Your brand is so much more than a logo.
“It's everything from the colors to how you market yourselves, but really how that customer feels when they're thinking of you or in your store,” said Amanda Balthazar, a retail and hospitality journalist.
During a recent Convenience Matters podcast, Balthazar shared that effective branding shapes how customers feel and perceive a c-store and influences their loyalty and shopping behavior.
With this in mind, she highlighted several convenience retailers that use unique strategies to connect emotionally with their customers and differentiate their brand from competitors.
Tennessee-based Weigel’s leverages college athlete NIL (name, image, likeness) deals to create a strong brand association, converting athletes' fan bases into store customers and strengthening brand association. “Weigel’s noticed that social media posts that pertained to sports or athletes were off the charts in terms of likes and interaction and comments. So they decided to leverage that,” said Balthazar.
Cenex leans into local culture. The Minnesota-based farmers' co-op partners with rodeo events to engage customers in rural areas through marketing and signage at local arenas. It’s easy to spot “somebody riding around on a horse with your brand logo. It's an excellent fit,” said Balthazar.
Illinois-based Wally’s has developed a strong brand identity with its tagline, “Home of the Great American Road Trip.” The stores feature playful store elements and branded merchandise like t-shirts, keychains, koozies, coolers and trucker hats. “Wally’s has great displays in their stores involving taxidermy animals and Winnebago's to really create a strong brand in the stores as well as with that merchandise,” she said.
InConvenience, a women-owned company based in Iowa, brands its stores around the "gas spot" concept and its mascot, Clutch the Clam. With more than 50% of its customers being female shoppers, Balthazar explained that the retailer leaned into Clutch the Clam as a symbol of clean stores and restrooms.
“Clams are clean creatures and keep their ecosystems clean. So they felt that represented their brand perfectly. This playful clam will be seen in more of InConvenience's marketing,” she said.
For retailers looking to enhance or establish a strong brand, Balthazar offered these suggestions:
1. Define your brand—how you want customers to perceive and feel about your store and its vibe across every facet of your store, including the design, atmosphere and employee interactions.
2. Conduct a brand audit to align brand values and personality consistently across all touchpoints. This helps ensure that the brand is unique and resonates with customers.
3. Have a compelling brand story that resonates with loyal customers. This story should be consistent across all aspects of the store, from social media to in-store elements.
4. Citing marketing expert Ernie Harker, Balthazar suggests that retailers should define what makes their brand unique with six adjectives, and two of these adjectives should be something that doesn't pertain to any other convenience store.
5. Think big with the overall brand concept but also pay attention to small, unexpected touches that reinforce the brand. These small touches can create memorable experiences for customers.
Read more about creating a strong convenience store brand in the September NACS Magazine cover story, “Making a Brand Stand Out From the Competition.”