Borrowing rightfully a powerful brand helps a small local company grow. This is an article about Two Marines and a Truck, a small moving company in Alexandria VA that since opening it doors in November of last year, has grown from two persons (former Marines) to 35 employees with six trucks despite the recession. They have several hundred moves under their belt. In a time when other moving companies in the area are closing up shop, Two Marines and a Truck has steadily grown. There is an extra cache to their name and logo. The “sweat equity” has Marines written all over it.
The military is always on the lookout for force multipliers, something that gives firepower a multiple, or supply delivery massiveness or whatever it is needed in manifold amounts. The use of the word and the effect of Marines in the company name is a force multiplier. It acts on a prospective customer the minute he/she sees the company name. If you have a “hump” relocation mission on your horizon, then getting a crew of former Marines to help you get over that “hump” is a no-brainer. You know and are comforted in the knowledge that they have faced tougher missions in the past than your current move.
Two Marines and a Truck provides local and long-distance moving services to residential and business customers in the Washington D.C. metro area. Nick Baucom, founder, started the company in order to satisfy the demand for a quality moving experience, and to find a way to hire and continue working with Marines upon his honorable discharge from the Marine Corps. Baucom hires military veterans that take pride in their punctuality, professionalism, and proficiency. On any given day, six diesel moving trucks, loaded with veterans depart their motorpool and head out to satisfy and please six more customers. The employee break-down is 60% Marines, 20% Army and 20% civilians.
Baucom was smart to use a powerful brand within his business model. Branding is now part of the common language of marketing these days; corporations, nonprofit organizations and even individuals talk at length about building and managing their brands in order to make themselves more valuable and attractive. At its core, branding goes far beyond slogans or logos. It really means creating promises with your customers and then delivering on those promises. Strong brands are reflected in greater loyalty, more consistent messages, more integrated operations and better relationships. If you read the testimonials at the Two Marines and a Truck web site you will find evidence that promises are kept and referral relationships are growing.
ABC News did a short report on Two Marines and a Truck that you can view here.
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