Credit: Dania Maxwell/Los Angeles TimesDifferentiate. We hear that word a lot in the commercial truck industry. It’s often mentioned as part of a dealership’s strategy to better compete with neighboring dealers.
Differentiators for dealers often take the form of a large warehouse of parts, an abundant selection of new equipment brands and available used equipment, convenient service hours, etc. All of these differentiators certainly can make a positive difference but require a sizable amount of capital and staff.
I guess that’s why it’s always interesting when something simple and quirky not only sticks with consumers, but also drives business. Who doesn’t remember Carvel’s commercials for Cookie Puss ice cream cakes or the late Elmer Lynn Hauldren, better known as the Empire Carpet Guy, singing the company’s phone number? I am sure there are hundreds more examples both national and from your neck of the woods.
The Los Angeles Times in a recent article playfully ribbed Los Angeles-based medium-duty truck dealer Western Truck Exchange for its logo featuring brothers Mark, Dan and Wayne Holtzman.
Apparently, the logo is ubiquitous in Southern California and the publication crowned the dealership’s logo the best in Los Angeles, describing it as a “cheesy/terrible/classic/wonderful blue logo.”
The family business, which has been in existence since 1922, has used the logo for nearly four decades.
“We are probably putting [mud flaps with the logo] on 300 trucks a year. Do the math. It means there are a lot of Mark, Dan and Wayne mud flaps rolling around,” Dan Holtzman, president and general manager, told the L.A. Times.
WTE sells and services new International and Mitsubishi Fuso trucks and used vehicles. It also is a factory-direct OEM distributor for Caterpillar engines, Cummins engines and Allison automatic transmissions. WTE says its parts department carries a large selection of high-quality parts and accessories for light-, medium- and heavy-duty trucks.
Now, I’m certainly not suggesting you eschew time-tested strategies for differentiating your dealership through better parts and truck inventory, expedited maintenance and repairs and good customer service. And, although maybe not as quirky, using mud flaps to increase brand awareness is nothing new in the truck industry.
The WTE folks provide these common differentiators, but it’s their uncommon mud flaps that also help with name recognition and enough business to keep them going for nearly 100 years.
