FuelNet presents a case study on how one smart business doubled sales through a comprehensive rebranding effort.

PROBLEM: Effective brand building can make a big difference for any business, especially one that’s struggling to stand out from the herd. Lakota Trailers, a manufacturer of aluminum horse trailers, faced several challenges right out of the gate. For one, the Bristol, Ind., company lacked the long-term strategy it would need to gain a few lengths in the small trailer market, where it’s difficult to secure dealer distribution. Worse, Lakota didn’t have a coherent brand position and hadn’t targeted a customer segment.

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SOLUTION: It would take a refined brand identity and an integrated strategy to move Lakota’s minimal marketing campaign beyond the level of slogans and logos. To get there, Lakota turned to Insight Strategic Concepts, a consulting firm in Elkhart, Ind., which rode to the rescue with in-depth market research. The results showed that the horse-trailer market is not largely male, as Lakota and its competitors had assumed. In fact, it turns out 88 percent of buyers are women, who select trailers for reasons Lakota hadn’t considered. Insight found that many female customers are motivated either by affection for their horse or a desire to stand out from the crowd at shows. The masculine “cowboy” sensibility of Lakota’s marketing, like that of its competitors, was clearly missing the mark.

Armed with that strategic information and help from Insight, Lakota repositioned both the brand and its products to communicate the company’s understanding of the reasons its customers own and care for horses. Insight also advised Lakota to roll out a hybrid business-development strategy that would encompass three distinct marketplaces: traditional trailer dealers, RV dealers who also sell trailers, and the Internet. Moreover, the company redesigned its Web site to align with the marketing campaign. After the redesign and a Google AdWords campaign, the site saw a ten-fold increase in visits.

Since the comprehensive rebranding effort, Lakota has doubled sales in an industry that’s trending downward. The company’s retooled slogan, Unbridled Confidence, says it all. Thanks to research and repositioning, Lakota Trailers is now running ahead of the pack.

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