We hear a lot about company brands.
Have you heard much about self storage company brands?
Most likely not.
You know the big ones, Public Storage, Extra Space, etc.
But what is the real difference between them? Why would you choose one over the other if both are next door to each other?
What is the culture each would provide if you were their customer?
You see, even us as self storage owners, deep inside relate to self storage as a commodity.
We may tout our USPs (unique selling propositions) to the public, but in our core, we know our 10 x 10 is, in essence, the same as our competitors.
It is in reality, about 100 cubic feet of empty air.
That is what we are renting and making money on…empty space.
Distinction Between Business & Brand
In my humble opinion, our industry has not done a very good job of branding itself.
Most of us have collapsed our business with a brand if we have thought about branding at all beyond a logo.
A business is the products or services they sell. For us, it is empty space and locks.
A brand is the personality of the business.
What is the personality of your self storage business?
You?
I sure hope it isn’t me in our self storage business.
I have called it creating a culture for your self storage business in the past. One will be created for your company. The problem is it is usually by default rather than design.
To be truthful, our company can do better here as well, and I think it is important because brands can do all of the following so much better than businesses:
- Brands can pivot.
- Brands can make a bigger impact.
- Brands can create better relationships with customers.
I offer Apple over Microsoft as an example.
It doesn’t matter which one you use; we all know that Apple has brand loyalty beyond what many consider reasonable.
Both are good, and both have made a big impact in the world of computing and beyond.
But two distinctly different brands.
You see, it is the brand that creates the relationship with the customer, not the business.
That is why you could care less if it is Public Storage or Extra Space if you had to choose between them to rent a 10 x 10.
That is why most of us just compete on price.
We have no brand.
For our self storage company, I think this is a big part of our next upcoming year. To redefine ourselves and bring forth a new brand for the public to get to know.
Not a new company name that is not a brand. That is the business. But a new business personality.
A new Brand.
The Brand is the Vision behind the offer if done right.
Again, as an industry, I think we are not very good at this at all.
How To Create A Brand
I am not an expert at this but have been giving it a lot of thought.
So, I ask myself, if our self storage company were a magazine, what would we write about?
Choose five things. Let’s say:
- The community where our facilities are located.
- The goals & aspirations of the people who do business with us.
- What our managers are interested in… their hobbies and their passions.
- What our team has done in the community to make a difference and improve it.
- Why we are different than the facility next door.
I’m just making this up, but that is a start. (I would do this with your team members).
Then, use your Facebook Page, mail outs, newsletters, and other social media outlets to create and post and articles on each.
- Every Monday…a post about the communities where our facilities are located.
- Every Tuesday…a post about the goals & aspirations of the people who do business with us.
And so on.
I bet everyone would show up differently at work every day. Imagine each team members taking ownership of the brand and knowing they are responsible for moving it out into the public in some way every single day.
I bet that would be a different company.
I bet that the company would soon have a unique brand that the public could relate to.
Your goal is not to have every person love and want to interact with your brand. If that is the case, odds are you are appealing to no one.
Brands create distinct personalities for customers to relate to.
Just like people.
Not everyone relates to me and wants to do business with me. I get that, and it is not a problem for me.
Same with our companies and our brands.
I invite you to think about branding your self storage business and creating a real personality for your business that consumers can choose to relate to.
I know for us, this is a big part of the upcoming year.
