Branding You Business - Driveway Armor Brands Success

Every business knows the importance of name recognition and creating a brand. So when Gregg Rogers started a sealcoating business in 2003 one of his goals was to create a brand his customers would recognize. That brand came in the form of Driveway Armor, a residential sealcoating company in Marlboro, NJ.

Rogers was determined to find a way to identify his business, describe the service offered, and convey the company's intentions. "In creating a brand the most important thing was coming up with a name for our business," Rogers says. "With Driveway Armor, customers know they're getting something strong, something protective, and it's going to protect their driveway from the effects of nature."

But the name wasn't the only step Rogers took to create a lasting brand for his business. One effective way to get your brand recognized is through marketing. Driveway Armor approaches its marketing from several angles. The company advertises in newspapers and magazines, but has found other more effective routes for marketing, Rogers says.

Driveway Armor spends most of its marketing budget on lawn signs. "We put a lawn sign on every job so that people see the name and phone number," Rogers says. "Our best marketing is when people see it on their neighbor's lawn because then we get those surrounding neighbors."

Another way Rogers gets the Driveway Armor name out is through direct mail. Direct mailings are sent out to Driveway Armor's existing customer base as well as potential customers.

"We have extensive knowledge of the area that we cover. We send the mailings out by postal route to hit the neighborhoods we want to hit. We also do blanketed direct mail to an entire zip code in order to keep our name in front of potential customers," Rogers says.

Another major opportunity for companies to get their names out is through the Internet, and Driveway Armor is taking full advantage of that medium with drivewayarmor.com. Although Rogers says the website is more of a secondary marketing technique, it is printed on all of the company's lawn signs and direct mailings.

Unlike print advertisements or direct mailings, the website provides Driveway Armor with all the space it needs to convey as much information as it wants, Rogers says.

With the website, Rogers wants to show customers just what they are buying, and he wants people to know Driveway Armor is a legitimate company. He has done this through the use of pictures and step by step explanations of the services the company provides.

"In any business, people aren't using the phone book anymore. Their first place to look for services now seems to be online," Rogers says. "Plus, the website offers repetition of the company brand, which helps it stick in people's heads."

After only five years in business, Rogers feels the company has successfully created a recognizable brand for the central New Jersey market it services. "Once people started seeing our name, our trucks, and our marketing, it got to the point where people called up and said 'I need my driveway armored,'" Rogers says. It's obvious the Driveway Armor brand has left a lasting impression on customers.