Image a shade more modern

By DITA DE BONI

How do you turn a brand that stands for good ol' Kiwi values and ethics into one that also incorporates innovation, responsiveness and dynamism?

The process of taking a Kiwi institution and wrenching it into something sexy and modern is not a new experience in New Zealand business. Indeed, New Zealand has been egged into offering an open-all-hours, all-accommodating, action-packed version of its former staid self to better exploit a hungry tourist trade.

But there is still a value in history, especially in the domestic market. Several businesses in New Zealand have taken up the challenge of modernising their image while retaining the goodwill their traditions earned.

One such company is Owens Global Logistics, which began life in 1951 as a canvas company under the leadership of Bob Owens.

The foundations of an international freight-forwarding company were laid when he bought a forklift truck and secured contract work on the Tauranga Town Wharf.

Today, the company is, much like competitor Mainfreight, an icon in the world of haulage.

The founders were men who had started their working lives on the physical side of the business, with strong links to community and sport - archetypal good Kiwi blokes.

Knighted in 1997, Sir Bob - who continues to feature in company literature - died last September. About that time the business hired former Cook Strait Ferries and Union Shipping Group high-flyer Ian Newman to be chief executive.

When he joined the firm Mr Newman recognised the need for a cohesive brand strategy and set about trying to change the internal culture of the organisation.

One of the first physical changes to come out of Owens' $5.38 million review and restructuring process was a new colour for its trucks. Formerly white with different-coloured signage, they have now been painted bright red.

But this was a small part of a drive towards an image change and team-building, says general manager, sales and marketing, Brodie Stevens.



The company's 270 drivers will soon also be decked out in matching red duds, and a corporate wardrobe for many of the other 230 or so workers will also be introduced.

The process of unifying the company's sprawling logistics and freight-forwarding business was in response to research showing that customers saw the firm as fragmented, says Mr Stevens.

"In this market, people are trying to reduce the number of suppliers and work with a seamless network that can take care of all their needs."

A change of name to Owens Global Logistics also indicated how the company wished to be perceived.

"Again, our customers were looking for technological capability, sophisticated delivery services.

"Positioning ourselves as a logistics company and moving away from being perceived as mostly trucks is [key]."

The company worked with its public relations/marketing agency, Grey Lynn-based 38 Degrees, to discover how Owens was viewed in the market and to develop a branding and marketing strategy.

Jane Arnott, of 38 Degrees, says the agency's research showed major clients perceived Owens as solid and reliable but also conservative.

She says businesses are now expected to show innovation, flexibility and technological superiority.



A brand committee was developed internally. An internal culture change is ongoing, with the company's newsletter, for example, being renamed Owens Together.

Ms Arnott says the Owens name was very powerful.

"But now, instead of several different brands, we've got a unified brand to the extent that the divisions that form the basis of the supply chain share the same look and feel and brand livery.

"There's a structure to the brand, and anything that falls outside that brand [such as Hirepool, also owned by Owens] is [different] for a reason."

Neither the company nor its advertising agency is forthcoming about the company's decision to go bright red, with Mr Stevens saying it is a "distinguishable, winning" colour and Ms Arnott saying only that the company strong liked it.

If the change was an attempt to distinguish Owens from its main domestic rival, the blue-branded Mainfreight, they are not saying.

Mainfreight's Chris Dunphy says his company's deep-blue hue is "compatible with grease and sweat."

In Australia, where Mainfreight is attempting a major breakout, "we are the 'true blue' freight provider," he says.





"Our experience of competitors' rebranding is that the new logo and flash brochures are all very nice, but the culture has to change with the new image.

"Transport is very traditional and few have actually made the change."



Ms Arnott says there are few industries she has worked with where every member of the supply chain is passionate about what they do.

"I've worked in health before, and there was an edginess, a concern and worry from people in that sector.

"But the truck drivers are passionate about their trucks. tHey're not ground down by what they do.

"The shareholders, too, love to hold shares in trucks."

Challenges remaining for the company include developing a brand strategy for acquisitions, and slowly incorporating shipping into the overall plan.

Mr Stevens says Sir Robert would have approved. "He was, after all, an entrepreneur."