Branding the Garbage Man
I recently stumbled upon an article in one of those in-flight magazines about a company called College Hunks Hauling Junk which has become a highly successful and profitable business.
The company employs well-groomed and physically attractive college-age males who will come clean out your home or office and haul away your unwanted detritis.
I found this to be interesting on a couple of levels:
- We often read about the importance of having a unique product benefit. There is really no unique product benefit with College Hunks Hauling Junk. They do precisely the same thing that Ralph the Junkman did for my family when I was a kid. However, unlike Ralph, these guys don’t chain smoke, swear constantly, or drive around in 20 year-old pickup trucks. Their selling point is a unique brand image rather than a unique product benefit.
- The author argues that College Hunks Hauling Junk has tapped into a big cultural story -- the idea that, in America, many of us are looking to simplify our lives and get rid of clutter. So this company perhaps has come along at the right time. Using a cultural story as context for positioning and communications can be very powerful.
Below are links to the article and to the company website.
http://www.spiritmag.com/2009_01/click-this/hunks-hauling-junk.php