Member-only story
Why I am irrationally excited about a U-Haul truck
I was having coffee with a friend in Portland, Maine, when I suddenly jumped out of my seat. “Wait a minute!” I said. “I have to go see this U-Haul truck!”
I ran out the door, skipped across the boulevard, and stood in front of a U-Haul truck parked on the street. It looked like this:
So why did I abandon a perfectly nice coffee shop and an above-average friend for a U-Haul truck? It just shouted “Marketing Rebellion!”
Four main principles from my Marketing Rebellion book:
- The customer is the marketer.
- Marketing is about their story, not your story.
- Make the customer the hero.
- User-generated content is among the most valuable marketing assets.
- Help customers belong.
I love this truck because it hits on all cylinders and, with apologies to U-Haul, it’s honoring customers through a pretty boring product, too.
How this U-Haul program works
In 2018, U-Haul created a program called U-Haul Famous. It allows any customer to upload a photo to their site for consideration on a truck. Within 6–8 weeks, a customer photo appears on a U-Haul truck decal.
If your photo is used on a truck, you can then track your photo by seeing where “your” truck is anywhere, at any time, in the U.S. and Canada.
I called U-Haul’s marketing department (four different people) and tried to get a quote about the program. I am particularly interested in success stories and what percentage of the photos they actually use.
Nobody returned my call. So … that kind of sucks U-Haul. But hey, I like your marketing program.
I want to be on one of your trucks!
The customer is the marketer. How do we help them do the job?
Update: A week later, nobody from U-Haul has returned my call, even after outreach on social media. Their social media agency, however, is having a field day taking advantage of the blog post for positive publicity. This is just wrong on so many levels:
