For two and a half days, the industry gathers to find knowledge, solutions and connections at NATSO Connect. Just like NATSO Connect, the NATSO Connect Magazine is your source for improving your travel plaza business operations.
Lessons Learned at NATSO Connect: Tell Your Story with Branding and Design
During The Good to Great Session at NATSO Connect, Mike Lawshe, president of Paragon Solutions, shared his insights into branding. Branding and design tells a story, and Lawshe challenged operators to think about the stories they are telling at their location.
“To me the wonderful advantage we have as independent truckstop operators is we can tell whatever story we want, so make it a good one,” Lawshe said during the session. “Telling a story and creating a brand is critical. Your brand is everything.”
Design’s Role in Branding
Design is a kay part in what helps operators create their image. “Something as subtle as your aisle widths is making a statement about who you are,” Lawshe said.
In the book Why We Buy by Paco Underhill, Underhill talks about giving our customers time to decompress by creating room to transition into our locations. “If you bring things too close to the front, people don’t have time to process what they’re seeing,” Lawshe said.
Underhill recommends an eight-foot arc so people have space to transition. “My retail philosophy is open areas whenever you can,” Lawshe said.
Creating vertical breaks from one category to the next can attract customers’ attention and make them observe something. “You can do that with colors or textures,” Lawshe said.
The other great thing about branding and design is that each location can be unique. “Not all stores should look alike. Not all stores should be alike,” Lawshe said.
NATSO Members’ Successfully Rebrand
Branding is a process, not an end game. “It is the life of your store,” Lawshe said.
In both Stop Watch and on the blog we have featured several NATSO members who have successfully rebranded their locations. Hat Six Travel Center, based in Evansville, Wyoming, has embraced the local flair, capitalized on convenience and identified three distinct customer bases, which is boosting sales and driving loyalty.
When Silver’s Travel Center rebranded its c-store location by franchising with On The Run by Circle K, it brought a new atmosphere to the store and led to a 15 percent increase in sales.
As Lawshe told attendees at NATSO Connect, part of building your brand is telling a story, which can be done through graphics. Shoemaker’s has built a strong brand, in part, by tapping into unique memorabilia and décor.
/// NATSO Connect 2019 will be held February 10 - 13 in Orlando, Florida. Register and learn more about NATSO Connect here.
Photo credit: Brittany Palmer/NATSO
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