What’s Your Hood Ornament?

When I was in my early 20’s I played professional squash.  I wasn’t half bad and managed to win a few tournaments.  One of my favorite tournament prizes was a convertible Dodge Dakota pick up truck.  It was a great truck.  In the years that have passed since, I have held a special place in my heart for great old trucks.  

Over the past couple of months I have decided it’s time – I’ve been keeping my eyes open for an old truck that I could pick up and with a little TLC, make into a GREAT old truck.  Last week, I found it.  The picture on the internet showed a black Chevy Blazer looking truck with a removable fiberglass roof.  It is in solid shape and has all of the right new enough parts to make the purchase a decent deal.  It is also nearly 30 years old.

After we exchanged cash-for-truck, I brought it home and my wife and I had fun checking it out in greater detail.  One thing we found – my new truck isn’t a Chevy Blazer at all.  It actually is pieced together with parts from all different makes and models.  It has a GMC rear on it, Silverado side panels, the front end off of a 1986 Suburban, and who knows what else.  The hood ornament has a logo of a “W” that I’ve never even seen before.  We’ve decided it stands for “What Is This Truck?”

Here’s the message, this is OKAY for a great old truck – NOT OKAY for a company.  If your company, or business, or even the message of what you do seems to be picking up so many extra parts that you can’t succinctly say “This is what we are” then my friend, you are in for trouble.  Your customers should be able to look at a glance and say, “They do this.”  You don’t want to wake up one day and find a weird hood ornament on your company brochure and wonder where it came from.