about building its brand firmly around its customers,” says WDA’s Lee Waterhouse.

“Today, the Brand is able to confidently say, ‘love us or hate us, this is who we are; this is what we stand for’ – and everything the Company does is built around that.

“Lots of the management’s strategy is based around some pretty creative thinking, which has uncovered unique ways in which to market the products and opened up potential audiences far beyond the obvious/original ones.

“This kind of lateral thinking is something we also employ as a creative agency to help us arrive at new and unique solutions which could not have been discovered by traditional vertical/analytical thinking. Whilst it doesn’t always yield results, the important thing is that it has enabled Travall to stay vibrant, relevant and to continually push boundaries”.

Where to Next?

Travall has become a global market leader due to the compound effect of success in several key areas, not least the exceptional quality of its innovative products and the power of its wider range.

Effective branding has allowed Travall to market these products as desirable branded accessories designed to upgrade its customer’s lifestyle. This brand advantage has become a key differentiator for Travall, giving the Company an edge in areas beyond the usual product features and price comparisons. Going forward Travall’s strategy is to consolidate this brand advantage – and to evolve its proposition to remain relevant amongst an ever-changing audience.

Protecting Travall’s Brand Advantage

As any business grows everything about its brand is under attack. This is because the brand tends to become increasingly represented across more and more touch-points and managed by more and more people – both internal and external.

Unfortunately, this often includes people disconnected from the brand, those who don’t understand it; and sometimes even ‘brand saboteurs’ who simply don’t believe in branding and will try to hijack the activity!

None of these parties will faithfully or consistently communicate your brand. That’s about positioning, promise, platform, messaging, tone, visual identity – the whole lot.

Unsurprisingly, the brand starts to quickly unravel and becomes increasingly eroded if left unchecked. Only ongoing brand management, curation, guidelines and the control of assets and resources can prevent it.

Evolving the Travall Brand

Protecting what’s been built is only part of the story. Just as important (and much more exciting!) is how the Travall brand can be developed to maintain relevance amongst a very fast-moving audience and marketplace.

And we’re not just talking about new solutions for new cars and new models. This is about some exciting challenges and opportunities which are emerging based on major shifts in customer attitudes, including:

• Digitisation, increasing automation and electrification
• Convenience and an increasing ‘DIY to DIFM’ culture
• Owning to using – ie. increased vehicle leasing, shared mobility etc (and even the emerging dog-sharing phenomenon!)
• Factors surrounding sustainability
• Subscription models for feature upgrades
• Personalisation
• New attitudes surrounding new emerging global markets

All this means that as Travall continues to develop its range and focus on both market penetration and developing and navigating new global markets, staying connected and relevant amongst its rapidly changing audiences will remain one of its key advantages. Discover Travall here.