and drive well 51

51

... AND DRIVE WELL

It’s not just what you put on your company vehicles and the model you use that broadcasts your brand, it’s how clean they are and how your drivers behave – the overall impression they give.

The idea Drivers are respresenting your brand when they are out and about. On London’s North Circular Road recently, I saw a delivery van driven so badly that he skidded and swerved and only just avoided an accident in his hurry to get past car driving carefully, at 30 miles per hour above the speed limit, on the wrong side of him. The van belonged to a department store with a very good reputation for customer care and reliability, which its driver was doing his best to ruin.

As we mentioned, Innocent Drinks vans are dressed up as fi elds and cows, so there was no mistaking it when one of them came storming up my high street, again way over the speed limit, and didn’t stop at the zebra crossing for me. I emailed them and told them all about it. They said sorry.

The company that is famous for putting its driving fi rst is Eddie Stobart, the haulage and logistics business. Its staff always drive perfectly because their reputation for taking care of their customer’s products depends on it. They are a textbook example of how to extend a brand identity into everyday behaviour.

In practice • Adorning your vehicles with your brand identity is a great idea, but your values have got to extend to the drivers. • Keep your vehicles clean, and your drivers behaviour squeaky clean. • Encourage customers to report bad driving, to help control your brand identity.