What is a company’s brand? When trying to picture one, many people think of the company’s logo. According to Forbes, Apple has the most valuable brand in the world, worth $145.3 Billion. But what does that mean? If Apple sold their “brand” (logo?) to another company, would it be worth the same? 

Probably not. Not even close.

A company’s brand is far more than their logo. A company’s brand is everything they do as a business. It is who they are as a corporate entity. From the end consumer’s perspective, while she might say the logo is the brand, what is really the brand is the customer’s experience with the company.

If a customer gets a faulty product, poor customer service or unexpected charges on an invoice, those experiences have far more impact on the company’s brand than any logo or marketing expenditure that supports it. Especially in the ecommerce/social media era.

So What Does This Have to do with Third Party Logistics?

In some cases, 3PLs are more responsible for their customer’s brand than the customer themselves. If a company sells online thingamabob’s, but doesn’t have the resources to run a service support line, or handling packaging, or delivery, they call a 3PL.

With 3PLs offering everything from promotion services and transaction services, to warranty management, not forgetting the more traditional logistics services of warehousing and shipping, customers could handover virtually every marketing, sales, support, inventory and delivery task to a logistics provider.

The customer’s experience of the thingamabob has more to do with the services provided by the logistics company than the services provided by its manufacturer and/or marketer.

In effect, you are your customer’s brand.

Or at least a major part of it. Even if all you do is warehousing and product delivery, “final mile” experience is an increasingly larger portion of the overall customer experience.

So what is your brand? Your brand is everything you do to support your customer’s brand and make it more succesful.